Turning a question into an exclamation

Today we found out how our group leaders came up with the name of our seminar. There is more to know about “Celebrate the difference!” than we first thought.

When Sebastian visited the permanent section about the Holocaust in the Imperial War Museum in London, he was intrigued by something he heard there. In an interview that was shown on screen, a Hungarian Jew named Hugo Gryn, who became the Rabbi of one of the largest congregations in Europe, pondered about “difference”. Before the Second World War he did not even realize that he was any different from all the other people around him. Being Jewish did not mean being different in a bad way...until the Nazis claimed it to be. Luckily he survived the Shoa and was able to transmit an important message. Wondering why people are not seeing differences positively but rather as a thread, he asked: “Why do we not celebrate our differences?” 

Fascinated by this way of thinking, Sebastian turned this question into an exclamation and the motto of our exchange. Now it is up to us, the participants, to turn it into action.

Let’s celebrate our differences!