((ups, somehow this message got lost in my mailbox without being sent. But,
here it is. Sorry. - Flemming))
Dear NCN Friends,
I hope this mail is of use to you. It may not be, but if I don't understand
the NCN visions and I don't understand the use of the network, than forgive
me and I'll try harder. However, I want to share this with you. Some of you
may already know about the work of Clair Nuer, and others may not. I have met
and talked with Clair a couple of times recently and have grown to respect
and love her and her family. She is a remarkable woman and is attempting to
do remarkable things. Things that fit well with our New Civilization visions
in my opinion. I recently received the following text from a brochure she has
produced. I hope your interest in her work is peaked a little by reading this
text.
Del Wilson
_____________________________________
The Turning Point
A series of international learning intensives-
Leadership into the 21st century
The Turning Point '95 Auschwitz, Poland, August 1995
Three sessions: three and one-half days each
ACC International Institute
Au Coeur de la Communication
At the Heart of Communication
Paris Montreal San Francisco
Pg 2
It's true, I've always thought of meeting you.
My name is Claire. I was born in Paris in 1933. My father, deported in 1942,
died in Auschwitz. I was hidden during the war and did not understand why I
was forced to wear a yellow star. I was afraid.
Forty years later, I was diagnosed with eye cancer and given no hope for a
cure. I found myself confronted by the same wall that I had faced in my
childhood, the same powerlessness.
Historians tell me there are similarities between the 1930's and the 1990's.
.
.
I do not want to be a part of the silent mass that, blinded by its own need
for possession, did not see the value of human life. At that point, it
requires being a hero to voice disagreement. A hero, I am not.
Perhaps there is still time to create a context that can move the dignity of
humanity forward. It is with this intention that our program was created. I
believe that our voices, together, can make the difference on the planet, and
your voice surely as much as mine!
I love this adventure, at each instant discovering other human beings,
creating relationships without the ultimate danger of "it's either you or
me".
I believe that we can find each other, acknowledge each other, and hum the
same tune.
I would like to create this program with you, looking ahead to the 21st
century, integrating past disasters, using memory to anticipate the future.
To
respect the dignity of those who have suffered or died is to remember and
also
to act, so that what happened never happens again.
Auschwitz is the place for this essential inquiry: 50 years ago. . . and in
50 years? What decision will I want to have made today to create a different
future? I have no other words to express it. I would be very happy to meet
with you.
Sincerely,
Claire Nuer
Founder
ACC International Institute
Sidebar
History is rich in examples where intention, hope and perseverance have
permitted the impossible to exist.
Each one of us,
with our choices, makes a difference for the world.
Each one of us can refuse the unacceptable and build
together, in our daily lives, a context of humanity.
Page 3
For you, leaders and decision-makers, for you who have the conscience to
exert
responsibility in your professional and personal activities, for you, men and
women of every nationality, witnesses of current or past conflicts-
50 years ago. . . Auschwitz, the liberation
50 years from now. . .
What turning point will you want
to have taken today?
The Turning Point Program
The Turning Point program is a series of learning intensives designed for
leaders and decision-makers. Developed by ACC International Institute, a
non-profit organization, this program launches an international multicultural
dialogue to connect individuals committed to putting their aspirations into
action. The goal of the Turning Point program is to bring together leaders
committed to making a difference in the world-knowing that together we can
create and achieve what we cannot do alone, even as leaders of the most
profitable companies or the most altruistic ventures.
The program will focus on:
. What conditions set the stage for a massive destruction such as in
the 1940s?
. What elements of common human behavior allow the unacceptable to happen?
. How are these behaviors relayed and amplified through all
segments of society?
. How can we avoid the destruction that may be a consequence of the
crisis,
scarcity and fragmentation that surrounds us today?
. How can we, instead, build a healthy, sustainable society,
beginning with
actions for our families, our work, our communities?
. How can our individual actions be relayed and amplified through all
segments of society?
The Leadership Challenge
One of the goals of The Turning Point Program is to help people embody new
leadership qualities as we approach the beginning of a new millenium. More
than ever, we need leaders who have a deep historical understanding of the
challenges we face in this age of tumultuous change and global
interdependence. More than ever, we need leaders who can learn from the
horrors of the past, face the harsh realities of today, and forge a new
vision
of hope and prosperity for the future.
