Redebeitrag von ASF-Freiwilligen der am 9. November 06 in Yad Vashem gehalten werden soll:

Dear Ladies, dear Gentlemen,

We are giving this speech in the name of the volunteers of Ot Hakapara Ve Hashalom, some of you might know it under the English name Action Reconciliation Service for Peace, others know it as Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste.
Throughout the last 48 years, the German organization Ot Hakapara has sent Volunteers to different countries, who have been affected by the second world war, as well as through the Shoah. Since 1961, our organization is also working in Israel. It has not always been easy, as many people in Israel were not interested in meeting German people and hearing the German language again.
We are the so-called third generation.
So when I speak about the events that unfolded on the 9th of November 1938, I have nothing more then pictures in a history book, numbers in an encyclopedia and the memory of eyewitnesses to refer to. Thinking about it I realize, that however hard I try, it is actually impossible for me to imagine, what really happened that very night.
So why is it so important for me to commemorate the 9th of November then?
I want to connect this question with another one: Why am I, a German volunteer, out of the third generation, here in Israel?
Since I can not, no matter how hard I try, remember, what happened 68 years ago, simply to the fact that I was not alive, it is still important for me to meet people who were alive back then, who did see what happened, who did experience what it meant to be a Jew in Nazi Germany. It means a lot to me to listen, to what they have to say, to try and help them if I can. It also teaches me about my ancestors, and thus about myself and the country that I come from. I know, that it is impossible for me to plead for forgiveness for this crime that I have not committed. And the harm that has been done is too great to ever be undone. Still I feel a urge and a need to help people, who might need help, not out of guilt, but because it is the right thing to help those in need.
And I would like to place a sign in the heart of the people that I work with, a sign that shows that I can hopefully do better, then my grandparents did 68 years ago.

Today Ot Hakapara, has the goal to set a sign of reconciliation amongst those nationalities, who were threatened with extermination during the Nazi-reign and through the work that we do try to establish a basis for peace.
There will by some time in the future when the last contemporary witnesses aren´t there anymore to tell their stories. What will the goal or target of Ot Hakapara be then?
Luckily today the Shoah is over, the harm inflicted can not be undone. It was a crime that can not be compared to contemporary politics.
The separation, ethnic discrimination and anti-Semitism, taking place all around the world today, have taken a different shape, but still I recognize, how important the work, which we do, is. By going abroad and meeting people from different cultural and historical background I weaken the power of those, who are still interested in spreading hatred and racism. Being here in Israel and working in my project, strengthens my will to fight against those, who want to deny human beings equality and their right for a free and fearless life. I learn, that my work, that our work, the work of Ot Hakapara is not over yet, it has just started.

Der Redebeitrag ist nicht sonderlich spannend aber er zeigt ganz gut wie sich die Freiwilligen hier sehen und wie wir (ich bin da ja nicht ausgenommen von) uns nach außen darstellen bzw. auftreten.
Weiterhin muss dazu gesagt werden, dass einige Dinge explizit gewünscht wurde z.B. der Bezug auf unsere Arbeit usw. und andere Dinge die gerade die Zukunftsperspektive betreffen nicht mehr in den zeitlichen Rahmen gepasst haben.
Mir macht es oft sehr viele Bauchschmerzen wenn es um die Frage geht ob wir (als Freiwillige von ASF) hier in Israel das Bild von „den Deutschen“ bzw. Deutschland verbessern oder zurecht rücken.
Diese Diskussionen verlaufen dann meistens auch nicht sonderlich Erkenntnisgewinnend.
Jedenfalls ist auch hier (bei ASF, einigen Freiwilligen) der Wunsch da die Schuld der Deutschen anzuerkennen aber das Nachkriegsdeutschland in ein positives Licht zu setzen.
Ich hab da so einige Problem mit. Aus diesem Grund hab ich mich beim schreiben dieser Rede nach einigen Überlegungen nicht mit eingebracht.
Ich kann den Satzanfang „ aber grade wir als Deutsche in Israel…“
einfach nicht mehr hören.

Soweit zu meinen Bauchschmerzen ansonsten bin ich aber gut drauf und sehr gespannt auf die Veranstaltung morgen.