Research Camps

Our first research camp in Görlitz has taken place! Together with our highly motivated group, we followed in the footsteps of women in the resistance and also honed our own essay writing and research skills.

The first aim was to give the participants a more detailed overview of the project and also of the related topic of European Remembrance. First in individual work, later in groups and then in plenary, they thought about their associations in terms of „Female Stories Unheard“, „Resistance“ and „National Socialism“.

The participants had a seminar with Susanne Schade and Dr. Dagmar Liekse, employees of the German Resistance Memorial Center (deutsch: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand) and the experts when it comes to (female) resistance history in Germany.

The introduction to research at the Görlitz University Library with Katrin Müller and Katrin Pötschke familiarized the participants with different research methods and databases.

The city tour with Lauren Leiderman brought the Jewish and resistance history of Görlitz back to life and the participants were able to visit the original historical sites. She took us to the original Totschek department store, told us about August Schäfer, the principal who stood up for his Jewish students, and about the brave Görlitz members of the Evangelical church who helped Albert & Minna escape.

During the essay workshop with Lucia Hemker from the young literature institute in Leipzig, the participants were able to put their collected impressions on paper and combine their own quotes with those of resistance fighters. The aim was to identify topics that one would (not) like to write about and, above all, to lose the fear of the blank page.

To emphasize the European perspective, we went to a place of remembrance on the Polish side in Zgorzelec: Stalag VIIIA. Among other things, the participants were able to learn more about the fates of the mothers and daughters who were arrested as prisoners of war after the Warsaw Uprising 1944.

We also had a wonderful evening program with media evenings, citation games and, above all, great conversations.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved once again for their participation and especially for the motivation of the group. We are already looking forward to the next Research Camps in Krzyżowa and Prague!

In the second research camp in Krzyżowa, we learned about women who were in resistance and enhanced our essay writing and research skills.

The first goal was to give the participants an introduction to the topic of our project – women in resistance during National Socialism and also present them the history of Krzyżowa with a guided tour of the establishment introducing the group to the the “Kreisauer Kreis” – a resistance group that was situated in Krzyżowa.

The participants had a meeting with Agnieszka Dobkiewicz, the author of the book “Girls from Gross-Rosen. Forgotten stories from the camp hell”, where they learned of the atrocities that women in concentration camps went through. Moreover, they were able to ask Mrs. Dobkiewicz question to gain deeper knowledge of the topic and her writing.

The aim of the seminars with Dominik Kretschmann was to deepen their knowledge of women in resistance in the Kreisauer Kreis, but also in Poland. For this, the stories, challenges and also examples of different female resistance fighters were researched and discussed in the seminar. Also, the group visited different exhibitions and discovered the topic of “Resistance” from different perspectives.

The essay workshop with Lucia Hemker from the young literature institute in Leipzig helped the participants gain an understanding of what a literary essay is and gave them tips to improve their writing: How (not) to structure an essay? How to work with historical material? What to do if you have writer’s block?

We also had great evening programs, which included watching the European Songcontest, a movie night about female resistance fighters, an evening camp fire and a game night. We really enjoyed our time with you!

Prague (CZ)

In Prague, we discovered the world of Women in Resistance in Literature with the visit of the Prager Literaturhaus, learning more about their founder Lenka Reinerova – a woman in resistance herself. Also, the participants had the chance to discover the library of the organization Gender Studies and with that find more feminist literature, in particular with a focus on female resistance.

But the historical perspective should not be neglected either: Peter Sokol, director and trainer of the „Facing History and Ourselves“ programme in the Czech Republic, led a seminar on different historical narratives with a focus on the Czech Republic, connecting it to our topic of women in resistance.

The lecture from Pavel Karous, a sculptor, pedagogue and cultural columnist, who is also the author of the Alien and Herons project, the participants acquired knowledge about the realization of monuments in the public space of Czechslovakia dedicated to the famous anti-fascist women fighters and their erasure and slow forgetting after 1989.

Now it was time for the participants to do their own research! Working in groups, the participants researched various women in the resistance in Prague themselves and prepared a presentation. The group all together then visited the memorial sites of these women in Prague, presented their research and were able to see how they were remembered in public spaces during their self-guided tour „In the Footsteps of Brave Women in Prague”.

At the end, it was time to summarize our project with a task for the participants to work creatively with the input their gained over the research camps: How could a memorial site for women in resistance look like? The results were impressive.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone involved for their participation and the motivation of the group.