Study trip to Auschwitz for young people from the Leukersdorf Junior High School 15/01-19/01/2024

“What do I have to do with Auschwitz; Building bridges between the past and the present” was the theme of the study trip to Auschwitz, in which ninth-grade students of the evangelical high school from Leukersdorf in Saxony participated. The Center for Dialogue and Prayer has been hosting groups centered of this program every year for 14 years.

The project aims to raise awareness of the importance of this part of history for society and how it influences contemporary life. One of its goals in also to give participants an impulse to act and live by facing the accounts and personal stories of witnesses and the traces that history has left in Auschwitz.

The five-day project included a tour of the city of Oświęcim and the Jewish Center, along with the last surviving synagogue in the city, a visit with an educator to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, a visit to the national exhibitions and participation in a workshop entitled “Children in Auschwitz- Birkenau”. A very moving moment, and for many the most important point of the program, was the meeting with the witness of history, Mrs. Lidia Maksymowicz, at the Galicia Museum in Krakow. After each trip, at the end of the project, there is a presentation during which students talk about their experiences related to the visit to the Memorial Site and the whole trip.

The project organizer was Bildungs-WG e.V., an educational organization that sees itself as a meeting place. Through its projects, it wants to create a space for exchanging experiences, ideas and topics that currently interest and move us.

Their intention is for people to talk to each other, engage in discussions and listen to each other. Society thrives on curiosity, interest, and reflection on one’s own actions. Bildungs-WG e.V. wants to raise awareness on this topic and thus help shape society and coexistence in a positive and creative way.

Photo: Thomas Groschwitz