We must develop leaders who have the courage to act on the strength of their
convictions, whether it be in their corporations, their communities, or their
families. We need people who can hear and appreciate a diversity of
worldviews and learn from each unique perspective. We need leaders who can
balance bottom line imperatives with humanitarian compassion, who can see
beyond the next quarter's profits or the next election outcome to the larger
context spanning several decades and beyond.
Sidebar:
"It is important that we ask ourselves essential questions, so that what is
still happening never happens again. My long-lasting pain has always
concentrated on Auschwitz, so has my will to transform my life.
Claire Nuer
Pg 4
The Turning Point '95
the first meeting of the Turning Point Program will be in Poland this August,
near the Auschwitz concentration campl This site will necessarily bring
forward our essential questions for humanity. Each even is designed to be an
international gathering with people from many different countries and
different walks of life. The idversity of perspective will provide a special
opportunity to gain a fuller, richer understanding of the challenges we face
in developing the leaders we need for tomorrow. Together we will examine our
past and use it as a starting point to create our future.
The Turning Point '95 at Auschwitz will include three identically designed
sessions of three and a half days each between August 13-24, 1995.
Session I (not open to children) August 13 - 16
Session II August 17 - 20
Session III August 21 - 24
Agenda
. Lectures and dialogues with historians and witnesses
. Interactive sessions facilitated by professors, scientists, medical
experts
and business leaders
. Guided walks through Auschwitz concentration camp
. Dialogue among participants
. Individual processes
. Learning laboratories and active exercises
. Active integration of a shared vision into our daily lives
As an educational non-profit learning organization, ACC strives to provide an
affordable price structure for its training programs. Thanks to committed
professionals who volunteer their time, ACC is able to make these programs
available to individuals from different economic and social backgrounds.
Cost: $895, includes food, lodging and ground transportation between the
seminar and the hotel. Travel to and from Auschwitz is not included.
Discount for early registration: $795 if payment is received by
June 15, 1995
$575 for students and ACC training program participants. Scholarships are
available on a limited basis.
A special childcare program may be available for children ages 11 to 15 years
old. Cost: $485 ($435 if payment is received by June 15, 1995)
To apply for the program, please call the ACC office nearest you for an
application. Contact information is on the back of this booklet.
Sidebar
The world today is once again a major source of concern, and I think such a
project is indispensable.
I deeply appreciate your commitment to act for future generations and hope
that we will be numerous at our encounter at Auschwitz this summer. You can
count on my participation and my support.
Martin Gray
Writer
and Lecturer
Page 5
Speakers and Facilitators (partial list):
Prof. Joel Cohen, Ph.D., biophysicist, physiology professor at University of
the Pacific, San Francisco, California, son of an atomic bomb scientist
Prof. Fawzy Fawzy, M.D., chairman of the Department of Neuro-Psychiatry,
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Martin Gray, world-renowned writer, lecturer, survivor of Nazi concentration
camps.
Daniel Kim, co-founder of the MIT Organizational Learning Center,
researcher and management consultant
Martine Laval, business consultant in change management, co-founder of the
E.C.N. network of consultants and professor at CRC, psychologist.
Dawna Markova, Ph.D. and Andy Bryner, Senior Research Affiliates to the MIT
Organizational Learning Center and consultants
Prof. Maxie Maultsby, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Psychiatry,
College
of Medicine, Howard University, Washington D.C.
Dr. Samson Munn, M.D., radiologist, member and facilitator of dialogue groups
between children of survivors and children of Nazis
Claire Nuer, co-founder of ACC International Institute, international
lecturer
and seminar leader, cancer survivor, hidden child in Nazi-occupied France,
father deported to Auschwitz
Bernard Offen, survivor of Nazi concentration camps, international lecturer
for Holocaust Studies, Yagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Bishop Pierre, founder of Emmaus, an international community for "homeless
and
hopeless" people started in France in 1949, now in 42 countries on 4
continents.
Gottfried Wagner, Ph.D., great-grandson of composer Richard Wagner,
international multi-media director, writer and musicologist, co-founder of a
"Post-Holocaust Dialogue Group."
Rabbi David Zeller, MA, active in Arab-Israeli interfaith dialogue, executive
director of Yakar, Jerusalem, an educational institute for Torah and
creativity.
How to suppport the Turning Point '95
. Announce the Turning Point's series of events to business executives,
foundations, patrons and sponsors, directors of organizations in your
organization's newsletter, electronic bulletin or next mailing
. Finance scholarships to allow people of different cultures and different
social classes to come and participate in one of the sessions.
