About us

History begins in the Family: Dialogue of Generations is an international cultural and educational program for youth from Ukraine, Poland and Germany. Through the study of family history, participants have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the years 1933 to 1945, which were largely shaped by the period of National Socialism, Stalinism and the Second World War. Participants also deal with the post-war years, they reflect on places of remembrance and its role in the national cultural context and establish international dialogue.

The project includes visits of young people to the three countries in order to learn and share their experience. The first project edition took place in 2015-2016. The second took place in 2017-2018. In 2020, due to the challenges of coronavirus pandemics, the team decided to run an online programme with a hope to renew trips within next years.

Project goals:

to establish a platform for international dialogue through exchanging of knowledge about the history of Germany, Poland and Ukraine with special attention to National Socialism, Stalinism, Second World War and the post-war years;
to expand the understanding of National Socialism, Stalinism and Holocaust through visits to different places of remembrance, as well as collective, family and personal memories;
to provide knowledge on Oral History and tools for gaining skills in family history research and public presentation of the results;
to support trusted connections and cooperation inside of families, communities, representatives of different nationalities.

During the programme, participants explore how historical consciousness and family memory are being formed, they master techniques in conducting oral interviews, they practice how to use digital technologies in elaborating materials. Special programme elements are visits to Bergen-Belsen Memorial (Nazi POW camp and concentration camp 1940-1945) in Germany, to Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (Nazi concentration and extermination camp 1940-1945) in Poland and different places of remembrance in Lviv/Ukraine, as well as meetings conversations with witnesses. Through family stories they explore how different generations of Poles, Germans, and Ukrainians remember the past, and how a dialogue between generations and between countries is being conducted. In addition, they share information and experiences obtained during the family history research.

All outcomes are presented on the project website.

We invite young people aged between 18-26 who are:

want to meet and exchange with peers in other countries;
interested in the history of National Socialism, Stalinism, Holocaust and Second World War, as well as the public and cultural memory of these events;
want to conduct research on the topic of their own families during the years 1933-1945 and in the postwar years, and who are want to share the collected memories of these events in the group;
want to take part in a common Polish-German-Ukrainian project, the results of which are to be documented and shared publicly;
ready to take part in all program stages;
understand English well.