Journeys to Auschwitz with groups since 2014
Our next retreat will take place in
March 2026 (more information see below) and there we will be witnessing personal, transgenerational and collective traumata and our responsibility now.
Witnessing in Empathy: Approach to the Holocaust
Are we at home in our collective past, even if it was horrible? Cognitively everyone knows lots about the holocaust, but when it comes to emotions our systems often shut down in the face of the inconceivable, un-nameable horror. After many years of training in subtle competencies with Thomas Hübl a team formed to explore a different approach. We wanted to confront ourselves with visiting the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz and staying despite of the emotional shut down, giving ourselves to whatever happens there, whatever energy turns up, whatever emotion arises. With time we realised opening up again – for tears, for rage, for fear, for shame, for arrogance, for love, for courage.
Out of those moving experiences group retreats in Auschwitz were created and are held by the team since 2014. The approach is simple, but deeply human: witnessing in empathy. Since it is often hard to bear, it's essential one is not alone. Together we witness the place and the energy and we witness what happens in ourselves, supported by the group as a strong container.
The approach proves to be challenging and deeply rewarding at the same time. Strong emotions come up and can be contained. Going there together, with an open heart and allowing our vulnerability, enables us to feel our human connection at this very place of dehumanization. We all bring our family history, be it Jewish or non-Jewish, German or non-German, victim or perpetrator backgrounds. It can be very painful – and yet we end up meeting one another barely human, and touchingly pure and honest.
One effect of this is, that often frozen parts of our family histories are touched and start melting again. Blind spots in ourselves, and unconscious family patterns become visible and can be transformed. No-one can “heal” the Holocaust, but we can make ourselves available to witness the wounds, and offer our humanness to address these transgenerational and collective traumata.
Schedule Retreat 2026
Info-Calls
We are offering three open info calls (alternatively):
09/23/2025; 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm, CEST (Berlin time)
10/02/2025; 7.30 pm – 9.00 pm CEST
10/05/2025; 7.30 pm – 9.00 pm CEST
We will inform you about the journey, offer some time for Q&A, and you might already get a sense of the group atmosphere. Afterwards we´ll close the group for those who have registered and meet for further group calls.
Group-Calls
The following dates are mandatory for the closed group
10/30/2025; 6.30-8.00 pm CET,
11/24/2025; 6.30-8.00 pm
01/13/2026 ; 6.30-8.00 pm
02/12/2026; 6.30-8.00 pm
This meetings offer a space to prepare for the journey by growing familiar with one another, while also connecting more deeply with our personal topics and our ancestral lineage.
Retreat
Friday 03/20/2025 till Saturday 03/28/2025
We will start with three days in Berlin, Germany and travel to Oswiecim, Poland to visit the former concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Registration
If you’re interested, please get in touch with us by September 21st at the latest. You can simply reply to this email info@witnessing-in-empathy.org. We’ll then send you a confirmation with a link to the info calls mentioned above.