Representatives of the Institute for Youth Development KULT, together with partners from the Museum of History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with representatives of the High Economic School in Sarajevo and the “Motus Adulascenti” Youth Association from East Sarajevo are spending time in Berlin to attend a youth gathering. The thematic that the youth will pursue in the following period refers to the World War II, the influences and causes of World War II on Yugoslavia, consequences, but also manners in which the Germans are accepting their responsibility for World War II.
The participants are included in the project entitled “Between Diversity and Division” that is financed by the “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” German Foundation with the Europeans for Peace program (intended for international youth projects). The project partners in Germany are the NGO Memos and the Nelson Mandela High School.
As a part of this transnational project, two youth gatherings are organized. The first is being held currently, from February 13 to 20, and the return visit will be held from June 18 to 25, 2016 in Sarajevo.
After being introduced with the program, during the second day of their stay, the Sarajevo and Berlin project participants got to know each other through introduction games, and discussed the organizer, project goals and the final realization in the form of an exhibition. Lutz Mannes, representing the Nelson Mandela High School, introduced the participants with the significance of the school in Berlin, and then spent time with participants during their tour around the city. On the second day, everyone had the opportunity to walk around the city (Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag) and the locations of significance for the project (such as the Memorial Centers for killed Jews in Europe), while the third day was reserved for the participants to visit the Wannsee Mansion on the lake, i.e. the house in which the Wannsee Conference was held.
The participants were introduced with the origins of the house, its history and significance. In the house the Nazis, in a little over an hour, arranged methods of persecution and murder of the Jews. During the visit to the Wannsee House, the custodians of the museum, Gerd KĂĽhling and Tikva Sendeke, introduced the participants with the exhibits at the museum, but also organized an educational workshop. It included engagement of both groups of participants during which they had to complete certain tasks. The Berlin participants investigated the past and nature of World War II in former Yugoslavia, while the BiH participants investigated the postwar circumstances in Germany and the methods of spreading the truth and accepting it.
The participants are looking forward to a program filled with activities by the end of their visit and we hope that this form of non-formal learning will incite new attitudes in participants from both countries and expand their knowledge on this very important thematic.
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