Ursula Vaupel's moving reading: A look at the darkness of history

Ursula Vaupel's moving reading: A look at the darkness of history

On June 15, 2025, the starting signal for an impressive project week was given at the Brüder-Grimm School in Witzenhausen. The focus was on a reading from the book "I was also a Hitler girl" by Ursula Vaupel, which was clearly presented by her daughter, Milena Vaupel-Kenter, and Thekla Rotermund-Capar for the students in grades 8 to 10. The event had the goal of promoting dealing with history and is carried out as part of the motto "Democracy - Values ​​(ER) Life". In the reading, central issues such as Hitler's seizure of power and dealing with the Vaupel family were dealt with with the events at that time, which met with great interest among the students. 

Ursula Vaupel, born in 1928, describes in her memories, like her family, which was fell into the Nazi ideologies, which was affected by the consequences of inflation and the global economic crisis. Even as a teenager, she wanted to strive for a career in the Federation of German Girls, but was excluded due to a lack of forearm. Her childhood and youth offer a deep insight into the fate of Jews with whom she was closely connected as neighbors. Later she had to recognize that these deportations suffered and many were murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The examination of National Socialism only started after the end of the Second World War, when Vaupel began to critically reflect on her own experiences.

of the memory to clarify

in 2016, when Ursula Vaupel was over 70 years old, she published her moving youth memories. The connection to Paul Kester, a Jewish neighboring boy who survived the Holocaust, shows her personal relationship to the terrible events of that time. Her life story and engagement in refugee work run through their subsequent work. A school festival will also take place at the school, which comes up with music and theater performances as well as sports and game campaigns for the whole family- including an environmental award ceremony and a poetry slam.

The Brüder-Grimm School is not the only institution that deals with the topic. The Horkesgath grammar school in Krefeld is planning a moving project week that is devoted to the Holocaust from January 20 to 24, 2025 and wants to mobilize around 700 pupils. A close cooperation with the Nazi documentation center Villa Merländer underlines the seriousness of the project. The aim of this week is to impressively draw attention to anti -Semitism, racism and exclusion, with regular lessons being replaced by various projects. Among the planned activities include a puppet theater for younger classes as well as workshops about race theory and sports propaganda of the National Socialists. 

Holocaust education in focus

dealing with the Nazi story is a hotly discussed topic in education. The examination of the Holocaust is now an integral part of the curricula in Germany, but surveys show that there are still prejudices and resistance today, especially to commemorative events and the presentation of dead topics. The reporting on the Holocaust has increased in recent decades, which was initiated, among other things, through the famous television series "Holocaust" from the late 1970s. This has decisively shaped awareness in public, and the topic is also discussed internationally, especially with regard to integration into pedagogical work.

With a fresh wind through this effort everyday life, schools invite both in Witzenhausen and in Krefeld to deal with the dark past of Germany and to learn from the mistakes of history. History teaching is essential to strengthen the values ​​of democracy and to sensitize young people to the dangers of anti -Semitism and racism. It is to be hoped that the school communities will continue to have a good hand in the design of such projects in the future.