Jugendring Dortmund: Future needs Remembrance

Future needs Remembrance

Jugendring Dortmund
Hansastr. 44
44137 Dortmund

+49-231-477 56 141

fabian.karstens@jugendring-do.de

Work area ->

Future needs Remembrance

With educational programs, young people are encouraged and assisted on working on new concepts in the field of remembrance work (Erinnerungskultur). Critically analyzing historical backgrounds and current developments of National Socialism leads them from reflection to action. Hence, their newly developed projects also relate to present topics such as equity, racism, and discrimination against other marginalized minorities.

Searching for and uncovering traces of the past in Dortmund

Looking into historic traces in their neighborhoods, adolescents are assisted in collecting information about victims of the Shoah and working on their biographies. They present their findings in exhibitions as well as at events and commemoration ceremonies. A remarkable example is the Stolperstein (stumbling block) project that is commemorating victims of the Holocaust. Since 2011, the installation of local Stolpersteine is coordinated by the Jugendring Dortmund.

The Ambassadors of Remembrance

(Botschafterinnen der Erinnerung)*

The Ambassadors of Remembrance are a group of young people who stand up for human rights, and fight against racism and antisemitism. As peer educators, they are dialog partners but also role models for other young people. And they represent the younger generation partaking in official local events. Beyond that, they take responsibility in preserving the legacy of the last NS-survivors.

Tours to memorial sites

The educational program also includes visits of memorial sites and conversations with Holocaust survivors. Dealing with German horrid war crimes enables different perspectives to current debates, such as how society is dealing with refugees.

Educational concepts of the tours are being developed together with different partners. The aim is to encourage schools to integrate these concepts into their curriculum in order to enable young people to visit memorial sites, such as Auschwitz or Buchenwald, a trip to Israel or closer destinations as the Wewelsburg.