Working Groups on Descendants

International researchers and professionals came together in two moderator-led working groups on “historico-political education” and “psychosocial issues” in relation to the work of and to working with descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution. The experts shared information on their fields of work, looked into ways of cooperation and gave new impetus to research and social discourse. The findings were presented at a public closing event in Cologne on 11 October 2018.

Videos of keynote speeches and discussions can be viewed in a special playlist on our Youtube channel. The working groups’ findings were published in a findings report. There are plans to continue the project.

Working Group on “Psychosocial Issues”

International scientific literature has shown that a significant part of descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution suffer from mental and physical illnesses that can be attributed to transgenerational trauma transmission. For example, the working group analysed the socio-psychological needs of descendants, taking into account the role of social continuities after 1945 and current discrimination issues.

Working Group on “Historico-Political Education”

Descendants of survivors talk about the crimes of National Socialism and their links to current forms of group-focused enmity in schools, at panel discussions, on TV, at memorials or on guided city tours. Moreover, they play a vital part in developing new forms of remembrance work. One of the questions this working group addressed was what role descendants of survivors may take in future political education and politics of remembrance.