On October 11-14, a group of youth from the Berufsbildende Schule “Dr Otto Schlein” in Magdeburg visited the Treblinka Museum. They were young people aged 17-21 from specilised classes. The group of thirty-two guests from Germany came to the Museum to learn about the history of the former camps in Treblinka. The project was implemented within the framework of cooperation between the Treblinka Museum and the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt Federal Agency for Civic Education). For most of them, it was the first visit to the Memorial Site in Poland.
On the first day, the German youth visited the museum exhibition and learnt about the history of the former Treblinka I Penal Labour Camp and the Execution Site.
On the second day of their stay, German youth met with their peers from the school in Sadowne to commemorate the Lubkiewicz family, whose members were shot for giving bread to two Jews. German youth representatives laid five “Stolperstein” [trans. memorial stones] dedicated to: Marianna, Leon and Stefan Lubkiewicz and Jewish women: Elizówna and Czapkiewiczówna. The originator of the commemorative project was Dr. Edward Sułek, who has been coming to this place for several years with German youth. During the ceremony, Polish and German youth had the opportunity to listen to the tragic story of the Lubkiewicz family told by Grażyna Teresa Olton, the granddaughter of Marianna and Leon Lubkiewicz. Then, young people from both countries met at the school in Sadowne, where they talked with each other . At the end of their visit to Sadowne, the young people visited the Museum of the Sadowne Region. In the afternoon, German youth came to the Treblinka Museum, where they took part in a presentation about Janusz Korczak, prepared by Anna Remiszewska, assistant in the Education Department in the Treblinka Museum.
On October 3, the youth from Magdeburg met with students from the Stanisław Staszic School in Małkinia Górna. Over coffee and sweets prepared by students of this school, young people had the opportunity to get to know each other and make new friends. During the meeting, the guests from Germany faced a quiz of knowledge about Poland, culture, cuisine and geography. Then, they went together to the Treblinka Museum to plant a memory tree in the Korczak Forest. Planting a tree obliges to cultivate the idea of a great educator Janusz Korczak, who was murdered in the Treblinka II Extermination Camp. On a jointly designed plaque commemorating the planting of the tree, youth from both countries placed Janusz Korczak quote: “We are brothers of one land. Centuries of common destiny and misery – a long journey together – one sun shines on us.” On that day, the youth from Magdeburg also learnt about the history of the Treblinka II Extermination Camp and participated in educational workshops entitled “The Survivor tells.” Apart from general issues related to the functioning of the camps, young people were very interested in the individual fates of the survivors.
On October 14, German youth on their way to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw stopped in the Treblinka Museum to say goodbye to the Memorial Site and to reflect personally on their stay there