Fifteen young people from the Rabin High School left for Germany as part of a youth exchange programme.  During their visit the youth are being hosted by the families of German young people from the city of Manheim.  They will meet with the mayor of Manheim, visit the city's synagogue, and go boating on the river Rhine.

On the fourth day the group travels to France, where they will visit the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Strasbourg, France.  They will also visit in Berlin, where they will tour the German Parliament.  They return to Israel on 1.8.2008.

For the last five years the Rabin High School has kept contact with German youth as part of a scholarship programme that was presented in the year 2000 by the then-president of Germany, Johannes Rau.

[photo from Manheim website: www.manheim.de ]

The objective of the programme is to improve the image of Germany among Israeli young people.  "We identify with what Johannes Rau says, that the youth are the foundation stone for improving Germany's image in the eyes of the Israelis and we are acting to implement this," noted Mazal Katzir, deputy headmistress of Rabin High School and the person who coordinates the youth delegations.

According to Katzir, "Openness to accepting the new Germany is very important, but on the other hand we will not forget our past, because he who forgets his past has his future shrouded in mist."