Peace through reconciliation
With Aktion Sühnezeichen in Eastern Europe
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Since 1958, Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste (Peace Services as a Sign of Atonement) has been sending young people to work in states that suffered under National Socialist rule. The founders of the organization saw this as the logical step required by Germany’s confession of guilt. In order to give expression to the need for atonement, these volunteers perform charitable work. Memories of war and occupation are still present in their contacts with their hosts. One of the volunteers’ most important experiences is the opportunity to conduct dialogue across borders and to question their own way of seeing the world.
(Osteuropa 8/2005, pp. 151–162)