Summer Camps

Literature, music, art, religion, politics and research: In all areas of life we encounter traces of Jewish culture and creativity in Europe. Almost eighty percent of the Jewish population worldwide has its roots in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

With our work in the summer projects we want to support the present, often small, Jewish communities that have been able to preserve their cultural legacy. For this reason the participants often work at Jewish cemeteries, clearing old paths, cleaning gravestones, removing weeds and helping to make the cemetery into a venerable place of remembrance. Jewish cemeteries continue to be vandalized still today. Our efforts against vandalism are an attempt to honour the people who have found a resting place in these graveyards. We also want to help those who are no longer able to care for the grave of their parents or grandparents, either because they were forced to leave the country or were murdered by the Nazis. Both young and older participants take a stance against anti-Semitism and racism.

Our work is not limited to commemoration. We also try to establish a lively exchange between Jewish and non-Jewish participants and project partners. Often groups are able to observe a Sabbath service and engage in intense talks about religion, current Judaism, everyday life, art and music and much more.

Who can participate?
Everyone can participate who is able to do the physical work in the one to two week projects and enjoys dealing with the culture, history and current situation in the respective summer camp country. The amount of work varies from summer camp to summer camp and is usually 5-6 hours.

How does the registration work?
Registration for the summer camps for people over 40 began in April 2023. Initially, all registrations are collected. Upon acceptance for a summer camp, the International Summer Camps Office sends out an email asking for payment of the participation fee. The team leaders of the summer camps will then contact the participants and inform them about the current status of the planning.

What does the participation cost?
For the participation, including meals, program and accommodation we ask for a contribution according to the information in the section costs. We will be happy to advise participants on booking their travel to and from the event, but we cannot assume the costs for this.

From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet occupying forces used the site as a special camp. Most of the buildings were demolished after 1950. In the newly-founded GDR, a memorial to the “anti-fascist resistance” was to be built. The “National GDR Memorial Buchenwald” was inaugurated in 1958. Since the 1990s, numerous changes have been made to the memorial site to commemorate more and other groups of victims. Two permanent exhibitions provide information about the history of the concentration camp and about the Soviet special camp. There is also an art exhibition.

In addition to practical and maintenance work on the hiking trail called “Buchenwald Railway Memorial Trail” (along the former railway tracks) and / or in the memorial on the former camp grounds, the participants of the summer camp will deal with the complex past of the site. On the hiking trail, they can engrave the names of deported children and young people on stones, or they can restore objects found during excavations in the restoration workshop. The proximity of the camp to the city of Weimar, which is important for German history and culture, will be discussed. The handling and representation of Buchenwald’s multi-layered story from 1945 until today will also be a topic. In addition to the place itself with its preserved buildings and remaining foundations, there are numerous opportunities for research through texts, photographs, drawings, found objects, archives, audio and film material and much more.

Buchenwald near Weimar has a multi-layered and ambiguous history. The participants of the summer camp deal with this history in various ways with content-related support from the educational department of the memorial.

In 1937, the National Socialist Buchenwald concentration camp was built on the Ettersberg near Weimar. It was one of the largest camps on German territory. In February 1945, over 112.000 people from 60 different countries were imprisoned in Buchenwald and its associated satellite camps. They had to do mostly hard forced labor, which since 1942 occurred especially within German weapon industry. At least 56,000 people did not survive.

From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet occupying forces used the site as a special camp. Most of the buildings were demolished after 1950. In the newly-founded GDR, a memorial to the anti-fascist resistance was to be built. The “National GDR Memorial Buchenwald” was inaugurated in 1958. Since the 1990s, numerous changes have been made to the memorial site to commemorate more and other groups of victims. Two permanent exhibitions provide information about the history of the concentration camp and about the Soviet special camp. There is also an art exhibition.

In addition to practical and maintenance work on the hiking trail called “Buchenwald Railway Memorial Trail” (along the former railway tracks) and / or in the memorial on the former camp grounds, the participants of the summer camp will deal with the complex past of the site. On the hiking trail, they can engrave the names of deported children and young people on stones, or they can restore objects found during excavations in the restoration workshop. The proximity of the camp to the city of Weimar, which is important for German history and culture, will be discussed. The handling and representation of Buchenwald’s multi-layered story from 1945 until today will also be a topic. In addition to the place itself with its preserved buildings and remaining foundations, there are numerous opportunities for research through texts, photographs, drawings, found objects, archives, audio and film material and much more.

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There are traces and evidence of these crimes here in Flossenbürg. The summer camp offers you the opportunity to engage intensively with the historical site, discuss your observations with the other participants and reflect on your own views of history. Almost 80 years after the end of National Socialism, we will explore the question of what this history has to do with us and what it means today. Everyone will bring their own topics to this place, which we can explore in greater depth by looking at the history of National Socialism. The starting point for this is always the question of what actually happened in this place.

By working on the digital archive “Memorial Archives” during the summer camp, you will gain an in-depth insight into the day-to-day detective work of the memorial and the current standards of archive work around the database and research platform “Memorial Archives”. If you want to know more in advance, take a look at our online platform “Research Stories”: https://www.researchstories.net/de

In addition to the on-site work, the program is supplemented by a thematic excursion (e.g. to Nuremberg) and an experience-oriented supporting program. Joint sporting and cultural leisure activities strengthen team spirit and provide a balance to the intensive exchange of content.

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Courage and civil courage are needed at all times. At this summer camp, you can discuss forms of anti-Semitism, racism and exclusion in our time with other international participants. Together you can think about what you can do against it today.

