From July 2 to 6, 2025, a team of experts from the Together Institute participated in the seminar “Solidarity through Arts and Youth Work in Times of Crisis - Past and Present” in partnership with the J-ArtEck Youth Education Center.

The objectives of the seminar were:
1. To learn about the experience of non-profit organizations working with children and young people.
2. To present projects implemented by members of the "Together".
3. To discuss areas for possible cooperation and joint projects.

July 3, Thursday

1. Introduction to the structure and experience of the non-profit organization J-ArtEck and the Korczak House in Berlin

The organization was founded by a group of educators, specialists in various arts, and migrants from the former Soviet Union who have been organizing the annual J-ArtEck creative camp for over 20 years. The camp is open to Russian-speaking teenagers and young adults from Germany, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, and other countries who are interested in spending 8-10 days in the summer immersed in various arts (music, theater, visual arts, dance, etc.). The central theme of the J-ArtEck summer camp programs is the culture, history, and contemporary life of the Jewish people.

J-ArtEck's permanent partner in preparing the camp program is the Yisrael Gilboa Music Center “BMusik.” Accordingly, the camp is prepared by an international team that includes citizens of Israel and Germany.

In cooperation with EJKA (European Janusz Korczak Academy in Munich) and J-ArtEck, the project “Korczak House in Berlin” has been implemented. - a space where programs for young people and people of all ages are held, related to the ideas, experiences, name, and values of the famous Polish Jewish educator, doctor, and writer Janusz Korczak.

This space includes a cozy hall for seminars, presentations, and other events, a room for a mini-café and informal youth meetings, and a small library.

2. Introduction to the concept of the J-ArtEck camp program in August 2025.

This year's camp theme is “Brundibar: Melody of Resistance and Hope.” The opera “Brundibar” is famous, in particular, for being performed by children in the Terezin concentration camp in 1943-44, with many of the participants in the production being sent to the Auschwitz death camp.
During the J-ArtEck camp, children, under the guidance of counselors and professionals—musicians, artists, and directors—will rehearse, prepare, and perform this opera on a professional stage in Berlin.

3. Meeting with Sandra Hildebrandt, an employee of the Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth, and Family Affairs

Ms. Hildebrandt spoke about the priorities of the Berlin Senate's youth policy. Possible areas of cooperation between youth work specialists from Berlin and Israel were discussed.
Ms. Hildebrandt was presented with our project related to Israeli writer Naomi Frenkel. We presented her with a copy of N. Frenkel's book “The Levi House,” which was prepared and published in collaboration with EJKA, and talked about our experience of involving teenagers in understanding the history of the Jewish community in Berlin and their perception of the history of their grandparents.
We agreed with Ms. Hildebrandt to contact her later and discuss in more detail the possibilities of our cooperation with the Berlin Senate on the development of a project dedicated to the history of the Jewish community in Berlin and the German community in Israel, in the preparation and implementation of which teenagers and young people from both countries will be involved.

4. Introduction to the project “Library. Point”
(Prenzlauer Allee 216, 10405 Berlin)

The project is a real library with books for children in several languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Tatar, etc.) and a space where various events are held to support family leisure and children's reading. 
We presented the experience of the children's bookstore “Masha and the Three Bears” in Haifa, the programs “Children's Book Festival,” “Children's Book Salon,” and others, implemented by members of the NGO “Together” (Israel).
In a friendly and meaningful conversation, we discussed issues related to the financial support of such projects, ways to involve young people in the project, and ideas for children's and family leisure programs.
We agreed with our colleagues to stay in touch and consider possible areas of cooperation in the future.

5. Meeting at Lyceum No. 2
(Monumentenstraße 13B, 10829 Berlin)

Lyceum No. 2 in Berlin is a branch of the Munich-based organization Lyceum No. 2, which organizes supplementary education programs for schoolchildren. The main program at the Berlin branch is a math program for kids of all ages. This educational center runs Natalia Sapunova's original math program. Natalia teaches some of the classes herself, and a few young people work with the kids under her guidance. In addition to math, there are also programs in literature and art.
Lyceum No. 2 also runs its own summer school and an online project.
We discussed with Natalia the possibilities for cooperation, in particular on the implementation of programs for teenagers as part of Lyceum No. 2's online project and summer school program.

