Getting to know each other's political education work in the two partner organizations. Exchange on the role of the national memory culture in political discourse and educational work in Germany and Greece. Discussing the question of whether there is or should be a common European culture of remembrance or whether the diversity of different national narratives must reflect the diversity in the EU. Joint work on the question of how the memory of the Nazi era in Germany and Greece can be addressed in adult education and how the two academies can promote transnational European education and encounters. Originally, two working groups were planned, but due to the lack of personnel, they merged into one working group and worked together on the topics of memory culture, ecology and tourism.
The main motive for this project has been the question of the different memory cultures within the EU and their significance for current political debates and decisions. The national images of history in Germany and Greece were chosen as an example following the experiences of the financial crisis from 2010 onwards. In Greece, the reactions in German politics to the crisis evoked emotional memories of the German occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944. These memories and emotions also played an important role in political discussions, which in turn met with incomprehension and rejection in Germany. It became clear that the cultures of remembrance in the two EU member states are very different and that the mutual lack of understanding is also based on a lack of awareness of the different national images of history. There is a need for encounters and exchange, to recognize the diversity of national histories and develop mutual understanding. This need has been intensified by the instrumentalization of history in Russia's policy towards Ukraine, which has been strongly perceptible since 2021 in order to legitimize the war of aggression against Ukraine.