Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)
Encyclopedia
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace
organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism
.
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (German: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste, or ASF) was founded in 1958 by the synod
of the Evangelical Church in Germany
, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig
. It was prompted by the acknowledgement of guilt that Germans needed to face at the end of World War II
and the Nazi era.
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) is known especially through its international volunteer programs and the organisation of work camps in western and eastern Europe
. Every year, ARSP sends approximately 180 volunteers to countries that suffered under the German occupation during World War II: Belgium
, France
, the United Kingdom, Netherlands
, Russia
, Poland
, Czech Republic
, Belarus
, and the Ukraine
. They also work in Israel
and the USA because many Holocaust survivors fled or immigrated to these countries.
to reject Nazism and resist the Nazi regime. The founder of ARSP, Lothar Kreyssig, was one of the determined resisters within the Confessing Church
. After the war, he made this refusal by the Protestant church a subject of discussion and, along with like-minded people, such as Martin Niemöller
, Gustav Heinemann
and later, Franz von Hammerstein, called for repentance and reversal.
1954, in Leipzig
. The appeal found few ears. "That something is right and necessary, is not enough to see it materialize in time and space. The hour must be ripe," he later wrote in his unpublished autobiography. The Synod
of the Evangelical Church in Germany
convened from April 26–30, 1958, alternating in Spandau
, in West Berlin) and Weißensee
in East Berlin. At this point, the synod still involved the entire Evangelical Church in Germany, both east and west. There was a controversy that year over the west German military chaplain
cy contract and possible nuclear armament by the Bundeswehr
. This was the troubled atmosphere in which Praeses
Kreyssig, on the last day of the Synod, read his appeal to found the Action for Reconciliation. Numerous attendees signed the appeal that evening.
The appeal not only expressed an admission of guilt, it also delineated concrete consequences. The Action for Reconciliation would not offer assistance, rather, would ask to help. This humble attitude was a rejection of any patronizing functionalization
of the reconciliation thought process. The attitude was to signal the readiness to get involved — that is, to learn by doing and through dialogue — because the appeal relied on conversation, response and new action.
The Action for Reconciliation was initially founded as a Germany-wide organization, but the division of Germany made a joint effort impossible. The two German states therefore had two organizations with a common goal, albeit different emphasis in practice.
and the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire
, in Burgundy
, France
. They helped build a kindergarten in Skopje
in the former Yugoslavia
, helped install a water irrigation system on Crete
, and helped create an international symbol of reconciliation from the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in England
. Work in Israel
began in 1961, after the Adolph Eichmann trial
was concluded. From the mid-1960s, the projects slowly changed. There was ever less construction work, but new projects emerged for memorials, for work with the elderly, and social work. By the 1980s, with World War II
fading into the past, there were additional projects working with minority groups.
prevented the East German Action for Reconciliation (Aktion Sühnezeichen, or ASZ) from sending any more volunteers to the west. Because the German Democratic Republic
(GDR) considered itself to be an anti-fascist state, it did not consider itself responsible for the consequences of German fascism. Therefore, the projects of the ASZ were initially limited to the GDR. In 1965 and 1966, volunteers were still able to travel with Catholic chaplains from Magdeburg
to Auschwitz, Majdanek
, Stutthof
, Groß-Rosen and Breslau. By 1967 and 1968, further trips to memorial sites in Poland
and Czechoslovakia
were not permitted, despite invitations being sent to the state visa refusal. With the introduction in 1972 of visa-free travel between the GDR and Poland and Czechoslovakia, young German were able to take part in summer camps in Poland. By then, Polish and Czech young people were also embarking on missions in the GDR. From this time on, reconciliation groups were involved in the preservation and restoration of Jewish cemeteries in almost every region of the GDR. The first group to work at Buchenwald was in 1979. Starting in 1981, the number of summer camps expanded to include Sachsenhausen
, Ravensbrück, and Nordhausen-Dora. From 1962 till 1992, over 12,000 volunteers took part in the summer camps from ASZ.
, the two eastern and western organizations merged, retaining their different forms of voluntary service, the long-term service of the ARSP and the short-term service and summer camps of the ASZ. Like the European Voluntary Service
, since the late 1990s, the ARSP has increased the number of project sites to respond to changing need and new opportunities.
s can fulfill their required civil service under the auspices of ARSP. Volunteers support and accompany survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants, work at memorial sites, take care of older people, those with disabilities, the disadvantaged and refugees, and get involved in neighborhood projects and anti-racism initiatives.
