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From
The Heart
German activist builds bridges
from Europe to Detroit.
Shari S. Cohen | Contributing Writer
D
etroit attracts a polyglot mix of
International Institute of the Righteous. He
artists, community organizers,
also spoke with visiting groups about his
would-be urban farmers and
own family’s history during World War II
investors intrigued by the city’s reputation as and about social and political conditions in
a creative frontier with low-cost real estate.
contemporary Germany. Bachmann was uni-
They come from several continents and
versally liked and appreciated by both HMC
many states to explore and sometimes settle
staff and volunteers. Bachmann also estab-
in Detroit during its much-heralded struggle lished relationships with local Holocaust sur-
between decay and promise.
vivors at Cafe Europa, a Jewish Senior
But Richard Bachmann, 29,
Life program, and maintains contact
a German graduate student,
with several of them.
arrived in Southeast Michigan
When speaking to groups visit-
with a much different purpose.
ing the Holocaust Memorial Center,
He was a volunteer assigned
Bachmann explained he was moti-
to the Holocaust Memorial
vated by a sense of responsibility for
Center (HMC) Zekelman Family
the past but also for the present.
Campus through the German
“And, for me, this is not only about
Action Reconciliation Service for Richard
preventing things from happening
Peace (ARSP), established by the Bachmann
because then you assign yourself the
German Protestant Church in
role of a reactionary — one who only
1958. ARSP, which translates into Service for reacts. It should also be about pushing things
Peace in German, sends young German vol-
forward — emancipation instead of presen-
unteers to promote positive connections and tation. And I think this starts with a normal
service within communities harmed by Nazi conversation, and it’s not just about Germany
Germany. The organization seeks to fight
… because racism and xenophobia are global
racism and discrimination, promoting peace phenomena,” he says.
among all nationalities, races and religions.
While working at the HMC, Bachmann
Little did he know he would create a con-
met several young people affiliated with the
nection to the city of Detroit that would
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
lead him to form Growing Together Detroit,
who invited him to community events in the
a program that brings German and other
city. These included visits to Eden Gardens,
volunteers to work and learn for two weeks
established by a local block club working to
from the members of the Eden Gardens
improve a neighborhood blighted with many
Block Club on Detroit’s east side.
abandoned houses and vacant lots.
Bachmann was first inspired to seek an
Eden Gardens was created on three
overseas volunteer post after an ARSP alter-
vacant lots in 2013 with financial help
native summer break program at Terezin
from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of
(site of the Theresienstadt concentration
Metropolitan Detroit and volunteer support
camp in Czechoslovakia).
from members of the Isaac Agree Downtown
“In Terezin, we were an international
Synagogue. Chava Karen Knox, president of
group of people from various European
the Eden Gardens Block Club, who is African
countries who, for about two weeks, volun-
American and a Jewish convert, is a board
teered at the memorial, doing clean-up work member of the synagogue.
and learning a lot about what happened
“When I first got in contact with Eden
in this place. I was very impressed that the
Gardens, I was very impressed by how, with
people who organized all of this were two
the limited resources available, they are
ARSP volunteers who just turned 20. I knew
doing this great work, defying despair and
I wanted to get more involved,” Bachmann
hopelessness,” Bachmann says.
says.
At the same time, he was disappointed
In 2013, Bachmann began work as an
with some of the Detroit community projects
ARSP fellow at the HMC in Farmington
with which he participated. “We often were
Hills, doing library research and transla-
just dropped off, did our work and were
tion as well as assisting Guy Stern, Ph.D.,
picked up again … I felt no deeper engage-
director of the Harry and Wanda Zekelman
ment with the conditions of the places we
14 July 7 • 2016
Growing Together Detroit and Eden Gardens volunteers in 2015
worked in, and this tended to reinforce
stereotypes and cliches rather than question
them,” he explains.
RETURN ENGAGEMENT
Bachmann, following his commitment to
social action, began talking to people about
other approaches to community service. Out
of that came Growing Together Detroit.
“In this program,” he explains, “contextual-
izing what we do is central. This is why we
work closely with just one tiny project part-
ner, doing various activities together with
the people we work with. We meet Detroiters
during these two weeks who can tell us about
their take on the city, and try to also learn
about the conditions our project partner and
other Detroiters have to face.”
During the first summer program, held
in 2015, Growing Together Detroit brought
together 14 volunteers from Germany, Israel
and the U.S. to work with Eden Gardens area
residents and 25 students from the Detroit
Public Schools. They cleaned up a 16-block
area and prepared another vacant lot to
become a children’s garden.
According to Knox, “It went very well. It
was a great experience both for the adults
and students. Richard is awesome. He wants
to see change and is excited about Detroit.
Richard wants to see healing between the
Jews and Germans and bridge the separation
between the Jewish and African-American
communities.” She adds that members of the
Eden Gardens Block Club hope to travel to
Germany.
Bachmann was pleased that participants
shed some of their preconceived and often
negative perceptions about Detroit through
their volunteer experience. Some partici-
pants told him they want to return to spend
more time in Detroit — an unintended posi-
tive outcome of the program, he says.
Bachmann recently visited to Detroit to
plan this summer’s ARSP Growing Together
Detroit alternative summer break program,
which will be held from July 23-Aug. 9. In
conjunction with the work on the addi-
tional garden, he has planned group outings
around the city as well as participation
in community events including Shabbat
dinner and services at the Downtown
Synagogue.
Former Detroiter Cindy Jacobs met
Bachmann during a Germany Close-Up fel-
lowship facilitated by ARSP. This program
provides an opportunity for young North
American Jews to visit Germany, focus-
ing on important World War II landmarks
and engaging in dialogue with Germans.
Bachmann guided Jacobs around Berlin and
then spent time with Jacobs and her family
in the Detroit area during Passover. “He is
such an intelligent, compassionate man and
such an asset to have on this program,” she
says.
“As an additional element to this year’s
program, we will also do a movie screen-
ing and discussion about the Afro-German
experience, especially as it relates to
German colonialism, the Holocaust and
present developments,” Bachmann says.
“We want to show the documentary Black
Victims of the Holocaust. We felt the topic
could be one that would connect us on
another level, helping to build yet another
bridge across the Atlantic.”
*
Host Families Needed
Growing Together Detroit is looking for
host families to enhance its program
this summer. The host weekend —
Friday, July 29, to Sunday, July 31 —
allows participants to stay with families
from Metro Detroit to see different
aspects of life in the region. Ideally, a
host would agree to host two partici-
pants, one from Germany, one from the
U.S. To learn more, contact growing.
together.detroit@gmail.com.