In September 2013 a group made up of Germans and Poles travelled to the United States to present the intercultural and international remembrance project, “Sound in the Silence.” The participants included Alina Degener and Lukas Raiss Vieira, two students from Altona Gymnasium who were part of the projects at the Neuengamme Memorial Concentration Camp and in Borne Sulinowo. Two Polish students from Gymnasium Number 3 in Koszalin, Juia Kolecka and Hanna Paciocha, who participated in the workshops at the former military base in Borne Sulinowo, also accompanied the group. To prepare for the trip, the students created presentations in English about the project from their own perspectives. The students were responsible for doing their presentations and discussing their experiences with audiences in San Francisco and Chicago. The students were accompanied by Griet Gäthke, Project Coordinator from MOTTE, two teachers from Koszalin, Poland, Aleksandra Klukowska and Kamilla Derlatka as well as the Hamburg-based film maker and artistic director of “Sound in the Silence,” Jens Huckeriede †.

Chicago is Hamburg’s sister city and Sullivan Highschool, Chicago is partnerschool of Gymnasium Altona. After a short introduction by Jens Huckeriede and Griet Gäthke and film-screening of sound in the silence, the students from Koszalin and Hamburg had a discussion round with the students from Sullivan High School. Several classes with students of varying ages took part in the presentation and discussions over a two-day period at the school. The students from Koszalin and Hamburg did four presentations a day and reached approximately 800 students.