Mission Statement

This event aims to be a step toward healing the wounds of the past. This year, as we mark the sixty-fifth anniversary of the end of World War II and the liberation of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, the need for healing is more obvious than ever. Although often unacknowledged, the wounds suffered or inflicted by our ancestors continue to affect us, both personally and as a society.

Seen this way, the need for healing goes far beyond the generation of those, who lived through the Nazi regime as victims, perpetrators, resisters, or bystanders. Unless the suffering and guilt of the past is healed, it will continue to poison the future of today's youth and of generations to come.

How can we take the first step toward healing? According to Auschwitz survivor Eva Kor, who will join in Weimar as a keynote speaker, the answer is less complicated than we may think. Like Nelson Mandela and many others in places of conflict throughout the world, she believes that the key is forgiveness. As she puts it:

Forgive the abusers and you will free yourself. If you do not like the way it works, you can always go back to being angry -- but forgiveness is a seed for peace. In Auschwitz, I see the worst of humanity and I see the best of humanity. It's a place where both meet. I would like the world to know that the most important part of my message is not only that Auschwitz happened, and how it happened, but also that there is hope that should come out of Auschwitz.

Eva describes her work using the Hebrew phrase Tikkun Olam: "repairing the world":

The world is broken. We need to repair it. It's true that to change the world might be too big a job. But what we can do is repair here and there what needs to be repaired.

At our gathering on the 21st of August 2010 in Weimar, we will explore together what it means to put Tikkun Olam into practice.

We look forward to seeing you there!