This summer camp is a cooperation with our Greek partner FILOXENIA. https://filox.org/

The village and the surrounding area are mountainous and unfortunately not barrier-free.

This summer camp is funded by the European Union (CERV – Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program). Thanks to this funding, you do not pay a participation fee. All summer camp costs (accommodation, meals, program and excursions) are financed by the EU.

You will have to pay for your own travel to and from the camp. This may include costs for the flight to Greece or for trains, buses and ferries. There is a good train connection from Athens (city and airport) via Corinth to Kiato. The cost of the return journey from Athens to Kiato is around 20 euros.

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The summer camp in Višķi is being organised for the third time by ASF, the association “Drei Stufen e.V.” (Osnabrück) and the local community. The work, which began in 2022, will continue this year. Helpers are once again needed to safeguard Jewish cultural heritage in rural areas.

Specifically, the participants’ practical work at the old Jewish cemetery will contribute to the construction of the future open-air ensemble museum. Restoration, gardening and cleaning work will be carried out under the guidance of specialised staff.

During the summer camp, two signposts will also be unveiled, bringing the Jewish traces in today’s Višķi back to light. The work in Višķi will also be complemented by a thematic approach to the history of the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional place and references to Jewish culture in Latvia in the past and present.

The work camp aims to give young people from different countries in particular an insight into the history of Latvia and Eastern Europe using the example of the Jewish history of Shtetl Višķi and to sensitise them to this history. Looking back into the past should enable young people to build bridges to the present and future and to shape these together.

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In this international summer camp, you will learn about the history of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp and work with other participants and local actors to create an information folder in English. The information folder will provide background information about the Auschwitz camp complex and cover the former subcamps that are not part of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum today. However, there are still remnants of the former camps and places of remembrance at these sites, which you will explore during the summer camp and document for the information folder, so that one can also seek out these places on their own.

Furthermore, hands-on work is also in the programme. At the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim, you will take part in maintenance and upkeep work, such as clearing weeds and undergrowth and cleaning gravestones. Your work at the Jewish cemetery is an active contribution to remembrance. With our commitment, we remember the people who rest in the cemeteries and those who can no longer look after the graves of their relatives because they were expelled or murdered by the National Socialists.

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At the Etty Hillesum Centrum you will learn about the life of Etty (Esther) Hillesum through her diaries. Etty Hillesum was the child of a Jewish family. She came to Deventer at the age of ten. As a young woman, she refused to go into hiding in the occupied Netherlands. She was murdered in Ausschwitz in November 1943. The centre preserves her memory and is also involved in educational work against current forms of exclusion and discrimination.

In workshops and on excursions, you will explore questions of diversity in Europe together: What do human rights and tolerance towards those who think differently mean in the Netherlands? What is it like in the participants’ countries? On an excursion to Amsterdam, you will visit the Anne Frank House and the Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum). Another day trip will take you to the Westerbork Memorial.

There will also be plenty of variety in your free time: bike tours, excursions in the surrounding area, cooking together, a campfire atmosphere and, of course, the ideas you bring with you. And last but not least: Deventer is a beautiful old city next to the river.

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The Jewish cemetery has been used as a burial ground by the Jewish community of Wrocław since 1902. The site of the summer camp is the old, largest part of the Jewish cemetery, where people were buried until the end of the Second World War. Important Jewish citizens of Wrocław who had rendered outstanding services to the city are buried there. The cemetery has not been maintained for a long time and has been partially vandalised. The northern half is completely overgrown. In some parts of the cemetery area, work has begun to clear away wood and branches from previous tree felling campaigns, clear and clean grave fields and paths and remove overgrown vegetation. The gravestones uncovered in the process were – as far as possible – erected and repaired. Field 24, where Jewish forced labourers and concentration camp prisoners were buried during the Second World War, is also to be cleared of the undergrowth and cleared of vegetation in order to make the graves visible. The work will be carried out under the expert guidance of the cemetery staff. The cemetery is still regularly used for burials today.

Wrocław presents itself as a lively and vibrant city with an unmistakable atmosphere, a “city of encounters”. The accompanying programme of the summer camp includes getting to know the history and present of the city, in particular the search for traces of Jewish life, and encounters with people, culture, religion and nature in a variety of ways. The participants have the opportunity to discover a very special, historic and modern city.

The project will take place twice this year. When registering, please indicate whether you would like to take part in the summer camp in June or August.

Register now!

The Jewish cemetery has been used as a burial ground by the Jewish community of Wrocław since 1902. The site of the summer camp is the old, largest part of the Jewish cemetery, where people were buried until the end of the Second World War. Important Jewish citizens of Wrocław who had rendered outstanding services to the city are buried there. The cemetery has not been maintained for a long time and has been partially vandalised. The northern half is completely overgrown. In some parts of the cemetery area, work has begun to clear away wood and branches from previous tree felling campaigns, clear and clean grave fields and paths and remove overgrown vegetation. The gravestones uncovered in the process were – as far as possible – erected and repaired. Field 24, where Jewish forced labourers and concentration camp prisoners were buried during the Second World War, is also to be cleared of the undergrowth and cleared of vegetation in order to make the graves visible. The work will be carried out under the expert guidance of the cemetery staff. The cemetery is still regularly used for burials today.

Wrocław presents itself as a lively and vibrant city with an unmistakable atmosphere, a “city of encounters”. The accompanying programme of the summer camp includes getting to know the history and present of the city, in particular the search for traces of Jewish life, and encounters with people, culture, religion and nature in a variety of ways. The participants have the opportunity to discover a very special, historic and modern city.

The project will take place twice this year. When registering, please indicate whether you would like to take part in the summer camp in June or August.

Register now!