Areas of work

Concentration Camp Memorial Sites

Concentration Camp Memorial Sites are places of memory and reflection on all people, who were dragged off to perform slave labor or locked up in prisons or concentration camps because of, for example, their origin, language, or religion, or because of their sexual orientation or political opinion. Memorials are also, however, places of learning for the future. Through the process of historical research, documentation, and publication important educational goals may be achieved. History is not concluded; Ideas, behaviors, and power structures are passed on from generation to generation. Educational work in memorials has fixed itself to other kinds of goals: clarifying the conditions of the functioning totalitarian system and revealing the presence of racist and anti-Semitic tendencies. For many years ARSP-summer work camp participants have taken part in maintenance work, documentation, and archival research.. They often have the opportunity to come in contact with former prisoners or time witnesses. With support from educational workers, the participants work together to investigate both historical and contemporary questions.

Jewish Cemeteries

Cemeteries are also a place for remembrance and reflection. There are innumerable abandoned and dilapidated Jewish cemeteries in Europe. The German National Socialists and their collaborators destroyed most of Europe's Jewish communities by driving out and murdering the Jews as well as leveling their cemeteries to the ground. Much of the discrimination, persecution, and expulsion did not end in1945. Only since the political changes in 1989 could the Jewish communities of middle and Eastern Europe begin to redevelop anew. Even until today, however, are Jewish cemeteries and grave sites continually vandalized and desecrated. As a symbol of solidarity, ARSP volunteers have helped for many years in the care and maintenance of these cemeteries especially in middle and Eastern Europe.

"Ostarbeiter" ("East worker")-this German word is also used in Russian to describe many people, who during World War II were abducted from the Soviet Union and driven into the German Reich to perform slave labor. Their numbers are estimated at 2.8 Million people. Approximately half of them came out of the Ukraine, the rest out of the occupied parts of Russia and Belarus.

In Germany, they were forced to perform hard labor in industrial factories or agricultural or private household work for a ridiculously low wage. An OST-badge with a number identified them as allegedly inferior people. They were forced to live in camps, suffering from starvation and poor hygienic practices, which were so terrible that many of them did not survive the war or were left to carry on with serious health problems.

Upon arrival in the Soviet Union after the war the surviving slave laborers received as a rule no heart-warming welcome, but rather open mistrust and repression. According to Stalinist logic, they were also considered betrayers of the father land because they only survived due the fact that they had worked for the enemy and won his favor. Because of this situation, many "Ostarbeiter" kept their experience in Germany a secret from the officials and often also even from their families.

Interviews with survivors document history and preserve it in our memory. History is made up of stories that we are able to experience through those stories being told to us.

ARSP began to collaborate on social projects to challenge the historical belief that a person's worth depends on his physical strength, toughness, and ability to produce. The Nazi racist ideology divided people in society into two groups: the "valuable" and those whose lives are "worthless." The Nazis interned, abused for the purpose of "study," exploited, and murdered those who were classified as "worthless." One's place of birth, lifestyle, mental and physical state, and family background were all factors in the decision between life and death. The handicapped, mentally ill, elderly, alcoholics and drug addicts, homeless, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, and members of smaller religious groups had no legitimate place either in the Nazi's world view or image. Many of these groups are still considered as a stain on the public consciousness. They continue to be excluded from society at large and are pushed to the fringes where they will not come into contact with "normal" people. These summer camp programs offer the chance to meet extraordinary people and discover a range of different lifestyles.