Young Leaders with AJC’s ACCESS Program

November 6^th – 16^th , 2008

Established in October 2007, Germany Close Up – American Jews Meet Modern Germany provides Jewish American students and young professionals in their twenties and early thirties with an opportunity to experience modern Germany up close and personally. Program participants will visit the actual sites of historical events, partake in various aspects of contemporary Jewish life in Germany and engage with Germans of all backgrounds. The purpose of the program is to allow participants to gain their own perspective on Germany through individual experience.

The ACCESS program in November will focus on professionals in the field of media and communications. Participants will join in the major national commemorations of the 70^th anniversary of Kristallnacht and play an active role in engaging their peers about the relevance of Holocaust issues in the US and Germany today, as well as the implications of this history on domestic and foreign policy perspectives. Participants will also hear from academic, political and media guest speakers in discussion about the Shoah and Germany’s Nazi terror, issues of memory and Germany’s continuing effort to come to terms with this terrible past, as well as Germany’s transformation in the last 50 years into a modern, reunified, and democratic country in the heart of the European Union which is home to the third-fastest growing Jewish community worldwide.

The November 6 -16, 2008 Young Leaders Program will focus on the following topics:

 ·         Berlin and united Germany

·         The Holocaust and the Nazi Era, incl. participation in commemorations about the

          70.anniversary of  the so called “Kristallnacht” progrom Nov. 9^th, 1938

·         Transatlantic / German-American relations, incl. meetings with high ranking officals

·         Jewish Berlin, present and past, including discussions with Deidre Berger, Director of the

          AJC Berlin Office and meetings with ACCES participants in Berlin

          The former East Germany

·         Integration of new members of the Jewish community

·         German-Israeli relations

During the 10-day program, participants will encounter Berlin’s multicultural life, visit East Germany, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, as well as experience other key historical sites and cultural venues. They will meet with German opinion-makers, grass root movements, and Germans contemporaries. The role of Jewish voices in transatlantic relations will be explored as participants actively contribute to German-American dialogue.

The program participation fee is $540, plus Euro 60 (approx. $ 80) for a cash fund for restaurant and guide tips. This covers the cost of hotel accommodations in a double room (single rooms available for a surcharge), transatlantic flight ticket reimbursement up to $1100, the majority of meals throughout the program, transportation and entrance fees, as well as program cultural event tickets.

In order to accommodate your travel plans, hotel rooms will be available as soon as November 5th, 2008.   

Please send us your E-mail application no later than August 17th, 2008 to accessnovember2008@germanycloseup.de including:

-          application form

-          a letter of introduction

-          resume

-          a letter of recommendation

-          1-2 page essay about your interest in the program