ARSP volunteers helped create an international center of reconciliation in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral. In Israel, volunteers have worked in historical or political education and at the national memorial site, Yad Vashem
in Jerusalem and in projects with Jewish and Arab citizens, working toward mutual understanding.
ARSP first sent volunteers to Norway and the Netherlands in 1959 to work on construction projects. More recently, volunteers in the Netherlands work in historical or political education, for example, at the Joods Historisch Museum
or Anne Frank Foundation.
Volunteers in Poland work in societies for former concentration camp prisoners and at concentration camps sites, Auschwitz
in Oświęcim
, Stutthof
in Gdansk
and Majdanek
near Lublin
. For political reasons, ARSP first sent volunteers to Russia in 1990, and the Czech Republic in 1993. In Russia, they work at veterans' hospitals and the Russian human rights organization, Memorial
. In the Czech Republic, they work with the Jewish community in Prague
and at the memorial site Theresienstadt concentration camp
. Volunteers to Ukraine work with former forced laborers
.
ARSP has 24 volunteer positions in the United States. They work with Holocaust survivors or in offices at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Washington, DC and the American Jewish Committee
in New York and Washington. Since 1996, about 15-20 requests per year have come from partner programs in other countries from young people seeking voluntary peace service in Germany, as well.
For the past several years, there has been medium-term voluntary service available in Israel. Lasting three to six months, this service involves volunteers of all ages, including seniors. There is a three-day orientation seminar is held in the country.
Four times a year, ARSP publishes Zeichen (Signs), a magazine (in German) that reports on the current work of volunteers and project partners. Each issue is centered around a different theme. It publishes Predigthilfen & Materiellen für die Gemeinde (Sermon aids and materials for the congregation) three times a year, on the occasion of "Israel Sunday," (a memorial day in the Evangelical church
); for a ten-day period in November, called the Ökumenische Friedensdekade ("Ecumenical Decade of Peace"); and for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
. With these, ARSP wants to convey theological insights from the Jewish-Christian dialogue and the dialogue with Islam into the religious community. In addition, ARSP wants to weigh in on current political themes, thereby joining the inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and presenting its position against anti-semitism, right-wing extremism and racism and strongly advocating for compensation to those persecuded by the Nazis; and for a just peace.
March 12, 2010
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (German: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste, or ASF) was founded in 1958 by the synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of the Evangelical Church in Germany
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig
Lothar Kreyssig
Lothar Kreyssig was a German judge during the Nazi era. He was the only German judge who attempted to stop the Action T4 euthanasia program, an intervention that cost him his job. After the Second World War, he was again offered a judgeship, but declined...
. It was prompted by the acknowledgement of guilt that Germans needed to face at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Nazi era.
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) is known especially through its international volunteer programs and the organisation of work camps in western and eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. Every year, ARSP sends approximately 180 volunteers to countries that suffered under the German occupation during World War II: Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the United Kingdom, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, and the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. They also work in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the USA because many Holocaust survivors fled or immigrated to these countries.
Objective
Excerpt from the by-laws of ARSP
§2 Purpose and operation- 1. The organization is one whose goal, in taking up and furthering the Founding Manifesto of 1958, is reconciliation with those nations and peoples occupied by Nazi Germany or threatened with annihilation; and to develop the aptitude for peace.
- 2. It shall realize its tasks in particular through:
- a) short- and long-term voluntary service;
- b) seminars and other educational resources;
- c) promotion of scientific research whose purpose has themes of peace and reconciliation;
- d) help for victims of tyranny;
- e) promoting cooperation among all who are pursuing the same goals;
- f) informing the public about the objectives pursued by the organization.
Background
The beginnings of ARSP started with the actions of the Evangelical Church in GermanyEvangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
to reject Nazism and resist the Nazi regime. The founder of ARSP, Lothar Kreyssig, was one of the determined resisters within the Confessing Church
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church was a Protestant schismatic church in Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to nazify the German Protestant church.-Demographics:...
. After the war, he made this refusal by the Protestant church a subject of discussion and, along with like-minded people, such as Martin Niemöller
Martin Niemöller
Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller was a German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known as the author of the poem "First they came…"....
, Gustav Heinemann
Gustav Heinemann
Gustav Walter Heinemann, GCB was a German politician. He was Mayor of the city of Essen from 1946 to 1949, West German Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, Minister of Justice from 1966 to 1969 and President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1969 to 1974.-Early years and professional...
and later, Franz von Hammerstein, called for repentance and reversal.
