10th Gerhard Ott Memorial

[wishmerhill]

This is a cross post. I already sent it to the interyouca mailing list, but I think it is worth to spread the word even more (with some corrections)

Dear Friends,

10 years ago Gerhard Ott passed away, leaving a deep sensation of emptyness in our hearts.

For those who knew him, Gerhard is the essence of the camp, the essence of a man who believed in the dream of one Europe. Now, everything seems so easy, Europe is a reality and traveling all around our new European homeland is as easy as clicking on a webpage and book a plane ticket.

Back in the old days, it was different and more difficult. Gerhard is one of the man who made it possible for us to know what Europe means. It was not about having just fun, getting drunk, teasing girls: it was much more, it was meeting people, talking, discussing, confronting with oneanother. It was the time whan the camp was still "International East-West Youth Camp", when the difference east-west still made a sense. It was the time when to go to Czech republic or Poland you needed a Passport. Back then, there were Lire, Mark, Pesetas, Francs, Schilling.
In those years, nobody would have complained for not having Nestlé Cacao for breakfast: we were happy with milk, long coffee and some butter and jam.
Back then the Camp was not in competition with Ibiza or Barcelona. Back then the Camp was not an holyday, it was an experience by itself. I remember Patrick used to say "Le camp n'est pas le Club Meditaraneé, if you want an holiday, go and get one. This is something different". The camp meant working hard to fulfill our need of integration. The camp bar was a place to sit and talk in front of a beer. The workshops were the "core businnes" of the camp, and no matter what you did in the evening, the workshops were to be attended to.

Anyway, after fighting with a terrible disease, Gerhard died, 10 years ago, just after having made possible one of the best IYC ever, in Windischleuba, were "Romeo and Juliet" was performed.

As some of you maybe know, Gerhard rests in peace in Bassano del Grappa, in a graveyard 2 km away from my home. On his grave, the actual Mayor of Bassano wanted an inscription that reads “una vita per l'Europa”. For those not comfortable with Italian (altough easy) that means “a whole life for Europe”.

So, after that long time, that for those who loved him seems to never have passed, being his memory so alive in our hearts, the municipality of Bassano has decided to dedicate a stone plate to Gerhard in one of the most renowed schools of the city.

This will happen on the 4th of October. Funny enough, this is also my birtday: almost every year since 1996 I’ve been celebrating my birthday with a big party open to all camp friends. This year, though, I will not celebrate my birthday, as a much more importat event is taking place.

So, I write this email to invite everybody who wants to celebrate the memory of Gerhard: you are invited to Bassano and i will try to find accomodation.

I think a good limit to it can be about 20-25 people staying at my place. If you are interested in Gerhard’s celebration, I ask you to write me an email to tell me you are joining us.

You must forgive me, but I will give precedence to old people who actually met Gerhard.

I definitely CAN’T manage to host people coming on Friday 3rd, so please arrange thing in order to be in Bassano on Saturday 4th morning, or you have to find a different accomodation for Friday night. And, moreover, I AM TO LEAVE ON SUNDAY 5th EVENING, and so you shall do.

I wish to see many of you friends and remember Gerhard with you.

Yours,

Alberto

[wishmerhill]

I will paste on the following posts the little mail exchange of Juergen and me following my first mail...

Hope you will read it and contribute with your point of view!

[wishmerhill]

Juergen wrote this on the Mailing list on 09/11/08 11:31.

hej folks,

I'm awfully sorry but as far as I can see I'll not be able to come to
Bassano... but thanks to Alberto for the effort, the invitation and for
remembering and reminding.

let me add some words to the "past camps" issue:

of course there has been a lot of changes since those days when Albewrto
(and me) experienced our first camp - Europe, currency, travelling,
holidays, possibilities - not talking about e-mail and internet...
and of course the camp has changed with the circumstances, the conditions
and the more and more uniting Europe.
but - to my opinion - the camp is still "something more than holiday"; it
was AND IS something veeeeery special where the people - today as much as
in "former years" - put their positive energy in, where people do work hard
to integrate, where "meeting people, talking, discussing, confronting with
oneanother" IS the main topic. (and of course the workshops ARE to be
attended to, no matter what you did the night before - and how long...)
Finally - after having talked to a lot of people during this year's camp,
and after having worked through all the evaluation forms - I think I can
say that the camp IS an experience of itself.
and hopefully WILL BE for a lot of time!!!!

sunny greetings from late-summer Pforzheim!!

