August 2002 - Nr. 8
Berlin Welcomes Children of Fallen New York Firefighters
TWIG - Close to 150 young people from seven German cities gathered at a summer camp in Berlin on Wednesday (July 10) for a day-long get-together with a select group of New York children touring Germany this summer. The U.S. visitors, all children of firefighters who lost their lives during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, are guests of the Firefighters’ Bridge Berlin-USA, a cultural exchange program organized by the Berlin fire department and the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation. The campers and their visitors took part in a friendly German-American sports competition presided over by interior minister Otto Schily Wednesday afternoon. The New York teens left the camp shortly before a powerful storm struck, toppling trees and causing seven deaths in the Berlin area. Two German children who had taken part in the cultural exchange were among the victims of the storm.
For more on related projects aimed at furthering understanding between American and German young people click here:
http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/info/publications/infocus/bridge/bridge.html.
