One by One Deutschland

Office of Jewish Affairs at UMass Amherst Marks 10th Anniversary

aus: One by One News #5, Juni/Juli 2005

On April 13th, 2005, Zella Brown, Marga Dieter, Otto-Ernst Duscheleit, Martina Emme and Rosalie Gerut, representing One by One, gathered in one of a series of programs marking the 10th anniversary of the Office of Jewish Affairs at the University of Massachusetts.

The visit to UMass was sponsored by the UMass Amherst Office of Jewish Affairs, UMass Germanic Languages & Literatures Program, Amherst College Department of German, and Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center.

The goal of the Office of Jewish Affairs is to “build bridges of understanding and mutual respect between Jews and other religious, racial and ethnic communities,” according to its director, Larry Goldbaum.

He went on to say “One by One has lessons to teach about conflict resolution on campus. It provides a powerful model of how former adversaries can move beyond their hatred and find reconciliation, and in this case, even friendship and healing.” (Daily Hampshire Gazette, April 16-17, 2005.)

That evening the panelists spoke and answered questions for 2 hours. They had a captive audience of over 100 people, many of whom remained after the panel discussion for further, more intimate conversations with the 5 panelists.

The following day Zella, Marga, Otto and Martina shared their stories with a class of students from the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature. In this more intimate setting the One by One “miracle” occurred – a moving, honest interaction of teacher, students and One by One members.

Larry Goldbaum, Director of Office of Jewish Affairs, thanks Zella Brown:

Dear Zella,
Thank you so much for all your efforts to help arrange the One By One presentation at UMass Amherst on Wednesday, April 13, 2005. By any measure the program was a great success, touching many people deeply while providing a powerful model of reconciliation through dialogue.
Professor S., an intellectual with a tendency toward political cynicism, broke down crying when he described the interactions in his class. He told me how moved his students were, opening up parts of themselves he had never seen. I'm sorry I wasn't there to witness it myself.

>A 45-year-old German woman (whose daughter is in my son's kindergarten class) brought several other high school students to the presentation, and she and they have not stopped talking about it since. She described an emotional conversation with a Jewish colleague of hers who teaches a class on the Holocaust. He said he's “not into forgiveness.” Clearly in pain, and also angry, she asked me if she should apologize — or should have to apologize — for atrocities committed by other people before she was born.

Those are the kinds of interactions your presentations inspired. Those are the kinds of interactions we need more of. Thank you for your honesty and courage!!
Best wishes, Larry Goldbaum
One by One Deutschland – Impressum