Sveiki,

my name is Camillo Spiegelfeld and I am from Vienna. I decided to opt for rendering a Gedenkdienst because I am convinced that it is the responsibility of each and everyone to preserve history. I will therefore begin my service this September at the “Žanis Lipke Memorial“ in Riga.

In order to prepare for my Gedenkdienst in Riga, I became actively involved in the work of the Austrian Service Abroad. For example, I helped to calculate the cost statements of the servants abroad. Because of this, we were able to provide others with an estimation of the cost of rendering a service abroad. Moreover, I also supported the Volunteers-Department in its work and frequently discussed topics such as the role of women in politics.

Whilst working at the “Žanis Lipke Memorial“ I will be mainly occupied with the organization of museum tours in German and English. In addition, I will also be entrusted with the translation of transcripts of court proceedings and perform extensive research.

I am already incredibly excited to be able to render my Gedenkdienst in Riga.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #ayearabroad #memorialservice #latvia #riga #austria #östereich #žanislipkememorialmuseum #hrb ... See more

The Centre for Peace, non-violence and human rights, Osijek was founded in Mai 1992 by some intellectuals (doctors, teachers, lawyers and economists) to preserve a core of society which is resistant to ethnical, political, religious and ideological hate.

The Centre for Peace engages in educational and counselling programmes, as well as other forms of work that promote nonviolence in general.

The centre’s focus is to create peace, to preserve and expand human rights and other freedoms and the support of creative solutions of conflict resolution at an individual, a group and a political level.

#auslandsdienst #austrianserviceabroad #ayearabroad #freiwilligeneinsatz #neverforget #friedensdienst #auslandsjahr #osijek #croatia ... See more

Salut,
My name is Umut Darilmaz, I am 19 years old and just graduated from my High School in “Wiener Neustadt”.
Within the “Austrian Service Abroad”, I am chiefly responsible for the organization of the “Sprachencafé” and lead our corresponding team whilst coordinating its members.
The “Sprachencafé” currently consists of nine different languages (each of which can be spoken by participants at a specific “table” chaired by a “Tischleiter”). As team leader of the “Sprachencafé”, I am primarily occupied with the task of motivating the members and “Tischleiter”. I therefore encourage them to found new “cafés” and introduce new languages. In addition, I am also an active and dedicated member of the “Wednesday-Team” and the “Translation-Team”.
I chose the “Bibliothque de l’Alliance israélite universelle“ because of my inherent interest in the work and mission, which has already founded numerous elementary schools in several Muslim countries to familiarize children with the French language and give them an understanding of Jewish culture. I am, as a Muslim, likewise fascinated by Judaism and the French language and hence wholeheartedly convinced that I will be able to expand my skill set considerably during my work at the “Bibliothque de l’Alliance israélite universelle”.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #ayearabroad #memorialservice #france #paris #austria #autriche #bibliothquedelallianceisraéliteuniverselle #hrb ... See more

Salut,
My name is Umut Darilmaz, I am 19 years old and just graduated from my High School in “Wiener Neustadt”.
Within the “Austrian Service Abroad”, I am chiefly responsible for the organization of the “Sprachencafé” and lead our corresponding team whilst coordinating its members.
The “Sprachencafé” currently consists of nine different languages (each of which can be spoken by participants at a specific “table” chaired by a “Tischleiter”). As team leader of the “Sprachencafé”, I am primarily occupied with the task of motivating the members and “Tischleiter”. I therefore encourage them to found new “cafés” and introduce new languages. In addition, I am also an active and dedicated member of the “Wednesday-Team” and the “Translation-Team”.
I chose the “Bibliothque de l’Alliance israélite universelle“ because of my inherent interest in the work and mission of the alliance which has already founded numerous elementary schools in several Muslim countries in order to familiarize children with the French language and give them an understanding of Jewish culture. I am, as a Muslim, likewise fascinated by Judaism and the French language and hence wholeheartedly convinced that I will be able to expand my skillset considerably during my work at the “Bibliothque de l’Alliance israélite universelle”.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #ayearabroad #memorialservice #france #paris #austria #autriche #bibliothquedelallianceisraéliteuniverselle #hrb ... See more

Greetings from the New York of Europe, also known as Berlin!

My name is Florian Ocenasek, I am 20 years old and I come from Lanzendorf, which is situated on the southeast border of Vienna. As early as 2018 I found out through a friend that it is possible to do your civil service abroad as part of a “Zivilersatzdienst”. After that I did further research on the topic online and got across the association “Österreichischer Auslandsdienst”.

