Healing the wounds of History in Berlin
Healing the wounds of history, Berlin, 18th September 2018
Together with people from Poland, Italy, France, Austria, Chile, Israel, Turkey, and Germany, we hold a ritual in 3 parts to heal together past wounds, to let go anger and fear and welcome the future with love and compassion.
The first part we meet in the north part of Berlin at Pastor-Niemöller-Platz, closed by the ex Jewish orphanage (today Wilhelm-Wolff-Straße 36-38, Berlin), from where 150 persons, orphans and staff, were taken in the night of 1 April 1942, and deported to Auschwitz with a train on 2 April 1942. Today the ex-orphanage is a Children Hospice, supporting terminal ill children and their families.
We have a circle of sharing intentions and coloring stones brought from Auschwitz-Birkenau and make lanterns from recycled materials to light our path and a meditative co-creative time in nature.
Our intentions:
to bring wholeness to what was broken
to forgive and ask forgiveness
to find the field in the middle between unsustainable pain and cynicism in which it is possible to transform sadness in compassionate actions
acknowledge
transform feeling guilty
The second part we gather at Platform 17 Memorial from where trains with Jewish were leaving (https://goo.gl/maps/3SsTMgjZkM52). We share a practice inspired by the Work that Reconnects “Truth Mandala” and Social Presencing Theatre, passing through anger, confusion, sadness, fear and transform those emotions in compassion and peace.
The third part we send the stones upon the water.
“We were able to hold a space of forgiveness for everyone. No more separation among perpetrators, victims, indifferent.”
Gestures from the Ritual
The orginal account by Ilaria Olimpico from TheAlbero Blog
A blog post by Aga on the Ritual in Berlin
Video presenation of the Berlin Ritual and Healing the Wounds of History