Appeal for the Action for Reconciliation
Lothar Kreyssig tried to find fellow campaigners for his reconciliation service for the first time on KirchentagDeutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag
The Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag is a movement of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany...
1954, in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. The appeal found few ears. "That something is right and necessary, is not enough to see it materialize in time and space. The hour must be ripe," he later wrote in his unpublished autobiography. The Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of the Evangelical Church in Germany
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
convened from April 26–30, 1958, alternating in Spandau
Spandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
, in West Berlin) and Weißensee
Weißensee
Weißensee may refer to:*Weißensee , a district of Berlin*Weißensee, Thuringia, a town in Thuringia, Germany*Weissensee, Austria, a town in Carinthia, Austria*Weissensee , a lake in Carinthia, Austria...
in East Berlin. At this point, the synod still involved the entire Evangelical Church in Germany, both east and west. There was a controversy that year over the west German military chaplain
Military chaplain
A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...
cy contract and possible nuclear armament by the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
. This was the troubled atmosphere in which Praeses
Praeses
Praeses , is a Latin word meaning "Seated in front of, i.e. at the head ", has both ancient and modern uses.-Roman imperial use:...
Kreyssig, on the last day of the Synod, read his appeal to found the Action for Reconciliation. Numerous attendees signed the appeal that evening.
The appeal not only expressed an admission of guilt, it also delineated concrete consequences. The Action for Reconciliation would not offer assistance, rather, would ask to help. This humble attitude was a rejection of any patronizing functionalization
Functionalism versus intentionalism
Functionalism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust as well as most aspects of the Third Reich, such as foreign policy...
of the reconciliation thought process. The attitude was to signal the readiness to get involved — that is, to learn by doing and through dialogue — because the appeal relied on conversation, response and new action.
The Action for Reconciliation was initially founded as a Germany-wide organization, but the division of Germany made a joint effort impossible. The two German states therefore had two organizations with a common goal, albeit different emphasis in practice.
ARSP in western Germany
The western German ARSP began its work in 1959 with construction projects in the Netherlands and Norway and later, with projects in other countries. Volunteers helped build a synagoge in VilleurbanneVilleurbanne
Villeurbanne is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after that of Paris. Villeurbanne is the second-largest city in the department.-History:The current location of...
and the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire
Taizé, Saône-et-Loire
Taizé is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.It lies near Mâcon.In Taizé lives the Taizé Community, a monastic, ecumenical, international community founded in 1940 by Frère Roger, which has today just over 100 brothers from many different...
, in Burgundy
Bourgogne
Burgundy is one of the 27 regions of France.The name comes from the Burgundians, an ancient Germanic people who settled in the area in early Middle-age. The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the modern...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. They helped build a kindergarten in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
in the former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
, helped install a water irrigation system on Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, and helped create an international symbol of reconciliation from the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Work in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
began in 1961, after the Adolph Eichmann trial
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
was concluded. From the mid-1960s, the projects slowly changed. There was ever less construction work, but new projects emerged for memorials, for work with the elderly, and social work. By the 1980s, with World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
fading into the past, there were additional projects working with minority groups.
ASZ in eastern Germany
After 1961, the Berlin WallBerlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
prevented the East German Action for Reconciliation (Aktion Sühnezeichen, or ASZ) from sending any more volunteers to the west. Because the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR) considered itself to be an anti-fascist state, it did not consider itself responsible for the consequences of German fascism. Therefore, the projects of the ASZ were initially limited to the GDR. In 1965 and 1966, volunteers were still able to travel with Catholic chaplains from Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
to Auschwitz, Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
, Stutthof
Stutthof
Stutthof can refer to:*Sztutowo in Poland*Stutthof concentration camp built near Sztutowo...
, Groß-Rosen and Breslau. By 1967 and 1968, further trips to memorial sites in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
were not permitted, despite invitations being sent to the state visa refusal. With the introduction in 1972 of visa-free travel between the GDR and Poland and Czechoslovakia, young German were able to take part in summer camps in Poland. By then, Polish and Czech young people were also embarking on missions in the GDR. From this time on, reconciliation groups were involved in the preservation and restoration of Jewish cemeteries in almost every region of the GDR. The first group to work at Buchenwald was in 1979. Starting in 1981, the number of summer camps expanded to include Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, Ravensbrück, and Nordhausen-Dora. From 1962 till 1992, over 12,000 volunteers took part in the summer camps from ASZ.
