The ZWEITZEUGEN-concept
Our didactic concept
Through the special form of transmission with the help of the "heart-mind-hand" principle, we enable children and young people as young as ten years old to access the abstract topic of the Holocaust. In this way, we are facing up to our responsibility for democracy and diversity in our society.
01
HEART
Access through personal life stories: Through individual stories of survival, (young) people gain an accessible and deeply personal entry point to the history of National Socialism and to the lasting impact of antisemitism.
02
MIND
Knowledge and Understanding: They acquire knowledge about the Nazi era and antisemitism, and connect what they have learned to the present day and to their own lives.
03
Hand
Transfer and becoming active themselves: They are encouraged and empowered, as second-generation witnesses, to actively stand up against antisemitism and discrimination in their everyday lives.
Our impact goals
Heart: personal access through life stories
Children and young people are given an accessible entry point to the history of National Socialism and to antisemitism. By encountering an individual story of survival, their interest in engaging with the topics of National Socialism and antisemitism is sparked. In this way, the period of National Socialism and the impact of antisemitism become more tangible and easier for them to grasp.
Mind: Gain knowledge about the Nazi era, as well as historical and current anti-Semitism and discrimination
Children and young people learn about the historical contexts of discrimination, disenfranchisement, and the murder of those persecuted as Jews between 1933 and 1945. They explore antisemitic narratives and structures, as well as their continuities after 1945, and reflect on their own perceptions and assumptions.
They are able to identify this form of antisemitism as racial antisemitism and understand that antisemitism can take different forms. In doing so, they learn to name key antisemitic motifs and to critically deconstruct antisemitic narratives.
The program fosters a transfer to the present day and raises awareness of the relevance of antisemitism and discrimination in the children’s and young people’s own lives today.
Hand: Transfer to today, to one's own life and become active as a secondary witness
Children and young people understand the concept of ZWEITZEUGEN.
They are motivated to carry forward the stories of survival shared by contemporary witnesses and, as second-generation witnesses, to take on an active role in remembrance culture. They become familiar with different ways of taking action against antisemitism and/or discrimination in their everyday lives and are encouraged to develop a concrete course of action for themselves. Depending on the time available, they are supported in implementing a first example of action and experience a sense of self-efficacy.
PROJECTS OF YOUNG SECONDARY WITNESSES
The 6th graders of the Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium in Dortmund produced the stop-motion film "Everybody is different" - against anti-Semitism and racism in the present. Feel free to watch and share it!
Other outcomes of children and teenagers from the ZWEITZEUGEN workshops:
Podcast of the comprehensive school Globus am Dellplatz in Duisburg
Online exhibition of the vocational school Senne near Bielefeld
Our target groups
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Children and teenagers
Young people are the foundation of our society and will play a key role in shaping its future. That is why our educational work starts at an early age.
We believe that all people should (be able to) actively advocate for an open, discrimination-free society. Even though anti-Semitism and racism can be found in all population groups in our society today, they are not innate. For this reason, our projects are aimed in particular at children and young people over the age of ten, whom we reach in both school and non-school contexts. They represent the most important target group of our work, through which we want to lay the foundation for a responsible society.
In doing so, we want to be able to reach all of the approximately six million children and young people between the ages of ten and 18 in Germany - especially those who do not gain access to a diverse society through their family and social environment, or who require low-barrier access due to limitations.
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Multipliers
Teachers, social workers and educators in historical-political education make an important contribution to a democratic society by accompanying children and young people.
We are grateful that so many multipliers in (extracurricular) education turn to us for support. In their work with adolescents, they are looking for new methods and tools to convey the National Socialist era and its relevance for the present. They often have a strong thematic interest and show particular commitment in their work. As partners and multipliers of our project, without whom we cannot work, they are an opportunity for us to reach more children and young people in the future.
Our anti-discrimination guideline
With this anti-discrimination guideline, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. aims to ensure that the organisation creates an inclusive and discrimination-sensitive environment for its employees, volunteers, members and partners (hereinafter referred to as ‘contributors’). ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. encourages and empowers (young) people to become second witnesses themselves by sharing the stories of Holocaust survivors and to take a stand against antisemitism and other forms of discrimination today. With this concept, we want to ensure that we also work together internally free from discrimination and marginalisation of any kind.