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On 28 May 2026, educational experts, lecturers and political educators came together at the Fritz Bauer Forum in Bochum for a workshop designed to qualify them to independently implement the first module of the NIV programme. „Nothing is Past“ (NIV) – as part of the „Live Democracy!“ programme, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth – is a workshop programme that is to be used in police and justice training courses as well as in schools. The Fritz Bauer Forum is carrying out the project in cooperation with the New Israel Fund and we have set ourselves the goal of addressing a broad spectrum of topics in a total of three workshop modules: The project deals with the topics of anti-Semitism and anti-muslim racism , especially in the context of the Middle East conflict, as well as human rights education and aims to strengthen the participants‘ ability to tolerate ambiguity in the long term. The result of the multiplier workshop: a productive, focussed afternoon that showed that the format works.
Jan-Hinrich Wagner (New Israel Fund Deutschland e.V.) and Jacob Liedtke (Fritz Bauer Forum) led through a workshop that consistently focussed on activation. The methodology was designed not only to impart knowledge, but also to create confidence in dealing with anti-Semitism and racism and with one’s own role as an educator in diverse contexts.
Module I focuses on the question of how group-related misanthropy can be recognised, classified and ultimately dealt with in an educational way. The focus on agency and self-efficacy in particular led to productive discussions among the heterogeneous group of participants: Where can I start as an individual? What can I achieve in my institution?
The clear aim of the NIV programme is to strengthen educators where democratic resilience is formed – in schools, in police and judicial training courses and in universities. Exactly where uncertainty in dealing with the Middle East conflict most often leads to silence. The NIV programme counters this silence: Knowledge. And the courage to work with it.
The evening ended with a lecture by Dr Fatih Kaya (TU Dortmund University), who spoke about the current challenges posed by anti-Semitism and racism in the educational context. His view made it clear that people who experience discrimination almost always experience tipping points in their socialisation in the context of school. From this, the visitors from school and extracurricular educational contexts derived a great deal of responsibility from their own role, which led to lively discussions following the lecture.
In addition to our first multi-workshop, 28 May also marks the date on which we published the handout for political education work on Module I, which is now available on the project page of our website. All the materials developed are available here and can be used immediately in practice. Modules II and III are currently being developed and will also be available for use at the end of the year.
Information and handout: Project page of the Fritz Bauer Forum – Contact: niv@fritz-bauer-forum.de
