Germany

Transatlantic Outreach Program

I recently returned from spending two weeks traveling with the Transatlantic Outreach Program in Germany. On the trip were 15 other social studies teachers from the US and Canada.  The following is a reflection I wrote about my trip.

Walking along the path of the Berlin Wall, a strange feeling comes over me. It is a realization that this is a place of history. No amount of reading or viewing images of the Berlin Wall can replace the experience of standing in its footprint. As I walk, I think of the people this wall separated and how it affected their daily lives. I realize that this experience, along with the many others this summer, would not have been possible without the Transatlantic Outreach Program.

Hearing from time witnesses as they told their stories was one of the most emotional parts of the trip. At the Stasi Museum we met with a former political prisoner.  He told us that he was studying to be a math teacher when a friend turned him in for photocopying Animal Farm. He ended up being placed in isolation and not seeing a book for over a year. He was eventually selected for a prisoner exchange program where the West paid for his release. He left everything behind when he was sent to West Berlin including his family and girlfriend. After unification he began volunteering at the museum. One day his former girlfriend saw his name on a plaque in the museum and now they are engaged to be married. His plea for citizens to stay informed about their government reinforced the importance of my job.

Talking with fellow teachers on the trip helped me process what I was experiencing and think of ways that I can bring what I have learned back to my students. It never ceases to surprise me how similar teachers are despite the fact that we are from all over the United States and Canada. During the school visits we saw the issues faced by our colleagues in Germany and had time to discuss different ways that we address issue these same issues at home. 

I came across frequent examples of ways that Germany is facing its past on the trip. All German students are required to learn about and then visit a concentration camp. Concentration camps as well as other reminders of the past are preserved by the government. At these sites there is a conscious attempt to not celebrate but to reflect. Programs like the Transatlantic Outreach Program show how modern Germany is facing the problems of today by learning from the past.