Reunification
After reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the two eastern and western organizations merged, retaining their different forms of voluntary service, the long-term service of the ARSP and the short-term service and summer camps of the ASZ. Like the European Voluntary Service
European Voluntary Service
European Voluntary Service is the European Commission's project that allows a young person to become a volunteer in another country for a specified period, normally between 2–12 months...
, since the late 1990s, the ARSP has increased the number of project sites to respond to changing need and new opportunities.
Long-term voluntary service
At present, ARSP sends out about 180 men and women per year to work on projects, primarily in countries that suffered directly from the Nazis, but also ones that have large numbers of Holocaust survivors. Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Israel, Ukraine, America and Belarus all have ARSP voluntary projects. The volunteers are predominantly young, between the ages of 18 and 27. Conscientious objectorConscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
s can fulfill their required civil service under the auspices of ARSP. Volunteers support and accompany survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants, work at memorial sites, take care of older people, those with disabilities, the disadvantaged and refugees, and get involved in neighborhood projects and anti-racism initiatives.
ARSP volunteers helped create an international center of reconciliation in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral. In Israel, volunteers have worked in historical or political education and at the national memorial site, Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in Jerusalem and in projects with Jewish and Arab citizens, working toward mutual understanding.
ARSP first sent volunteers to Norway and the Netherlands in 1959 to work on construction projects. More recently, volunteers in the Netherlands work in historical or political education, for example, at the Joods Historisch Museum
Joods Historisch Museum
The Joods Historisch Museum is a museum in Amsterdam dedicated to Jewish history, culture and religion, in the Netherlands and worldwide. It is the only museum in the Netherlands dedicated to Jewish history...
or Anne Frank Foundation.
Volunteers in Poland work in societies for former concentration camp prisoners and at concentration camps sites, Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
in Oświęcim
Oswiecim
Oświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :...
, Stutthof
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
in Gdansk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
and Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
near Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
. For political reasons, ARSP first sent volunteers to Russia in 1990, and the Czech Republic in 1993. In Russia, they work at veterans' hospitals and the Russian human rights organization, Memorial
Memorial (society)
Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....
. In the Czech Republic, they work with the Jewish community in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and at the memorial site Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
. Volunteers to Ukraine work with former forced laborers
Forced labor in Germany during World War II
The use of forced labour in Nazi Germany and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in German-occupied...
.
ARSP has 24 volunteer positions in the United States. They work with Holocaust survivors or in offices at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
Washington, DC and the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
in New York and Washington. Since 1996, about 15-20 requests per year have come from partner programs in other countries from young people seeking voluntary peace service in Germany, as well.
Short- and medium-term voluntary service
Each year, about 300 people take part in summer camps, where they live and work together in about 25 camps in Germany and other countries. All summer camps are run by unsalaried employees, often former long-term volunteers who want to pass along their own experience. During the two- to three-week stay, volunteers learn about current and historical issues and are involved in projects, such as performing upkeep at Jewish cemeteries and memorial sites. They also work in social services and with intercultural projects.For the past several years, there has been medium-term voluntary service available in Israel. Lasting three to six months, this service involves volunteers of all ages, including seniors. There is a three-day orientation seminar is held in the country.
Public relations and education
Many ARSP alumni are in regional groups and maintain connections, continuing to volunteer even after their initial voluntary period ends. With the implementation of long- and short-term voluntary service, more unsalaried positions are created, filled by these alumni. Some also contribute to public relations and education efforts.Four times a year, ARSP publishes Zeichen (Signs), a magazine (in German) that reports on the current work of volunteers and project partners. Each issue is centered around a different theme. It publishes Predigthilfen & Materiellen für die Gemeinde (Sermon aids and materials for the congregation) three times a year, on the occasion of "Israel Sunday," (a memorial day in the Evangelical church
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
); for a ten-day period in November, called the Ökumenische Friedensdekade ("Ecumenical Decade of Peace"); and for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, is an international memorial day for the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide that resulted in the annihilation of 6 million European Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime.. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly...
. With these, ARSP wants to convey theological insights from the Jewish-Christian dialogue and the dialogue with Islam into the religious community. In addition, ARSP wants to weigh in on current political themes, thereby joining the inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and presenting its position against anti-semitism, right-wing extremism and racism and strongly advocating for compensation to those persecuded by the Nazis; and for a just peace.
