Projects by children and young people
Testimonials
"For me, being a Zweitzeuge means passing on and retelling the stories that people have told in order to raise awareness that a time like the Nazi era will not be repeated."
"Through ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. I have become a Zweitzeuge for the second time, because I am already a Zweitzeuge of the Armenian Genocide, as I belong to the Armenian diaspora. Being a Zweitzeuge is a meaningful challenge and responsibility that I have accepted, accept and will accept in my life in order to faithfully and accurately take to heart and continue to tell the story of brutal and cruel humanity."
Projects by children and young people
An exhibition of its own
In just six weeks, pupils from the Paul Spiegel vocational college in Dorsten, Germany, created their own exhibition including a podcast and stop motion film about Sister Johanna's life story. Under the self-imposed motto 'Be a Lioness', they created exhibition content that was be presented in 2023 at the Jewish Museum of Westphalia, which Johanna once co-founded. Based on the intensive examination of the biography of the Recklinghausen native, the young people wrote their own texts describing life before, during and after the time of persecution. In addition, they also dealt with strength, identity and empowerment and contributed their own life experiences and thoughts to the exhibition. As a highlight of the project work, the young people created a stop motion film and recorded their own podcast episode, which is also included in the exhibition.
A creative Peer-to-peer vacation project
As part of a project week during the 2023 3 summer vacations, 25 children and young people aged between ten and 14 became second witnesses. They creatively designed their form of remembrance as part of an exhibition. They took part in a workshop with ZWEITZEUGEN e.V., got to know the (survival) stories of various contemporary witnesses and worked out how they could present the exhibition to other young visitors as guides. They created impressive pictures of the life story of contemporary witness Chava Wolf.
Graphic interpretations of the (survival) life stories
The budding design assistants from the Berufskolleg Senne vocational college in Germany have individually interpreted the (survival) stories of Herta Goldman, Wolfgang Lauinger and Tamar Dreifuss. The students described it as challenging to work through the transcripts of the interviews and deal with the touching and sometimes incriminating content. Working in teams, they worked out what was important and at the same time did not gloss over anything. This creative way of presenting the stories should make it easier for other generations to become second witnesses - without having to struggle through the interview texts.
Peer-to-peer ZWEITZEUGEN project
Committed pupils at Wolfhelmschule in Olfen, Germany, have actively become second witnesses themselves: After 18 high school students became second witnesses themselves through workshops with us, they independently gave workshops in the eighth grade at the Datteln site in June 2022 using the peer-to-peer principle.
Online exhibition
After a workshop with us, pupils from the Senne vocational college in Germany created their own online exhibition: "From the visible known to the hidden unknown." With their own artistic works and a focus on personal 'key objects' of the contemporary witnesses, the (survival) life stories of the contemporary witnesses Hannah Pick, Dr. Leon Weintraub, Michaela Vidlakova and Rolf Abrahmsohn were processed for the exhibition.
Podcast
Being a second witness is not only a condition, but also a call to action - some pupils from the Globus comprehensive school on Dellplatz in Duisburg, Germany, took this to heart and recorded a podcast episode on the topic of being a second witness. After holding ZWEITZEUGEN workshops in March 2021, they quickly grabbed microphones, conducted an interview with the workshop leaders and then went out and about in Duisburg to explore the city's history and interview local residents.
Exhibition with own drawings
In our January 2018 exhibition at the Braunschweig State Museum, Germany, children listened to life stories and worked through them artistically in a workshop lasting several days. The results were then curated with the children and complemented the association's exhibition. They worked with the stories of Chava Wolf and Tibi Ram. Our illustrator was present for part of the workshop and explained how she illustrated Elisheva's story.
Stop-motion film
On two project days at the Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium in Dortmund, Germany, in 2015, an exhibition was created, which the pupils guided through, as well as an anti-racism video. The 6th graders produced the (German) stop-motion film "Everyone is different" - against anti-Semitism and racism in the present day. As second witnesses, they tell the story of Frieda Klieger in their own personal way and call for action: "Do something against injustice and racism. Because every person is equally valuable and every person is different."
Primary school pupils tell (survival) stories
"He just saw his dad and was happy. But asked, 'Where's mom? Where's my niece? Where is my little sister and my sister?" Two texts and a film were created with the 4th graders at the Grundschule am Lerchenweg in Monheim after we were there for a project day. They recount moments from Siegmund Pluznik's life and tell his story.