Jürgen

[wishmerhill]

Juergen wrote this to me on 09/11/08 12:32

hej Albes,

I felt like writing the other mail because yours - the part about former
camps - and Paolo's sounded a bit harsh to today's participants. in fact a
bit disrespecting.

well, of course we all have the tendency to glorify the past (if it's been
a good experience) and to press the "delete" button for the less pleasant
rememberances
for example if you write that
"In those years, nobody would have complained for not having Nestle Cacao
for breakfast, we were happy with milk, long coffee and some butter and
jam."
I tell you that it's false - we were not happy, not all of us: we always
had people who asked for cheese and ham for breakfast; who bought Nutella
when there was none; all over the years in nearly every teamers meeting it
was said that "Italian people ask for more sald/tomatoes/vegetables"; and I
remember Patrick in Litomysl, coming out of the dining room every second
day saying "ca ce ne mange pas" (well, in fact he spent a lot of evenings
in the restaurant close to our school, enjoying their very good food

and - between you and me - when we talk about "having just fun, getting
drunk, teasing girls" - the Alberto I know: hasn't he been in the front
line for that, especially the latter? also in the closer past


as I have already written: I'd love to go to Bassano, but as I said it's
gonna be pretty much impossible. But I wish you a hgreat weekend and loads
of good memomries!

a hug -
Jürgen

[wishmerhill]

I answered to Juergen on 09/11/08 23:58

Ciao Jürgen,

I am really sorry, if my mail sounded harsh. After having written it, i was sure it would have started a discussion. Usually this has always happened in my latest mails on this list (remember Iraq, with poor Roby, or a mail I wrote about the Wintercamp, when Dita was seriously mad for my words, and another one I don't remember but I am sure there is one more).

What I wrote was quite too personal and I just wanted to "remember" the past. In fact, "the good old days" are such just when look back at them and not really when you live them.

I was writing that mail kind of in a "stream of consciousness" and probably I put too much of my feelings in it. I really really didn't want to be disrespectful towards young participants, and I will apologize on the list in the next days.

I was remembering and remembering makes you sometimes think in a bad way.

I must admit, however, I wasn't particularly satisfied with the latest camps I did, and that's why I did not want to come to this year camp, although it was in Italy, and I honestly believe I put much if this in the mail I wrote... But i think it's more my own problem, and I grew old.

I really apologize. My mail was meant to remember, but I probably did it in a bad way.

Anyway, as for what i saw in the rare moments I was in Scandiano, I have somehow the feeling (of course just my personal view) that the camp is somehow loosing his focus.

Back in the old days, I have been thinking recenlty, after writing this mail, the "camp" was expecting the participant to do something for it. Now, the participants are expecting the camp to do something for them.

And, of course, you know well how I was pretty keen in drinking (just one camp was bad for me in this respect, Maulbronn) and girls (just one camp was bad for me in this respect, Maulbronn).

Anyway, as for girls, it's OBVIOUS it was not so easy to spot me as Kowal thought I was gay...

But let me tell you it was different, or maybe (more likely) i see it different.

Hope to have made myself clear...

a hug

Albes

[wishmerhill]

Juergen sent me this 09/18/08 14:22

hi Alberto,

thanks for your mail!

actually I like to have discussions, and the one you are opening here is a
discussion that might be one of the mayor points we'll have to deal with
the next years (or maybe decades).
skoda that (up to now) nobody (but me) has taken the opportunity to join
the discussion. actually - as far as I understood - the forum would be a
perfect platform to discuss serious things (as well as playing thread) -
but the forum is pretty quiet these days. (as I have seen there's a lot of
activity on facebook, I suppose people don't split their attention, but I
don't know. maybe it's another symptom of what you critisize...)

of course you are right: the camp has changed. but it has changed with the
world around it.
at the moment I have to write a longer article about 20 years of youth
camps, and for this - taking the essentials - i also have to mention this:
the developping of the world, the possibilities, travelling, mallorca,
internet and cell phones for free etc.etc.
and yes: young people are different in 2008 than they were in 1993. (and
believe me: they were different another 15 years back in 1978. actually I
was )

one of my favorite authors (kurt Tucholsky, you probably don't know him)
once said: "count on people the way they are, not the way they should be".
Which is what - I think - the camp should do.

We had a similar discussion with Edo on the last teamers' meeting; he
complained that people are asking for special food like juice for
breakfast, and he said that in former years there wasn't any "extra", the
kitchen just fulfilled "the bear necessities".
the answer he got (from various people) was that if we'd kinda "go back
there" we would probably lose a lot of people who'd say "the camp is cool,
but I don't know why I have to pay 500 euro for bad food". and of course:
for newbies who have no idea about the camp, we are in competence with all
inclusive offers in Mallorca or Bulgaria or whereever.

just coming to my mind: Fertöd. last camp where food was really bad (few
and strange many days - remember the pasta-with-sugar-story?), and MAN DID
WE COMPLAIN!!! we fought for days to get some coffee for breakfast....
still the atmosphere was pretty okay.
and man, did we have good food in Myslowice or in Bassano. and also the
atmosphere was good.

times are changing, standards are changing, people are changing. and the
camp has to adapt to the changes. actually I think it does.
remember your own branche - the joyshop. copied newspaper in the early
years, handwritten in the very beginning, with pics copied from asterix or
whatever comic books. lateron with some self-developped black-and-white
photos.
then there was a break, and then came Bernin with the copied joyshop
catalogue. and then Fertöd, the CD, then more and more stuff, then a
DVD....
can you imagine doing a camp newspaper like we did in Valdahon?

