RE*ACT for HUMANITY, an Israeli-German-Polish youth seminar was held in January, under the auspices of Givat Haviva and Caritas Akademie Caritas-Pirckheimer Haus, Internationaler Bund Polska.
The white and frozen streets of Nermberg and Kraków, which in recent years have become shelter for homeless people, war refugees and migrant workers, have created an ideal, tragic and real platform for a seminar on "Humanism and Social Action." Thirty-two Israeli-Polish and German youth participated in a multi-cultural / political-religious seminar that examined humanitarian issues over the past 70 years in Israel, Germany, Poland and Europe.
During the first part of the seminar, which took place last October with high school students from Megiddo and Kfar Kara high school, the students studied eight Righteous Among the Nations figures from Nuremberg, Krakow and Albania (Muslims). The study was based on materials that the students encountered at Givat Haviva’s Moreshet Institute and the Yad Vashem Archives, under the guidance of the staff of these institutes.
The second part of the seminar took place in late January, half in Germany (Nuremberg) and half in Poland (Krakow and Kielce). During this part, the youths tried to build a profile of those who remained "bystanders", "collaborators," and "rescuers," when human shipments to the east took place in the early 1940s from Nuremberg and Kielce (the hometown of the Polish students). A local artist helped the students create a comic-book style exhibition based on the life stories of those Righteous Among the Nations. The exhibition was displayed at a memorial event held on January 27, International Holocaust Day, in Kielce, Poland. On the evening of that day, the delegation gathered in the main square on the street where a monument was erected in the form of a lamp, half-buried in the ground, where the synagogue had been destroyed during the Holocaust. An impressive ceremony was held in the presence of dozens of bystanders and was transferred to the local media. A Polish student read Psalms, a student from Megiddo read Kaddish, and all the participants sang together the John Lennon's Imagine. The ceremony was moving for everyone.
We also dealt with the current attitudes of society in Israel, Germany and Poland toward minorities. We talked about the tragedy of war refugees, about the migrant workers and the great waves of involuntary immigration of thousands and millions of people in the world today. There were many difficult discussions about racism, fear of the "other", the different, and the foreign in our time. We tried to sketch profiles of "bystanders," "collaborators," and who are those "rescuers," heroes who are sometimes willing to stand against an entire society, to take a courageous stand, to protect and even to help the "other". We talked about it as easy to identify with the "other" as we are, culturally, socially, racially, religiously, but the noblest act is to reach out to those different from us in all categories, yet like us as human beings.
The students met with Rawia, a refugee from Syria who now lives in Germany, who told her tragic story about the horrors of the war and the difficult journey to Europe. She told of her acclimatization and how she now lives in Germany as a refugee. Together the students raised donations to help her blind husband.
The students visited centers and non-profit organizations that organize activities to bring together people of different religions. We met wonderful people there who told us about their holy work to bring people together and help the immigrants. During the week, Israeli students were invited to dinner with Polish and German students. They were greeted warmly and with great respect.
It was a fascinating and meaningful journey, full of ethical and moral values and learning. We touched on humanity and returned to Israel with great hope in our hearts. There is no doubt that everyone who participated in the delegation felt it was a great privilege.
