Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP)

The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is a German peace organization founded to confront the legacy of Nazism.

The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (German: Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste, or ASF) was founded in 1958 by the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, driven by the efforts of Lothar Kreyssig. It was prompted by the acknowledgement of guilt that Germans needed to face at the end of World War II and the Nazi era.

The Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) is known especially through its international volunteer programs and the organisation of work camps in western and eastern Europe. Every year, ARSP sends approximately 180 volunteers to countries that suffered under the German occupation during World War II: Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Belarus, and the Ukraine. They also work in Israel and the United States because many Holocaust survivors fled or immigrated to these countries.

Knowing that the consequences of National Socialism are still being felt and can only be overcome through an intensive dialogue, the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) stands for understanding between generations, cultures, religions and peoples. Rooted in Christian faith, ARSP seeks to cooperate with all who champion a more peaceful and just world.

§2 Purpose and operation

The beginnings of ARSP started with the actions of the Evangelical Church in Germany to reject Nazism and resist the Nazi regime. The founder of ARSP, Lothar Kreyssig, was one of the determined resisters within the Confessing Church. After the war, he made this refusal by the Protestant church a subject of discussion and, along with like-minded people, such as Martin Niemöller, Gustav Heinemann and later, Franz von Hammerstein, called for repentance and reversal.

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