Inspiring Stories
A home for Holocaust survivors, a complex history
What happened to the survivors when they were liberated from Nazi concentration camps? Citizens for the Badehaus shines a light on a little-known history and has connected with a generation of children born to Holocaust survivors as they reclaimed their lives.
“I have to do something so that children’s first contact with Judaism is not the [Holocaust].”
Meet Shlomit Tripp, with her puppet Shlomo and his friends. Their fun-loving shows are adored by children and adults alike, all while demystifying Jewish culture and normalizing intercultural relationships.
“There are a lot of people who never thought about that history, and now they are here.”
In 1997, a group of punk rockers took over two abandoned barracks of a former concentration camp. That group became Exil e.V., an organization with two main goals: to protect youth, migrants, and others from neo-Nazi violence, and to ensure that the history of the Nazi crimes not be forgotten.
“The first thing I wanted to do…was to make people aware.”
As an Afro-German historian, author, and community leader, Katharina Oguntoye has turned her own experience of being othered into powerful lessons about identity, pride, and mutual respect. She broke down barriers of awareness and shined a light on Afro-German history, empowering Afro-Germans to share their own stories.
“Everyone who listens to a witness will become a witness.”
Zweitzeugen e.V. (Secondary Witnesses) turns young people into “witnesses” by teaching them the life stories of Holocaust survivors. Zweitzeugen has worked with 37 survivors to date, gathering their stories in great depth and sharing them through multifaceted workshops and various media. The workshops help students as young as 10 develop empathy and an emotional connection with the survivors, as well a stronger perspective on prejudice and hate in the world today.
“It is very important to deal with this darkest chapter honestly”
Stefan Schirmer has been the guiding force behind making football club FC Ente Bagdad into a beacon for diversity, acceptance, and equality, as well is in helping people recognize and understand Jewish history and culture.