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Setting Sail Together, German and Israeli Young People on the Baltic Sea
This month 26 young people—half the group from Israel and half the group from Germany—set sail for a journey across the Baltic Sea and toward a future of better mutual understanding. On this five-day voyage aboard the three-masted schooner Grossherzogin Elisabeth, the young people are getting to know each other and talking about the history and future of German-Israeli relations in a number of onboard workshops. They are also getting a crash-course in seamanship and trying to work as a team to complete chores like preparing breakfast in the mess and helping to fold the sails. The public can follow along on the journey online through the participants’ blog. “After five hours of intensive workshops we all felt we’d known each other for years,” one blogger wrote of the group’s first encounter with each other on land. Later, the blogger described the first full day at sea. “The sun was shining, the sea was calm, nobody was seasick yet. A good omen! Gosh, we are late for our first shift: laying the table in the mess, preparing breakfast, making coffee.”
They left the northern German town of Warnemünde on Sunday, July 13, and will travel via Denmark to Wismar. On Tuesday, they stopped in the Danish seaside town of Gilleleje, where they learned about the rescue of Danish Jews from Nazi deportation in October 1943. Thanks to the Danes’ courageous efforts, over 7,000 Jews and nearly 700 non-Jewish family members were helped to safety, many via fishermen’s cutters crossing the Baltic to Sweden. The town of Gilleleje was one of the departure points for these secretive trips. But at one point, a group of about 70 Jews hiding in the attic of a church in the town were betrayed and deported. Today memorials in the town commemorate these victims of the Nazis and the brave rescue effort. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier invited the young people from various walks of life to take part in this unique project and will join the group on the last leg of the journey. Israel is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its founding this year and numerous events to commemorate this anniversary have been held in Germany. July 16, 2008 Link
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