Action Reconcilliation Service for Peace (ARSP)

ARSP is a German peace and volunteer service organization with whom JCUA has partnered since 1982. Founded in the aftermath of WWII and the Holocaust, ARSP is committed to combating racism and anti-Semitism and to confronting Germany’s Nazi past by establishing positive relationships with countries that suffered under Nazi Germany.

ARSP places nearly 200 volunteers each year in twelve-month social service assignments in Eastern and Western Europe, Israel, and the U.S. Since JCUA began its partnership with ARSP, it has had 15 German interns.

In April of 2008, JCUA sent a contingent of JCUA staff, board, and friends to Berlin to help celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the ARSP program. Nearly all of JCUA’s past ARSP interns  participated in the celebration. The program included a Yom HaShoah (Holocaust remembrance) event, presentations by leaders of Germany’s Christian and Jewish communities, and an address by a Jewish Holocaust survivor currently living in Prague.

Currently, our ARSP intern is working on building a listserve to revitalize our relationships and re-engage ARSP alumni in JCUA's work.