JANUARY 12 • 2023 | 27

O

n Nov. 8, a group of 
young professionals from 
The Well, a community-
building nonprofit led by Rabbi Jeff 
Stombaugh, embarked on an eight-day 
adventure in Germany. 
Germany Close Up is an initiative 
created to enrich transatlantic 
dialogue and provide Jewish North 
American young professionals in their 
20s and 30s with an opportunity to 
experience modern Germany up close 
and personally.
The trip began with a walking 
tour of the Jewish History of Berlin, 
an engaging and educational 
presentation of German history in 60 
minutes. The second day was more 
heavy-hearted as the group visited 
Track 17, a memorial created by the 
German national railway service to 
commemorate the deportations that 
took place between 1941 and 1942. 
Then, Jews in Berlin were sent to 
ghettos and concentration camps, 
including Sachsenhausen, a labor 

camp in operation from 1936 to 1945, 
where a variety of political prisoners 
were held, in addition to Jews and 
other groups persecuted by the Nazis. 
The trip also included a walking 
tour of several WWII memorials, 
including the Memorial to the 
Murdered Jews of Europe, the 
Memorial to the Persecuted 
Homosexuals under National 
Socialism and the Memorial to the 
Sinti and Roma Victims of National 
Socialism. That was followed by a 
walking tour commemorating the 
“November Pogroms of 1938,” also 
known as Kristallnacht. The group 
was there on its 84th anniversary and 
was able to attend a commemoration 
event at the local Jewish Community 
Center.
Day Four began with a bus tour 
of Berlin and ended with a panel 
discussion on initiatives against 
antisemitism and right-wing 
extremism.
Day Five included a trip to the 

Jewish Museum Berlin and celebrating 
Shabbat at a local synagogue. Trip 
attendees had a free day on Shabbat to 
rest or explore the city on their own. 
The following day, the group set out 
for Halberstadt, a small town about 
2.5 hours away from Berlin, a city 
brimming with Jewish history. Then 
it was back to Berlin to enjoy a group 
dinner with some German young 
professionals associated with the 
Germany Close Up program.
The final day of the trip was 
focused on current political action in 
Germany. The group met with Karsten 
Voigt, a German elder statesman, and 
Mareike Geipel, from the Office of 
the Special Officer for Relations to 
Jewish Organizations, Questions on 
Anti-Semitism, International Affairs 
of Sinti and Roma, and Holocaust 
Remembrance.
The Jewish News asked three of the 
local participants to reflect on the 
trip to Germany and what it meant to 
them.

continued on page 28

Group at the 
Memorial to the 
Murdered Jews 
of Europe

