No more War!

Almost eighty years have passed since World War II. The lifespan of an entire generation. Despite the long interval, the Second World War is still a widely discussed topic between many nations in Europe: Poles and Germans are no exceptions. There is no doubt that future generations will continue these current debates. To strengthen peace in Europe, we cannot leave young people alone with these debates. They should be knowledgeable of the past in order to develop empathy towards all war victims. But above all, they should understand the differences in the perception of history in different countries, as this understanding is the most important tool to prevent wars in the future.
For this purpose, we draw on the experience of two innovative approaches.
1)      The International Delphic Academy, wherein scientific research, historical documentation and, interdisciplinarity are cultivated by coupling areas of arts, culture, science, and technology.
2)      Polish-German project of the textbook “Europa. Our history” http://europa-nasza-historia.org/ . This is a textbook on European history with identical content in Polish and German, which enables pupils to gain reliable knowledge about the past.
These two approaches enable pupils to create an open picture of history and to acknowledge different points of views and perspectives.  Through additional individual tasks we prepared, students will have an opportunity to interact directly with their peers from the other country and learn more about them and the history of their country.
In a further step, pupils work with four artists in film/photography, painting, theater, and music. With the support of experts in these fields, they will try to use their knowledge for artistic purposes. They should prepare a final artistic work with historical content, which will be presented in June 2022 in Krzyżowa / Kreisau. This work will be a peace message for the Poles, Germans, and all Europeans.
On the project website, we offer more information about the course of the project. After its completion in June 2022, we will also provide a detailed guide on how to prepare and carry out similar projects.