Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (German War Graves Commission)

Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (German War Graves Commission) is a humanitarian organisation charged by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany with recording, maintaining and caring for the graves of German war casualties abroad. The commission provides information to relatives on all matters related to war graves, advises public and private institutions, promotes international cooperation in the area of war grave maintenance and encourages young people to come together to learn at the last resting places of war casualties. Working for peace means working against oblivion: We organise bi- or trinational youth encounters and workcamps with partner organisations from many different countries. During these events, the participants deal with experiences of war and violence in the 20th century. The youth exchanges lead the participants to places of remembrance of wars and times of tyranny. They ask critical questions, search for the traces of history, process their impressions and discuss important questions with others: How could this happen at the time? How am I connected to this time? What does peace mean to me? What is our responsibility today? What is the situation in the world today? Working for peace means promoting communication and exchange between people. In our youth exchanges and workcamps on memorial sites young people get the chance to meet each other and to broaden their horizons together. Dealing with history and thinking together show how fundamental and valuable mutual respect and tolerance for every single human being is in order to live together peacefully. We reinforce young people's sense for their role in a democratic society and support them to discover options how they can get involved with active citizenship. For more information view www.volksbund.de/workcamps