. Offer your skills or material help or become a privileged sponsor through
financial support for printing, publicity, audio/video, telecommunciations,
frequent flyer coupons and logistics
. Contribute your ideas, contacts, suggestions
. Invite your colleagues to attend or organize a meeting with ACC and
decision-makers in your organization
. Represent your organization at the Turning Point '95 Leadership Intensive
Page 6
Laboratory of Physiology and Biophysics, University of the Pacific
San Francisco, California, January 27, 1995
I was impressed and moved to learn of your plans to organize a
conference at Auschwitz in August 1995, both to commemorate the liberation of
the camps 50 years ago and to stimulate the civilized world to ponder what we
have learned since then about living on our Earth. It is appropriate at this
time and in this place that humanity examine its conscience anew, that we
look
at the current condition of our world, and that we ask ourselves whether our
lives today suitably honor those who perished here.
We are keepers of the gift that was taken from them--the gift of life, the
gift of possibilities. Do we use it well? What would they say about our lives
today, our motivations, our wisdom, our skill at managing the world in a
just,
humane and sustainable way? Is the savagery they experienced still with us?
Are we condemned to endless repetitions of Auschwitz? Is it acceptable to
succumb to such horrific visions of the future? Is there any real hope? What
can we do, what must we do, to alter the destructive proclivities of
civilization? Can an individual make a difference?
These are crucial questions for humanity today. The attention of the world is
on Auschwitz this year. Your conference could be the catalyst for a renewed
examination of our condition, for a clearer understanding of our options, and
for a heightened commitment to a constructive action.
As a scientist and son of a scientist who worked on the Atomic Bomb project,
I fully support and endorse the goals of your Auschwitz conference. I would
urge people from all walks of life to attend, but particularly people in
positions of influence, such as diplomats, politicians, educators, corporate
CEOs,
entertainers and professionals of all kinds. It is time for such people to
come
together, even at some inconvenience to themselves, to address these matters.
These are the people who move our world; they are needed. It is time that
they
ask themselves, "What kind of world do we want, and what are we willing to do
about it?" If they, and each of us, are not willing to act, then a dire
future
is indeed preordained. Their, and our, participation at the Auschwitz
conference would be a visionary act and a fitting tribute to the 1.5 million
who died there 50 years ago.
Sincerely,
Joel A. Cohen, Ph.D.
Professor of Physiology & Biophysics
Page 7
Au Coeur de la Comunication - At the Heart of Communication
In addition to The Turning Point program, ACC International Institute
regularly organizes conferences, roundtables, seminars and training programs
on conflict resolution, human relationships (professional, familial,
intercultural) and health. Programs for bringing noble aspirations into
concrete action are offered in Paris, Montreal and San Francisco.
Roundtables: "Impossible Dialogues? And Yet..."
Bringing together adult children of war who talk frankly about their painful
pasts and how they are becoming partners for peace
University of Louvain, Brussels March 30
Inter-Continental Grand Hotel, Paris April 2
International University of Paris April 3
Institute of Noetic Sciences, San Francisco April 17
50th anniversary of the founding of
the United Nations, San Francisco June 25
50th anniversary of the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, San Francisco August 9
Seminars: A turning point...in our daily lives
Amidst recession, violence, separation, stress, disease,
powerless-ness...trainings to learn how to use our difficulties as a lever to
transform our lives and bring our goals into action
Paris May 25 - 29
Paris June 2 - 5
San Francisco July 29 - Aug 6
Montreal Oct
San Francisco Nov 1 - 3
Paris Nov 25 - Dec 3
San Francisco Feb 24 - 28
Trainings: A turning point in our activities and professional lives
A three year international and multi-disciplinary training program
encompassing conflict resolution, team and organizational learning, dialogue
and shared vision. Next cycle begins in Paris in May, 1996.
Back Cover
More than ever, we need leaders who can learn from the horrors of the past,
face the harsh realities of today, and forge a new vision of hope and
prosperity for the future.
Daniel Kim, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, Organizational Learning Center, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
ACC San Francisco ACC Montreal ACC Paris
PO Box 335 4171 Old Orchard 35 rue Jouffroy
d'Abbans
Corte Madera, CA 94976 Montreal, Quebec 75017 Paris,
USA CANADA, H4A 3B3 FRANCE
Tel. (415) 789 8802 Tel. (514) 485 2364 Tel. (1) 43 80 59 76
Fax (415) 789 8804 Fax (514) 484 4900 Fax (1) 43 80 60 79
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