We invite you to attend a group relations conference aimed at uncovering the impact of the shadows and painful residues of World War II which still deeply affect people and nations across Europe and elsewhere.

When: 5-10 September 2012
Where: Kliczkow Castle, Poland

The impact of this anguish is transmitted from one generation to the next and shapes contemporary struggles within European society. The injuries inflicted by Europe’s shared history derive from the traumas of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, Soviet Communism and national oppression, and the impact of ethnic tensions and World War II, leading to the recent rise of Neo-Nazism. The pain and suffering fed by the horrors of war, occupation, massacres and betrayals are still alive, if hidden, in individuals and subgroups.

This conference will examine the impact of historical trauma as it appears in the way Europeans and others attempt to work together.

The conference uses a variant of the Tavistock Group Relations model, and builds on the work begun with Germans and Israelis and expanded to include Jews, Palestinians and others. The conference focus is on the exploration of experience in a variety of group learning opportunities. The task is to discover the links between personal experience, current tensions and historical trauma.

To find out more about the conference and to register see the Partners in Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA) website.