Current Program

Again in 2010 we invite young and older people to participate in one of Action Reconciliation Service for Peace’s (ARSP) international summer work camps. The following texts include basic information about the goals and development of our summer work camp programs, the diversity of our programs and everything you need to apply for a work camp. All those interested should carefully read through the following texts.

For 2010 we planned 22 summer workcamps in Europe and abroad. Application starts April 1st.

The Future on Track

When you are certain that you can fulfill the requirements listed and you can support the ARSP summer work camp concept, please send us a letter or email expressing your intent. If you are not sure that you are ready to give us consent yet, please obtain further information in order to be absolutely certain you can commit to the period of time and the place of the desired summer work camp.

With the 2010 summer work camps we are renewing “the future of the past on track” - in ten different countries, in Jewish community centers, at memorial sites and in cemeteries. Our summer work camps include providing welfare services, landscaping and political development initiatives as well as international educational facilities.

A Selection of Summer Work Camps

There are various areas of work to offer participants of a summer camp. Here are some examples of the work being offered this year: caring for people with disabilities (Bernburg, Kleinwachau), apartment renovation (Perm), archival and gardening work at a memorial site (Ahrensbök), maintenance and documentation of a Jewish cemetery (Moselle, Czernovicz and Wroclaw),  supporting a music workshop on exile and homeland (Jerusalem) and preservation work at a memorial site (Osnabrück, Buchenwald, Prettin).

Current Topics

Each summer work camp represents a specific topic, with which the participants deal with further by working hands-on – through interviews with witnesses, group work, archival work, excursions or project visits. Here are some examples of topics for this year: Jewish tracks (Wroclaw), German-Israel relationships (Jerusalem), Euthanasia discussions concerning disabled people (Kleinwachau), art and memorial sites (Osnabrück) and remembrance in Germany and Poland (Sztutowo, Oswiecim).

Connecting and Separating

Summer work camps with Action Reconciliation Service for Peace are about meeting both young and older people from different cultures, countries and religions. The work at our camps sends a clear message against anti-Semitism, racism, right-wing extremism, exclusion and discrimination. We seek dialogue with people from different countries and cultures, who belong to varying generations and lifestyles. We want to experience connecting and separating, to work together, to learn, to discuss and to celebrate. We cordially invite you join this experience.

We hope you take plenty of time to leisurely read and make a selection. 

We look forward to your reply – and of course we look forward to meeting you.

Bernhard Krane & Christine Bischatka

& the ARSP Leadership Circle of the Summer Work Camp/ Yearly Meeting

“I see my time as a volunteer as an opportunity to contribute to the understanding between Muslims and Jews and between Germans and US-Americans. As an individual this is of course difficult. But perhaps I can simply be a role-model.”

Aness Yacoubi from Wolfsburg, ASF-volunteer in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.