6. Babel Bookstore

A bookstore and cultural center for the Russian-speaking community. It was established in Berlin as a franchise of the well-known Tel Aviv bookstore Babel. It sells books for children and adults, hosts book presentations and meetings with authors, and also runs its own publishing program.
We have agreed with our colleagues to collaborate in the field of children's literature.
We have reached an agreement in principle to organize a presentation of an art exhibition and a book dedicated to the Israeli poet Alexander Altshuler and his friend, the Leningrad poet Leonid Aronzon.

July 4, Friday

7. Excursion
We took part in an excursion around the Prenzlauberg district, where Jews from Berlin lived in a compact community before World War II.

8. Meeting at the Interkulturelles Kinder- und Jugendzentrum SCHALASCH 
(Lindower Str.18, Aufgang 2, 13347)

At this meeting, various projects under the umbrella organization “Club Dialog” were presented. Founded 70 years ago, this non-profit organization's main goal is to help migrants (children, youth, and adults) adapt to their new life in Germany and live it to the fullest.

We discussed in detail the mechanisms of both the Club Dialog organization and its various projects:
The Shalash Children's, Youth, and Family Center
The Media Maker Project 
Playback Theater “Linii”
Art-Café Aviator, 
Conversation Cafés,
Library, etc.

Some of these projects grew out of youth initiatives and were then formalized and supported by the organization. Some projects arose as a result of the organization's members identifying potential gaps in society and corresponding requests for support.
All of these projects are funded by charitable foundations or by programs run by the city of Berlin and Germany.

We discussed with our colleagues possible cooperation on projects involving teenagers in social design (the MediaMaker project and the Journalist game), joint trips with mixed groups of teenagers to Germany and Israel (the “Shlach” Center and “Exodus on a Trip” projects), and others.

9. Kunstraum Kreuzberg Cultural Space
(Marianneplatz 2, 10997).

We visited the Kunstraum Kreuzberg Cultural Space to discuss with its organizers the possibility of holding our cultural and educational projects there, which stem from photo exhibitions dedicated to N. Frenkel, A. Altshuller, and others.
At the same time, we managed to see the exhibition “No,” organized by the Medusa agency, dedicated to people who faced the need to somehow resist the authoritarian regime in the Russian Federation.
Visiting this exhibition helped us to finalize the idea of our project.

10. Kabalat Shabbat

Shabbat, spent together with the team preparing the J-ArtEck summer camp program, helped us get to know our colleagues better and establish warmer, more personal relationships, which will contribute to the emergence of joint initiatives in the future.

July 5, Saturday

11. Meeting with Tzipora Kohavi-Reini

Tzipora is a friend and literary secretary, promoting the work of Israeli writer Naomi Frenkel.
We agreed with Zipora to continue our project around the name and work of Naomi Frenkel, to start work on the translation and publication of the second book of her novel Saul and Johanna, which describes the life of a Jewish family in Berlin before the start of World War II.

12. Presentation of Naomi Frenkel's book.

To mark the 100th anniversary of Naomi Frenkel's birth, we prepared and presented an art exhibition dedicated to the writer at the Korczak House in Berlin. We also carried out a youth project entitled “Berlin through the eyes of Naomi Frenkel. 100 years later,” in which we involved young Berliners in exploring the Jewish quarter of pre-war Berlin, which we suggested they view through the prism of Naomi Frenkel's fate. In the process of creating their own original works, the participants reflected on the fate of the past generation and their connection to it, and discussed this with their peers.
As a continuation of this project, with the support of Tzipora Kochavi-Reini and EJKA, we were able to translate and publish the first book of N. Frenkel's trilogy, Saul and Johanna . We set ourselves the task of giving Berlin back the voice of one of its residents, a member of the Jewish community who managed to leave for Palestine in 1934, thereby surviving the Holocaust and living a difficult life in the nascent state of Israel, but all the while keeping Berlin of her youth in her memory and heart.
During the presentation, which took place at the Korczak House in Berlin, we presented our project and talked about the experiences of young people who, while participating in the project, became aware of their connection with the past generation. Tzipora Kohavi-Reini spoke about the life and fate of Naomi Frenkel, and Galina Zernina presented an art exhibition dedicated to the writer.