This article appeared in the July 13, 2012
Jewish Advocate.
Area 3G seeks funding for One by One trip to Germany
by Susie Davidson
Alyse Lichtenstein of Framingham, a senior at Boston University’s School of Education majoring in English Education and English Literature, has launched a funding appeal for her trip to Germany this month as part of the “One by One” program.
"One by One ... Descendants of the Third Reich and the Holocaust in Dialogue" is an international non-profit organization founded in 1995 to provide a medium for dialogue amongst those affected by the Holocaust. Co-founders include Rosalie Gerut, a professional musician and 2G active at Kerem Shalom in Concord. According to its website, membership is “multi-generational, consisting of Holocaust survivors and their descendants; perpetrators, bystanders, resisters and their descendants; as well as concerned individuals.” The group organizes the Berlin meetings, which are attended by Holocaust survivors and descendants, child survivors, non-Jewish victims of the Nazis, and descendants of Nazis, as well as bystanders and perpetrators. Attendees also visit relevant historic sites, and maintain ongoing dialogue after the meetings.
“Through this experience, each side can explore the distinctive history and perspectives of the other,” said Lichtenstein, who will join other 3G’s from across the U.S. for five days, living in a house outside Berlin with German students. “This is the first year the program has been open to the third generation after the Holocaust,” she said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to engage in something so unique and life changing.” The students will engage in guided discussions and exercised. “But we’d also be able to get to know each other personally as we share meals and spend time together,” she said. She envisions that the program might enrich not only her personal life and faith, but her future teaching as well.
Lichtenstein's grandmother, Irene Wolf, who lives in Peabody, is from Kobern on the Mosel River. "Born November 18, 1921, she was at Terezin from 1942 until mid-1944, and then Auschwitz until January 1945," said Lichtenstein, who said that from there, she was marched to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated in April of 1945.
At B.U., Lichtenstein is the manager of “B.U. Central,” a department within the Student Activities Office. In this capacity, she helps books bands, organize poetry slams, trivia meets and other forms of student entertainment. Her office also works with incoming students during Orientation. She has attended events at B.U. Hillel as well.
But her greatest inspiration is her grandmother, and especially, the compassion that she exhibits. “My grandma has always been the image of quiet strength in the face of adversity, and she has always been clear about the fact that she has forgiven the actions of those who carried out the Holocaust,” said Lichtenstein. “She is the reason I feel so connected to this element of my family’s past.” Lichtenstein recently attended the Café Europa event at Temple Reyim sponsored by the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and the German Consulate in Boston.
As for her career plans, she hopes to add to existing Holocaust education curricula. “My target demographic is urban youth, especially in Boston, to whom my personal history is foreign, intangible, and, at times, unbelievable,” she said.
The total cost of the One by One program will be $2300. Lichtenstein says that she is not seeking one organization to help reach this goal. “I’d like to share my experience with various communities across the Boston area,” she said. This might include speaking, compiling presentations or hosting discussions.
Lichtenstein, who has created a blog about her effort, 3gtogermany.blogspot.com/, will depart Logan Airport on July 13 and return on July 22. The meeting in Germany will occur between July 15-20, 2012.
To contribute to Lichtenstein’s appeal, please contact her at arl2013@bu.edu, or check her blog. For information on One by One, please visit www.one-by-one.org.