In the Third Reich, showing civil courage could cost you your life. But even at that time there was resistance. The carefully prepared assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944 was the work of over 100 like-minded people: People who stood up for human rights. The attempt to put an end to the inhuman activities of the dictator failed. Almost all of the resistance fighters paid for their courageous actions with their lives. That was 80 years ago now.

Back then, many women and men tried to stand up for others wherever they were, to demand their rights and those of others. Most of them ended up in prison or a concentration camp. It was not seldom the case that only death awaited them.

To what extent do we have to defend our values today? Our constitutional rights? Our Grundgesetz?

Today it is less dangerous to put up resistance when fundamental rights are attacked or questioned. Nevertheless, it requires courage and civil courage. 28 pupils from Johannes Guttenberg Gymnasium in Waldkirchen thought about how to show their colors in a creative way.

First, they looked at the fate of resistance fighters under National Socialism and interviewed a contemporary witness (Frauke Hansen, a child of July 20, 1944) in detail. Then they researched how our Grundgesetz came about and what was laid down by the fathers and mothers of the Grundgesetz to prevent a repeat of the Third Reich or autocratic or dictatorial regime.

Finally, they worked in small groups to implement creative projects that emphasized the importance of democracy and the German Grundgesetz.
emphasized. This work gave them the opportunity not only to actively stand up for the Grundgesetz and democratic values but also - by publishing their contributions on the pics4peace channels - to inspire others about the importance of the topic and sensitize them to the need to stand up for these values.

Creative results

This resulted in

• a TikTok video on the importance of the Grundgesetz,
• a poetry piece on "75 years of the Grundgesetz", which was recorded as an audio file, and as well as 
• several poster series on individual fundamental rights and on recognizing extremism in general.

The contributions will be published successively on the pics4peace channels (Spotify, YouTube, Instagram). There will even be an exhibition of the impressive poster series in Waldkirchen. Congratulations!!!

GG(K)egeln (Bowling and Arguing: Team Democracy vs. Team Democracy Destroyer)

In the evening, things continued at the bowling alley. Team "Democracy" and Team "Democracy Destroyer" engaged in a playful and argumentatively tough competition on certain fundamental rights. This was not only a lot of fun, it also illustrated the mechanisms used by those who want to undermine our fundamental values of freedom and democracy and how they can be countered.

Democracy Experts

At the end of the extremely intensive days, all students received a personalized certificate that identifies them as a Democracy Expert 2024, which identifies them as such.

Many thanks to the Institute for Political Education at HSS and the team at Kloster Banz for making the workshop possible!