Educational work
ARSP endeavors to stimulate societal debateon the themes of the politics of memory, national identities and inter-religious dialogue with events, workshops, seminars and congresses. ARSP contributes as founder, sponsor or cooperative partner to the following:- International Youth Meeting (Międzynarodowy Dom Spotkań Młodzieży) in OświęcimOswiecimOświęcim is a town in the Lesser Poland province of southern Poland, situated west of Kraków, near the confluence of the rivers Vistula and Soła.- History :...
. (Website in Polish and German) - Beit Ben Yehuda International Meeting Center and Guest House in Jerusalem.
- Foyer le Pont Paris. Meeting center in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Awards
- BuberMartin BuberMartin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
-RosenzweigFranz RosenzweigFranz Rosenzweig was an influential Jewish theologian and philosopher.-Early life:Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany to a middle-class, minimally observant Jewish family...
Medal, 1993 - Marion Samuel Prize, 2001
- Hans EhrenbergHans EhrenbergHans Philipp Ehrenberg was a German theologian. One of the co-founders of the Confessing Church, he was forced to emigrate to England because of his Jewish ancestry and his opposition to National Socialism....
Prize, 2006
Memberships
- in Germany: Aktionsgemeinschaft Dienst für den Frieden ("Communal Action Service for Freedom")
- in the USA: Council of Religious Volunteer Agencies, (CRVA)
Notable former ARSP volunteers
- Christoph Heubner, German author and executive vice-president of the International Auschwitz CommitteeInternational Auschwitz CommitteeThe International Auschwitz Committee was formed by survivors of the Auschwitz death camp in 1952 for the support of the survivors and to fight racism and anti-Semitism...
- Andreas MaislingerAndreas MaislingerAndreas Maislinger is an Austrian historian and founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service and Braunau Contemporary History Days.- Studying and learning :...
, Austrian historian and political scientist, founder of the Austrian Holocaust Memorial ServiceAustrian Holocaust Memorial ServiceThe Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service is an alternative to Austria's compulsory national military service / alternative service founded in 1992. Since 1998 it is part of the Austrian Service Abroad... - Thomas OppermannThomas OppermannThomas Oppermann is a German politician with the Social Democratic Party . From 1998-2003, he was the Minister for Science and Culture in the German state of Lower Saxony. He has been the speaker of the SPD faction in the Bundestag since November 2007.- Life and career :Oppermann received his...
, German politian, member of the BundestagBundestagThe Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
, (SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) - Joachim Schlör, Professor of Modern Jewish/non-Jewish Relations and head of the Parkes Institute, University of SouthamptonUniversity of SouthamptonThe University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
- Robert ThalheimRobert ThalheimRobert Thalheim is a German stage and film director and screenwriter.Thalheim was an assistant director at the Berliner Ensemble in 1997/98 and then studied Modern German Literature, History and Politics at the Free University of Berlin until the year 2000, in which period he edited the first...
, German director and screenwriter, And Along Come TouristsAnd Along Come TouristsAnd Along Come Tourists is a 2007 German movie. The director and writer Robert Thalheim deals with his own experience working as a volunteer in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum during the 1990s as part of his civilian service... - Thomas LutzThomas LutzThomas Lutz is the head of the Memorial Museums Department of the Topography of Terror Foundation in Berlin, and active in Holocaust education and commemoration at the national and international level.- Life :...
, manager of Topography of Terror Foundation, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
; former Fellow, United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
Further reading
- Ansgar Skriver. Aktion Sühnezeichen. Brücken über Blut und Asche. (Action Reconciliation. Bridge over blood and ash) Kreuz-Verlag, Stuttgart 1962
- Karl-Klaus Rabe. Umkehr in die Zukunft. Die Arbeit der Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste. (Back to the future. The work of Action Reconciliation Service for Peace) Lamuv-Verlag, Bornheim-Merten 1983, ISBN 3-921521-90-4
- Konrad Weiß. Lothar Kreyssig: Prophet der Versöhnung. (Lothar Kreyssig: Prophet of Atonement) Bleicher Verlag, Gerlingen 1998, ISBN 3-88350-659-1
- Gabriele Kammerer. Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste. Aber man kann es einfach tun. (Action Reconciliation Service for Peace. But one can just do it.) Lamuv Verlag, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-88977-684-6
External links
- Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) Official website. Retrieved March 10, 2010
- Action Committee Service for Peace Official website. Retrieved
- Stowarzyszenie ASF w Polsce ( ASF Poland) Official website
March 12, 2010