WFJCSHD holds 26th International conference in Berlin

The World Federation of Jewish Child Holocaust Survivors and Descendants conference, entitled “Justice, Respect and Peace”, was held from 24-27 August in Berlin.

Participants were greeted on Sunday 24 August by the President of the WFJCSHD, Stefanie Seltzer, the Chairman of Child Survivors of Germany, Andrew Hilkowitz, and the governing Mayor of Berlin, H.E Klaus Wowereit. Survivors were offered the chance to meet by their country of origin as well as a number of workshops dealing with, among other topics, the experience of being in Germany. There was also space for the second and third generation to share their thoughts on this matter.

Special workshops were held for the spouses of survivors as well as workshops focusing on writing and art as a way to reflect and remember. A forward-looking panel on the future of Holocaust Education was held as well as a discussion of the obligations and responsibility for the future which took place on the final day of the conference.

The conference was held under the patronage of Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany and IHRA delegate Wolf Kaiser, from the House of the Wannsee Conference, was in attendance.