Originally, I should have completed my civil service in the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York and I was really looking forward to it – to the city that never sleeps. However, due to the Corona-Pandemic America is no longer an option. Finally, I was rewarded for my two years of preparation in the association - during which I not only collected valuable experience through my general work in an NGO and specifically as the leader of the Content Team, but also learned the importance of cultural memory and reappraisal of events of the past for society - by getting to work in the Jewish Museum of Berlin.

Taking my technological interests and my graduation of HTL Eisenstadt into consideration, I was assigned tasks regarding “Visitor Experience and Research”. My work here is very diverse and mostly consists of multiple projects. During the first weeks of October, when visiting museums was still allowed, I had to do pen and paper visitor-tracking. Furthermore, I helped with the initiation and adjustment of the new media-guides, tried out tools for data analysis regarding all parts of the museum and helped with the organisation of workshops.

Despite the lockdown it has been an incredible, eye-opening experience to be able to live and work in such a multicultural city as Berlin. I certainly will never forget the past ten months.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #berlin #germany ... See more

Salut!

My name is Vinzenz Schwarz, I am 18 years old, and I come from Mödling near Vienna. After I graduated from high school last year, I started my service abroad as a “Gedenkdiener” with the organization "Amicale de Mauthausen" in Paris at the beginning of September.

Since I really wanted to go abroad for a longer period of time after graduating from high school anyway, in order to get to know new cultures and to develop personally, I saw the Austrian Service Abroad as a perfect opportunity, as I could additionally for remembrance of the Holocaust.
The connection to Austria as well as the wide range of assignments (translation work, courier services, organizing trips to Austria, secretarial and administrative work, etc.) immediately convinced me to decide on a memorial service at the Amicale de Mauthausen in Paris. My workplace is a prisoners' association which nowadays concentrates mainly on remembering the crimes committed in the Mauthausen concentration camp and its subcamps. The Amicale is in very good contact with all kinds of Austrian institutions and organizations, which is why most of my working time this year was and still is dedicated to translating.

The intensive study of history has enabled me to understand how important it is to maintain the culture of remembrance and to pass on the memory to future generations. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to do alternative civil service in France.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #ayearabroad #memorialservice #france #paris #amicaledemauthausen ... See more

The word Transición describes the process of turning Spain from a dictatorship to a democracy in the 70ties and early 80ties. Between 1975 and 1980 new laws were imposed that transformed the country into a democracy. The speciality about the Transición is that change happened within the system. Spanish Parliament, still from the Franco era, for example voted in favour of its own dissolution. In addition a new constitution was put in place, political parties were legalised and Spain held its first free elections. Most people argue that the Transición ended in 1981 because the new democracy survived a coup by the military, during which Franco loyalists occupied the Parliament.
An important figure in the transition from dictatorship to democracy was performed by the spanish king Juan Carlos. Even though he was Franco's successor, he decided against following the dictator´s autoritarian curse and pursued a democratic agenda.

#auslandsdienst #neverforget #auslandsjahr #gedenkdienst #freiwilligendienst #madrid #spain #democracy ... See more

My name is Felix Kajtna, I graduated from high school in Krems and three years ago I decided to do a Gedenkdienst at the Bibliothèque de l'Alliance israèlite universelle in Paris. This is one of the largest Jewish libraries in Central Europe, which administers an archive with manuscripts from the 13th century and documents of the Alliance israélite universelle.
I support the librarians and archivists in their daily work and I do research on a Galician Jew who fled from Vienna to Shanghai because of the Nazis. I also work with the Austrian Cultural Forum and the photos show me giving lectures on the Gedenkdienst and Austrian history.
This diverse approach to Jewish history was my motivation to choose this placement and it has opened up other perspectives on history and our society. I think that intercultural understanding is an important basis for the Gedenkdienst.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #ayearabroad #france #paris #memorialservice #jewishhistory ... See more

The genocide in Rwanda began on April 6, 1994 and lasted until mid-July. The cause of murdering more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu dates back to the colonial times. During the colonization of Rwanda by Germany and Belgium, the then better-off Tutsi minority and the then worse-off Hutu majority split. Through this distinction the feeling of having to assign oneself to a certain ethnic group arose. After Rwanda's independence a Hutu government followed. This caused a systematic suppression of the Tutsi. The shooting down of the plane of the obtaining President Habyarimana 1994 led to the assassinations of prominent Tutsi and also more moderate Hutu. The Hutu government accused the Tutsi via the media for murdering the president and summoned the people to kill them. It was the beginning of cruel violence in Rwanda. After about a hundred days, the Tutsi guerrilla managed to defeat the army and the Hutu militias and put an end to the genocide.

