The author Reiner Engelmann made a guest appearance in Idar-Oberstein with his book "Ich bin Jude - Euer Antisemitismus ist mein Alltag" at the invitation of the Idar-Oberstein Youth Welfare Office and also visited several schools. At the Ida Purper School, pupils from classes 9c, 10a and 10b received him in the small gym.
Reiner Engelmann first presented the authentic story of the teenager Simon. Although the main character simply wants to live as uninhibitedly as his non-Jewish friends, he quickly learns at a "normal school" or on the school bus that this is often no longer possible if you are recognized as a Jew because of a necklace or a kippah.
Based on this, the author explained how anti-Jewish thoughts and reservations are still present in the population today and how those affected suffer from subliminal and open hostility. In addition to reading from his book, Engelmann sought a dialog with the 83 young people present right from the start, who were quickly able to put themselves in the shoes of a peer. The conversation with the interested pupils was therefore not only based on previous knowledge, but also appealed emotionally to the young people's world of experience in the year 2023.
This literary encounter with Judaism marked the start of a school year that will be characterized by an intensive examination of the topics of anti-Semitism, racism and National Socialism and will also demand a lot from them emotionally in the coming months. At the invitation of the Obere Nahe church district, they will attend a play on this topic at the Stadttheater in November. In the second half of the school year, the firmly established trip to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp and a visit to a former synagogue in neighboring Alsace are on the agenda. An exciting school year "Against Forgetting".