Seminar from the series „Flight and Migration“:
The seminar „Refugee Stories,“ which took place at the wannseeFORUM from April 18 to 22, 2016, focused for a week on both the personal stories of people who have had to leave their country in the recent past, and on the historical perspective of refugee movements and how they have been handled: What can we learn from history for the present? What stories and individual fates lie behind the anonymous numbers and images with which we are confronted daily in the news?
The participating students from an 11th grade class of Louise-Schroeder-School To begin, the participants in Berlin explored their own family histories, examining where they, their relatives, and/or their ancestors had moved from and to, and the reasons for these changes. It became clear that migration had occurred in all of their families, and that often the motivation for relocating was fleeing war and persecution, or seeking a dignified life in freedom. Thus, displacement was demonstrated as a widespread phenomenon in society, and its connection to their own personal history was brought to the forefront.
The program included, among other things, a visit to the learning center. 7 x young, The exhibition explores the theme of flight using the example of the persecution of Jews in the Third Reich. Exhibition director Jan Krebs emphasizes the importance of connecting history and the present, as the students learned in an interview with him. The workshop also addressed things that are important to them in life and how they would feel if they had to do without them.
Another excursion took the students to the Marienfelde Emergency Reception Center Memorial, The building, constructed in 1953 for refugees from East Germany, now houses both a temporary accommodation center for refugees and a museum. In the accompanying exhibition, the students gained insights into the stories of escape across the inner-German border and the reception of people from East Germany in what was then West Berlin.
In the transitional housing facility, they got into conversation with a resident who had to flee Syria. He had resisted the Assad regime during the so-called Arab Spring and was therefore politically persecuted. He explained that fleeing to Germany saved his life. A similar story was told by a young man who visited the wannseeFORUM and shared his personal story of escape, as well as his visions for the future, with the students present.
Gaining insights into the lives of refugees has helped to foster understanding of their individual situations. At the same time, these encounters have helped to reduce anxieties and counteract stereotypes.
The results of the seminar week were presented to the public in the form of a radio broadcast, which aired on Radio ALEX 88.4 MHz on April 29, 2016. here is available.
The rap group contributed the song "Tear down the borders":