A helping hand for the future

 

New teaching materials are helping German school pupils to better understand German-Israeli relations.

 

“Germany and Israel – Stages in a unique relationship”: this is the title of a set of teaching aids that was presented at the beginning of November by the Israeli Ambassador to Germany, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, and the Secretary-General of the Standing Conference of Culture Ministers, Udo Michallik. The collection of sources (including commentary) is intended for use in school history and politics classes and is published by the Standing Conference of Culture Ministers and the Embassy of the State of Israel in Germany.

 

“In this anniversary year we are continually emphasizing that our focus is on the younger generation. School pupils of today will soon be shaping relations between our countries”, explains Hadas-Handelsman. “Young people’s interest in history and in German-Israeli relations is very encouraging. If you talk to students, you’ll find again and again that they are thorough and serious in the way they address this topic, and this is something we want to pick up on,” Michallik said at the presentation.

The material is broken down into four sections: “Finding common ground”, “‘Redress’ as a mutual interest”, “Bridges to ‘normality’”, and “Remembrance and responsibility”.

 

The presentation took place during the course of the symposium on “Images and Distortions of the Other”, hosted by the Central Council of Jews in Germany on the premises of the Standing Conference of Culture Ministers in Berlin.