Learning from the past for tomorrow's Europe

Hamburg, Germany (PROTEXT/ots) - On September 1, 2001 a newactor will enter the European stage of historical culture -EUSTORY. Exactly 62 years to the day after the outbreak of theSecond World War, partner organisations from 14 European nationswill join to form an international network, under the leadershipof the Hamburg Körber Foundation. All these organisations areholding independent history competitions in their respectivecountries. Together, they are promoting the "disarmament" ofhistory, as well as tolerance and understanding throughoutEurope. "When all of us in Europe begin to learn about one another'shistory, and to tell our own history in a way that'sunderstandable and more easily acceptable to others, then we'llbe on the way to a truly European perspective of history." Thisis one of the core statements of the EUSTORY Charter, theofficial policy document agreed on by the member organisations ofthe network and summarising their approaches to history. TheCharter underlines the significance of history for eachindividual and thus for our living together in Europe, and isintended to initiate a trans-European dialogue on politicalhistory. The complete text of the Charter is freely available onthe Internet. The main goal of EUSTORY is to guide young people towards anindependent and critical approach to their particular history bymeans of historical research competitions. In addition to theseyoung people, history teachers, historical researchers andexperts have been internationally integrated in the network,which so far comprises 14 civic organisations from Belarus,Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania,Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, the Ukraine andWales. The Körber Foundation, which is co-ordinating the EUSTORYnetwork, has been holding the German History Competition onbehalf of the German Federal President since 1973. The othernetwork partners are prestigious institutions; the Russiancompetition, for example, is organised by the internationallywell-known MEMORIAL association. EUSTORY The committees: Executive Committee Dr. Bogdan Murgescu Bucharest, Romania Jim McGonigle Helensburgh, Scotland Dr. Svein Lorentzen Trondheim, Norway Dr. Wolf Schmidt Hamburg, Germany Alicja Wancerz-Gluza Warsaw, Poland Executive Director Gabriele Bucher-Dinc Körber Foundation, Hamburg The Körber Foundation The private and non-profit Körber Foundation has beencommitted for decades to furthering international understandingthrough historical and political culture as well as science andresearch. As an operating foundation, the Hamburg organisationinitiates and finances its wide variety of activities itself. Theprojects are intended to tackle current issues and, inparticular, support people who want to play an active role inshaping our society. ots Original Text Service: Körber-StiftungInternet: http://www.presseportal.de For further information,please contact: Gabriele Bucher-Dinc Executive Director EUSTORYKurt-A.-Körber-Chaussee 10 21033 Hamburg Tel.: +49 (0) 40/ 72 50-38 22 Fax: +49 (0) 40/ 72 50-39 22 Mobile phone: +49 (0) 160 36312 47 E-Mail: bucher@stiftung.koerber.de Internet:www.eustory.org

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