Work on the New Europe: Memory - Reconciliation - New Europe Development

Project ‘Work on new Europe’ is an offer for young people from Poland at the age 18-25, which takes place in Limburg bishopric. The group of 9 young people – our guests from Poland – will live together, explore country and meet people, analyze and discuss about the past and the future of New Europe and serve an internship – everyone in their own discipline. The organizer of the project is society: Education and Knowledge for Adults in Frankfurt, Catholic Peace Movement by Limburg bishopric – Pax Christi and the Catholic church of Frankfurt and its project: Fantasy – help in creating new workplace. Project ‘Work on new Europe’ is a result of various social and ideological tendencies. In 90’s Catholic church of Limburg bishopric pleaded guilty that it employed forced workers from Poland in their households and farms during nationalistic socialism. After that event, an exhibition was organized to make the revealed facts public. The documents were presented in many parishes of this bishopric. The exhibition was very popular and many people and social circles were interested in this issue. The next step was to find the alive persons, who were taken away to work in Germany during the Second World War. We succeeded in finding 15 persons. The group of people engaged in the search from Limburg bishopric made a visit and gave a financial compensation to the still alive forced workers. This event was a very moving moment for all and simultaneously showed the way to make changes and opened the door to a new. Parallel to these efforts, the unemployment in Germany, as well as in Poland rises, that concerns especially young generation. A lot of people from the countries, which joined an EU, from East and South leave their countries as to search for work in Western Europe. Due to the development of our new Europe, it is necessary to create up-to-date law, regulating the problems with migration and new forms of intercourse. If we don’t manage to create it together by e.g making personal contacts, we can be defeated by the short-sightedness and egoism, which have direct impact on reducing the chances for good life in a new European community. In order to create new EU, an incredible idea appeared to us. We decided to look for and make the relationships with descendants of former forced workers by three month-long internship in German companies and institutions. The results of these practices should be a positive professional experience that can be the milestone in the further career. It contains knowledge and information gathered during the practice, as well as the certificate after completing it. The internship takes place 3 times per week and lasts for 6 hours a day. Its main aim is to enable the participants get knowledge and skills and make them familiar with the situation on job market in the region of Frankfurt b/Main. A summarising meeting with the carers will be organized at the end of the internship. Additionally, the participants can take part in German language course and advanced computer course, which will be tailored to the current knowledge of young people. We would like to treat this project as a form of recompensation and try to unify our nations and create together their future in new Europe. There will be a meeting every week as to make some conclusions about practise and other events. We will take part in political, social and cultural meetings and parties to gain new life experience. Moreover, there are also planned meetings with other organizations and Polish parish, who are strongly interested in forced work during the Second World War. Our guests will live altogether on the first floor in Kolpinghouse, which is situated in the centre of Frankfurt. Some pocket money will be also secured. What is more, one or two excursion is expected to the places where Grandparents have worked. There will be a possibility to talk to the people responsible for preparing the exhibition ‘Zwangsarbeit in der Kirche’/ ‘Forced work in church’ during the meeting with PAX CHRISTI. The circle of these persons counts a few hundreds of members, who are also invited to take part in our programme and make some offerings (due to their willingness). The whole project should be perceived as a try to reconciling activity of PAX CHRISTI organization. We hope that project will occur to bring new ideas and solutions for the next years. We have taken under consideration the necessity of making relationships with youth from Germany. That’s why, we provide during the numerous meetings with the society of academic church of Frankfurt and by ‘Referat Junge Erwachsene’/’Department of Youth’ as well. According to the unbelievable opportunity to meet our Pope, guests from Poland will take part in the World Youth Day and in experimental programme ‘MAGIS’, fully prepared by the Jesuits from Frankfurt/M.