actually I'd say there's a lot of advantage in the changes: because with
internet you can stay in touch far easier then before when you could make
expensive phone calls or write letters that took ages to arrive, and more
ages to get the answer...

another example, one thing I noticed this year: we had some events that
were held in Italian (and translated). it doesn't work any more. people (me
included) don't have the patience (or maybe the tolerance) any more to wait
for the translation, put a question, wait for that translation, wait for
the answer, then the translation..... you know that in former years we
always had 2, 3 or more translators who helped with the communication. we
don't need it any more, most people don't need it any more - but of course
on the other hand it kinda excludes people (or activities) which are not in
English.

i wish you had been in the camp this year; or if you'd have said (or
insisted more) in what you noticed ("the camp losing its focus"). because
we had talked it over in the meeting in Montecchio and we really did it:
trying to make participants more responsable, helping, organising,
cleaning, ... and communicating it all the way and from the very beginning.
because we were far beyond any limits in Bauschlott (in every sense - final
show, bar, activities, ...)
i can't say that i'm really satisfied (yet), but i think we made a change,
and we're on a good way. because you are perfectly right: the camp is made
that people do something for it - and not the camp organising and doing
everything for them.
but - and that was why I wrote on the list - your mail sounded a bit like
"we were the better participants in the old times". nowadays participants
are not responsable for all the changes that have taken place.
but I think it's good to remind them that there have been different times,
too.

buffff - I really feel like leading the discussion openly and not just you
and me. maybe put the last mails to the forum?
(don't know if someone'd read 'em, but who wants to join can join. as long
as it's not Irena and Phil

thanks for everything - see you next time
(unfortuantely not in Bassano) -
a hug:
Jürgen

[phil32]

here I am^^
but lets stay serious this time!

This year it was just my third camp and I know that three camps aren't a lot!
but I also felt that this camp was different to Myslowice or Bauschlott!
I think Jürgen is right! I don't know the campers who jointed the camp 10 to 15 years ago, but I think that at this times the people in general were different to the people who live today.
The cam is changing! and I thnik we cant do anything against it! we just can look for, that it is changing in a good way!
We can try to keep the idea of the camp in every new camper! and so the idea of the camp will not get lost even if it is changing!

greetings from phil

[Anni]

Hi to the few forum-visitors

finally, I think I have to add something aswell

To be honest, I felt kind of offended a little after that first mail and a little dissappointed (don't worry Alberto; I'm not angry, I can understand your view perfectly) because, of course I enjoy the time at the bar and all, but I would not join the camp if it was just about having an ordinary holiday and to me (with only 3 camps of experience ) it seems to have a clear focus. I think, in former camps the differences may have been much bigger and more obvious, but still, till nowadays they haven't vanished. Maybe to you they seem this obvious and natural because you've participated in those former camps and done a lot of work for integration but new participants have to start without such an experience. So they (we) have to get to know and do our own work of integration (at least I've never left a camp without a lot of new impressions of cultural aspects which seemed unknown to me before). As times are changing this work of integration may change aswell but still it exists and I think if people would just be looking for having a nice holiday full of party, flirting and so on there would be other (easier) possibilities.

I haven't participated at the camp in Bauschlott (and of course not in the former camps you were talking about either), so I may not be able to make a really qualified comment; I'm just trying to explain my view (and btw I think the "new things" this camp were really a good idea).

After all: There are so many friendships growing in the camp; what better way of integration and understanding can you wish for?

I think it's quite a pitty if you have the impression the camp is losing its focus. Maybe you are right and there is this danger, so,
why not joining the camp next time having some nice discussions at the bar in front of a beer in order to create new experiences which can be glorified in the future?

greetings from (actually quite cold) Bauschlott,

Anni

[Stéphane]

Hello,

Thank you Alberto to have put this discution in this fourm

I know I am not as an old camper as Alberto, but my experience in camp (2000 Zdar Nad Zazavou and 2001 Bernin and some IYWC) was quite important for me : I didn't know anything about the camp before arriving in CZ, but I discover really differences and learn a lot about other Europe (not only culture !).

Even if now there is less differences between cultures (or better said : more things about those cultures are known - because of the internet for exemple), those camps is really a good way to work together in a project (workshop or whatever), and live together in those big multicultural exchange. Somehow what will be the Europe actually and in few years...

I have met there really good friends and still keeping them even after few years !

So maby the camp has change a bit in the way it is (I mean what campers ask or wait from the camp) but my last coming in a camp (for the 20th camp), it was still this big multicultural exhange...

Stéphane (From Paris)

[phil32]

Hi,

I disagree with you in one point. I don't think that there are less differences! I think that there are just other differneces but not less!!
And I also think, that you never can know enougth about other cultures and countries!!

greetings from germany

phil

[Stéphane]

Hello,

As I said :
"Even if now there is less differences between cultures (or better said : more things about those cultures are known - because of the internet for exemple"

I mean that we could more easily travel in an otehr country than 20 years ago, and you can find a lots of information about other country, and as I said, this camps is a good way to learn to work together

Stéphane