The ECP-FG co-organised its first workshop in cooperation with the Buxus Foundation, a human rights organisation from Munich, Germany. It was an interactive workshop introducing the Fritz Bauer Library, an initiative for an always growing archive of stories about resistance and survival. It collects personal experiences of people who have fought and continue to fight nationalism, racism, and any other violation against human dignity. The following report gives an overview of the proceedings and results of the workshop.
The day started with a heart-warming welcome from the founder of the Buxus Foundation, Irmtrud Wojak. A background into the organisation, and an introduction to the workshop gave the participants an insight into the 2-day event and the online library that was initiated in the name of Fritz Bauer. It was an interesting overview of the life and accomplishments of the inspiring human rights activist Fritz Bauer, the German judge and prosecutor who played an essential role in starting the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials. Stefan Schuster, who is currently a research assistant at the Buxus Foundation then discussed questions such as ‘what is resistance?’ and ‘what are human rights?’ his thought-provoking speech left many of the participants pondering about the more detailed meaning behind resistance and human rights.
Stefan noted that they must be analysed in relation to each other when discussing this topic and that ‘the resistance is the perseverance for human rights. He also enlightened everyone about the golden rule when discussing human rights which was ‘do not unto others what you do not wish upon yourself’, this golden rule was especially impactful on Fritz Bauer’s life. Stefan’s presentation went on to give a short tour through history and introducing the participants to a myriad of human rights activists and resistance fighters from ancient times. Examples from Aristotle and Marcus Tullius Cicero (106BC), and the impact that they had on human rights were interesting and insightful. The influence that the magna carta had had on human rights was also discussed.
Irmtrud Wojak’s then presented the audience with a short film on the life of Fritz Bauer. Touching on his inspirational moral compass that he held in the most difficult of times, and this motivation to push for human rights. Dr Jaquin Gonzalez Ibáñez from the UN Genocide Convention then discussed the global atrocities of human rights violations and asked the poignant question of ‘how do you create an efficient narrative of these atrocities in society?’. His presentation discussed the nature of genocide and the linguistic origin of the word ‘genocide’ that was introduced by Raphael Lemkin, that it came from the separated words ‘geno’ meaning a group of people, and ‘cide’ to kill. A more detailed history of Raphael Lemkin and a short video made the speech of Dr Jaquin Gonzalez Ibáñez both inspirational and incredibly moving. A thought-provoking final note in Ibáñez’s speech discussed the importance of understanding all sides of human rights and that human rights activists can often have a second side to their personality, and that this rounded perspective was particularly important.
To finish of the first day the participants got the chance to see more of the Fritz Bauer library and how it worked. The participants were then split into small groups for the interactive part of the event. Here they started research on a human rights activist of their choosing so that it was to be added to the Fritz Bauer library the following day.
The following day we were honoured to host Caroline Edelstam from the Edelstam foundation who gave a touching and informative speech about the life and character of Harald Edelstam. Harald Edelstam saved thousands of lives throughout his life time, including during the reign of Nazi terror where he helped hundreds of Norwegian Jews and saboteurs escape from the Germans. On another instance in his life he helped over 1,200 Chileans, 67 Uruguayan and Bolivian refugees, and hundreds of Cuban diplomats and civilians escape persecution by dictator Augusto Pinochet. Caroline Edelstam also talked about his motivation to carry out such courageous acts in such a dangerous time, that being that it was ‘justice and dignity’ that were his motivation to save so many. She also touched on the unique personality that Harald Edelstam had and the courage he had every day despite many that were close to him eventually turning their backs on him. Stefan Schuster then enlightened the crowd on the life of Gabriella Brimmer who fought for the rights for disabled people and her tale of how she fought to receive the same education and rights as those who were not disabled.
In the afternoon the research activities continued. The groups then presented their research and it was particularly interesting to see the vast differences between their choices. The choices included Manasi Pradhan, Irom Chenn Sharmilla, Kofi Annan, and Nadja Murad, who all fought for human rights in very different ways. Battling for rights for women, rights for minorities and rights for life.
The ECP-FG is very grateful for all those who participated in the event and are honoured to have hosted such inspirational people who showed how passionately they cared about human rights. We would like to thank the Buxus Stiftung for their collaboration and for bringing the Fritz Bauer library to us.