Deutsche Gesellschaft e.V. is organizing a research trip to the Baltic states which will take place from July 21–27, 2025. It is open to university students from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Germany. Applications will be taken into account until April 20, 2025. The program includes visits to historical sites, former synagogues, Jewish quarters, and memorials. Travel, meals, and accommodation costs will be covered. The working language is English. Participants are expected to submit an essay on the specified topics, which will later be published online.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have a rich history of Jewish life, playing a key role in the region’s cultural and economic development since the Middle Ages. Cities like Riga, Vilna, and Königsberg were renowned centers of Jewish scholarship, art, and science. However, during the German occupation in World War II, these communities were almost entirely destroyed.

In July 2025, the Deutsche Gesellschaft e.V. is organizing a research trip for students from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Germany. The trip will take participants through the capitals Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius, where they will visit significant Jewish historical sites, including former synagogues, Jewish quarters, and memorials. Discussions with historians, civil society representatives, and members of Jewish communities will provide deep engagement with the past.

The trip will also include visits to sites of Nazi crimes, such as the Rumbula forest massacre, Ponary Memorial, and the Klooga concentration camp. These places serve as stark reminders of the systematic destruction of Jewish life in the region.

A key focus will be on memory culture and how different societies deal with their pasts. Students will explore national perspectives on the Holocaust and the conflicts in remembrance. The goal is to raise awareness of the Holocaust’s history in the Baltic states and encourage active engagement with memory culture.

The trip is funded by the EVZ Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office as part of the program YOUNG PEOPLE remember international. It includes two online seminars on July 3 and July 10, 2025, at 6 pm, and the research trip itself from July 21 to 27, 2025. Applications are due by April 13, 2025. Please submit a motivation letter, CV, and a research outline (max. 1-2 pages) for your essay, answering the following questions: What topic would you like to address, how will you approach it, and which partners (e.g., for interviews) are important? All documents must be in English and submitted as a single file via email to sebastian.roesner@deutsche-gesellschaft-ev.de.