#auslandsdienst #neverforget #auslandsjahr #gedenkdienst #freiwilligendienst #kigali #kigalirwanda #kigaligenocidememorial #kigaligenocidememorialcentre ... See more

SVARAM Musical Instruments & Research in Auroville India was initiated as a development project in 2003. The UN-initiative “Music as a Global Resource” recognised it as one of the first 50 projects.
SVARAM wants to contribute to individual and social harmonisation and wellbeing through art and music. This is done by bringing the cultural-creative and value forming gifts of music to everybody's hearts and hands.
The tasks of an Austrian volunteer abroad at this placement are to help producing musical instruments, the organisation of workshops, the conduct of cultural projects, administrative work, PR (Social Media, …), …
#svarammusicalinstruments #svaramsoundexperience #svaram #music #musicalresearch #india #auroville #austrianserviceabroad #yearabroad #voluntary ... See more

My name is Aaron Stangl and I currently live in Vienna. Having grown up in the countryside in Upper Austria, I always felt a very strong connection to nature. Beginning in September, I will render my social service in Costa Rica and am already incredibly excited.

Besides working with the locals and taking part in projects to preserve the environment, my main occupation at the “Finca Sonador - Longo Mai” will be to realize a coffee project that will help in supporting the economy of our village.
The opportunity to take part in such a sophisticated charity project and immerse myself into the Costa Rican culture is for sure the opportunity of a lifetime.

I sincerely enjoy being actively involved in the work of our association which is, in many aspects, a truly special and unique organization. As area-coordinator for Central America and member of the Fundraising Team, I enjoy working with people and helping others.

This provides me with the incredible opportunity to meet and interact with interesting people from all walks of life.

#socialservice #longomai #fincasonador #longomaï #costarica #austrianserviceabroad #sanisidro #austria ... See more

In 1994 the city council of Kigali decided that a burial place for the unidentified victims of the Rwandan genocide should be build. Thus a mass grave was built on the side of the eventual commemoration site.
The commemoration exhibition is dealing with the genocide but also with the history of Rwanda after it. Therefore similarities to events all around the world are drawn.
The tasks of an Austrian Volunteer Abroad are doing interviews with survivors, being a museum guide, doing administrative jobs, PR (Social Media/Website) - and translations, ...
#kigaligenocidememorial #kigaligenocidememorialcentre #kigali #kigalirwanda #austrianserviceabroad #voluntary #neverforget #yearabroad #voluntarywork ... See more

My name is Tobias Wiendl, I am 17 years old and currently attend the Bundesgymnasium Zaunergasse.

I work as head of the language team until my departure to Paris in 10 months. We translate a wide variety of texts into all languages which are represented in the foreign service.I was interested in this position, not only because I was born in Paris and love this city more than anything else, but also because the "Fondation pour la mémoire de la déportation" is one of the most exciting assignment positions. My range of work will include research on the deportations of French citizens during the German occupation, social media work, public appearances and planning various events.

In my free time, the cosmopolitan city of Paris has a lot to offer. Whether it is walking along the Seine or visiting one of the best universities in the world. My goal in Paris is to learn another language besides French, German, English, Italian and Spanish.

#austrianserviceabroad #socialwork #voluntaryservice #paris #france ... See more

Salve! My name is Andreas Oliva, I am from Magdalensberg, 20 years old and currently doing my Gedenkdienst in city of Rome at the Fondazione Museo della Shoah. Even though I have already worked at the museum for 8 months, there are new activities every week, including research and archiving work, photography, technical support, translation, co-organization of various projects, presentations and much more. I was able to contribute to the new exhibition at our museum and a new book. The variety of projects make my work very interesting.
At first, I wanted to do a Gedenkdienst in order to go abroad. I love to explore the world and get to know other cultures and languages. But during my preparation and my work in Rome, I realized how important the Culture of Remembrance is. One has to learn from history and it feels good to make at least a small contribution to such an important topic. At the same time, I am able to gain valuable experience abroad.
The Gedenkdienst is a unique, life-changing and very educational stage of my life.

#austrianserviceabroad #voluntaryservice #ayearabroad #italy #rome #memorialservice #jewishhistory ... See more

The Austrian Ambassador in France, Dr Michael Linhart, and with him also the Gedenkdiener (Holocaust Memorial Servant) Vinzenz Schwarz were invited to visit the Holocaust museum “Memorial de la Shoah” on Wednesday, 14 April 2021, to honour the collaboration between Austria and France in preventing a #NeverAgain. The guests were guided through the currently not-visitable museum by Eric de Rothschild, the President as well as Jacques Fredj, the director of the memorial. As the first of its kind in the world, the memorial was founded by Jews in 1943 with the intention of preserving evidence of the persecution of the Jews. Nowadays, the Memorial de la Shoah is one of the biggest and most important Holocaust memorial sites in the world.

#memorialday #museum #museumvisit #france #memorialservice #holocaustmemorial ... See more