„Never Forget“ – Memorial Trip to Israel
From 6 to 11 November 2022, young people set out on an impressive journey to Israel as part of a seven-day memorial trip, in order to engage intensively with the history of the Holocaust and the Jewish diaspora. The aim of the trip was to give the participants a deeper understanding of the crimes of the Nazi regime and to encourage them to reflect critically on their own actions and on the way they treat other people.
The journey began with the arrival in Tel Aviv, followed by an initial workshop in which similarities and differences between Germany and Israel, as well as the effects of the past on the present, were discussed. A visit to Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, gave the participants a first insight into the history and life of Jewish communities worldwide.
In the following days, we visited various memorial sites and museums that impressively documented the atrocities of the Holocaust. Particularly formative were the visits to the memorial sites „Beit Terezin“, „Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum“ and „Yad Vashem“ in Jerusalem, the most important memorial site for the victims of the Holocaust. These places of remembrance and reflection challenged the participants not only to engage with history, but also to question how they themselves deal with strangers and people who think differently, and which values they uphold in their daily lives.
The guided tour through the old city of Jerusalem and the exchange of impressions from the memorial sites gave the group the opportunity to talk about what they had experienced and to take a deeper look at the cultural and historical connections between Israel and Germany. The concluding follow-up meeting 14 days after the trip made it possible to reflect on the travel experiences and to jointly create a photo collage documenting the experiences and impressions of the journey.
The primary aim of the project was to raise the participants' awareness of the topics of antisemitism, tolerance and democratic values. Through the visit to Yad Vashem and other important memorial sites, the young people were not only confronted with the history of the Holocaust, but also encouraged to reflect on their own responsibility in dealing with strangers and people of other faiths. The trip helped to create an awareness of the need for a peaceful, respectful and democratic society. We would like to sincerely thank the Landschaftsverband Westfalen Lippe (LWL), whose funding made it possible for us to carry out this valuable project.
