Action Reconciliation Service for Peace
The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (German: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste, or ASF) was founded in 1958 by the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig.
[1] It was prompted by the acknowledgement of guilt that Germans needed to face at the end of World War II and the Nazi era.
[2][3] The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) is known especially through its international volunteer programs and the organisation of work camps in western and eastern Europe.
[4] Every year, ARSP sends approximately 180 volunteers to countries that suffered under the German occupation during World War II: Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Belarus, and Ukraine.
[5] Knowing that the consequences of National Socialism are still being felt and that they can never truly be overcome, the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) stands for understanding between generations, cultures, religions and peoples which it strives to achieve through intensive dialogue.
After the war, he made this refusal by a branch of the Protestant church a subject of discussion and, along with like-minded people, such as Martin Niemöller, Gustav Heinemann and later, Franz von Hammerstein, called for repentance and reversal of harm.
[6] The Action for Reconciliation was initially founded as a Germany-wide organization, but the division of Germany made a joint effort impossible.
Like the European Voluntary Service, since the late 1990s, the ARSP has increased the number of project sites to respond to changing need and new opportunities.
At present, ARSP sends out about 180 young people per year to work on projects, primarily in countries that suffered directly from the Nazis, but also ones that have large numbers of Holocaust survivors.
Belgium, Greece, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Israel, Ukraine, America and Belarus all have ARSP voluntary projects.
More recently, volunteers in the Netherlands work in historical or political education, for example, at the Joods Historisch Museum or Anne Frank Foundation.
During the two- to three-week stay, volunteers learn about current and historical issues and are involved in projects, such as performing upkeep at Jewish cemeteries and memorial sites.
Many ARSP alumni are in regional groups and maintain connections, continuing to volunteer even after their initial voluntary period ends.
Four times a year, ARSP publishes Zeichen (Signs), a magazine (in German) that reports on the current work of volunteers and project partners.
It publishes Predigthilfen & Materiellen für die Gemeinde (Sermon aids and materials for the congregation) three times a year, on the occasion of "Israel Sunday," (a memorial day in the Evangelical church); for a ten-day period in November, called the Ökumenische Friedensdekade ("Ecumenical Decade of Peace"); and for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In addition, ARSP wants to weigh in on current political themes, thereby joining the inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and presenting its position against anti-semitism, right-wing extremism and racism and strongly advocating for compensation to those persecuted by the Nazis; and for a just peace.
ARSP endeavors to stimulate societal debateon the themes of the politics of memory, national identities and inter-religious dialogue with events, workshops, seminars and congresses.
