A one-year educational project on antisemitism in Europe was launched in Strasbourg at the beginning of July by the specialist and funding centres for international youth work: The Franco-German, German-Polish and German-Greek Youth Office, the coordination centres for German-Czech and German-Israeli youth exchange and central partner organisations from Israel are planning a joint programme with three modules on the topic of antisemitism for multipliers in youth and educational work from these six countries. In 2024/25, a group of 50 experts will be taken to locations in France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel and Greece in several seminar parts to learn about the history and present of antisemitism in the various societies. An encounter trip to the diverse country of Israel is an important building block in this learning and reflection process, which should subsequently encourage anti-Semitism-sensitive educational work and provide impetus for action against current anti-Semitism.
The international management team of the project, consisting of representatives of the specialist and funding organisations as well as experts in the field of antisemitism from the various partner countries, met for the first time in recent days to plan the learning process together. Part of this kick-off was a meeting at the Council of Europe for Human Rights with a representative of the General Secretariat, Mr Alexandre Guessel, in Strasbourg. During the discussion, it became clear how much the work of the Council of Europe since its foundation in 1949 has been based on an awareness of the Shoah and that this specific form of discrimination, which has recently seen a sharp rise in anti-Semitism, still plays a central role in its work today.
The project will be conducted from 2024 to 2025 and is funded by the European Union within the framework of Erasmus+, by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and by the inviting Bilateral Youth Exchange Organizations. The project is implemented under the patronage of the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism.
For further information: erinnern@dgjw-egin.org
