The evening will be opened by Chair of the Association of Israelis of Central European Origin, Ambassador (retired) Reuven Merhav, who will give the keynote address, followed by a panel discussion and presentation of the book “Reconciling Lives”. Panelists include Ambassador Reuven Merhav, author and photographer Alvin Gilens, AJC Chicago Board Member Phil Dunn and German ARSP volunteer Pia Kulhawy, who will discuss the current status and future of German-Jewish Dialogue and Reconciliation.

The Jewish-American author Alvin Gilens presents his new book “Reconciling Lives”. This book features the stories of young German volunteers sent by Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) to the US, Great Britain, Czech Republic and Israel, and the relationships they built with Holocaust survivors during a year of service. When Alvin Gilens first learned about ARSP over twenty years ago he found a healing force that moved him deeply. Hearing the powerful stories from German volunteers about their experiences of reconciliation with survivors of Nazi Germany, he recognized that those are stories that must be told.

The event is organized in collaboration with the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace, AJC, the German Consulate Chicago and supported by the German Information Center USA.

This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP with Denise Eiserman:

1-312-263-0472 or email: info@chicago.goethe.org

More on this event here.