Friends in a Cold Climate: Esslingen-2

Jutta worked in civil service in Stuttgart, specifically in Esslingen, from 1989 to 2018. After taking a break for three years due to the birth of her second son, Jutta was asked by the mayor to create programs for the visit of Jewish people who had previously lived in Esslingen. This experience marked her first involvement with hosting foreign individuals in Esslingen and caring for them. Following that exprience, her role involved leading the office of International relationships, focusing on town twinning and European programs. Working directly for the mayor, she coordinated various exchanges such as school, club, and youth exchanges, as well as collaborative European projects. Concerning the origins of town twinning, young people from different countries, despite being burdened by war-related differences, focused on building peace and unity. War was not a central theme in their discussions; instead, they emphasized the importance of living together harmoniously and the freedom to study and travel across Europe. They aspired to create a free world where people could live in peace and prosperity. There was a lack of education about the Holocaust and the experiences of Jewish people in schools. Many students reported not learning about it in their lessons, mirroring the experiences of Juttas generation, where teachers avoided discussing it altogether. Even the Juttas parents, who were teenagers during the war, were aware of the events but chose not to acknowledge them fully. Jutta draws a parallel to contemporary attitudes towards events such as the conflict in Ukraine. Jutta had discussions with town-twinning friends during the reunification of Germany. While she felt positive about the idea of a united Germany, their friends expressed anxiety about it. She struggled to understand their friends concerns, but one friend mentioned historical apprehensions related to Germanys size and its past actions, particularly during the Second World War. The complexities and differing perspectives about the reunification of Germany were hard to understand for Jutta. She couldn’t understand why they were so anxious.