The Global Healing Project

Me: After having lived for 95 years, and my childhood under a totalitarian government/Hitler, I have finally arrived at what I consider my global responsibility. Yes, technology, fast-moving medical infusions, and the global pandemic have shifted my orientation toward the need for Global Healing! Whether friends, family members, teachers, or therapists, ask, “What is this? Please explain what you have in mind.” So here it goes! My beliefs: I am reviewing my own life cycle and examining my own healing process. I have been “classified” with the name “a Holocaust victim.” Naming things suddenly become a short cut to classification. i.e., “Oh, you are a Jew” or “Yes, you are a teacher, a baker, a father…” These classifications give the other person access to what they have learned about my roles.  When I think of Global Healing, it brings memories from all my senses, acquired beliefs, and the location of when and where I first encountered the expression of Global Healing. Imag

As elders in the community, members of KTA (Kindertransport Association) bring a special perspective to COVID-19 since much of what we are undergoing now relates to many of the phases we have undergone when we were children. From rejection in our communities (older people who are considered at risk are asked to stay away from other people), to adapting to new forms of living and learning in our communities (Zoom and blogs)  and our services during wars (right now it feels as if we are at war with this virus) all these things let me experience new/old models of global healing. Our goal is not only healing from our past but also peace where we live now and responsibly share our lives’ journeys and learnings. The emphasis on healing includes people, the environment we occupy and extends to planet earth. A current example from my own life is when members of my family and I had the good fortune of experiencing the model of a peaceful municipality created by Tamera, a peace research communit

I am almost 95 and learning about Blogs. This is my first venture, and I’m just back with members of my family from Portugal, where I first took an online course and then last summer (2019) participated in an introductory week seminar on global healing. Some of you may know me to have experienced Kristallnacht in 1938, after which my parents put me on a Kindertransport (children’s train to England). It wasn’t until 1995, when I was 70, that my wife and I returned to visit where I was born. This experience was an attempt at reconciliation from the German government. Thus began my process of healing and my willingness (for the FIRST time) to share my story with my children and colleagues. A few years later, I felt I had benefitted from the reconciliation experience, and we were offered the opportunity to go back with my whole family. We were also provided the chance to become German citizens (and citizens of the European Union). In my second reconciliation visit, we lived with a German f

One of my teen age love affairs was with Shirley Temple who appeared in the German translation of the film The Littlest Rebel. Part of the four freedoms that I experienced was the sky is the limit. I so wanted to meet Shirley Temple in person! Can you imagine a teenage refugee child in New York city hearing that she worked for Metro Goldwyn Mayer? I looked up the New York address, which was 23rd St in Manhattan between 7th and 8th Ave. I marched down to the Metro Goldwyn Meyer office absolutely convinced I would meet her. I arrived at the office door and it clearly stated Metro Goldwyn Meyer. I was scared to turn the nob handle but did so. I told the secretary behind the desk that I would like to see Shirley Temple. What a disappointing response, she lives in Hollywood and is not in their office in NYC. My love for Shirley Temple never faded.  I am still hoping someday to bump into her and tell my story to her personally.

May global healing move forward! How did I learn about global healing and why is it so important to me? How can we learn more about it, together ?   A virtual visit to Tamera in Southern Portugal (a small community that has been studying peace for about 40 years)   Online classes at Tamera   Experiences with restitution from Germany To learn more about the Tamera community, click here . In 1939 I lived in a totalitarian society as a Holocaust victim.  Imagine playing in a local sand box when I was four and seven years old, being told because I am a Jew I could not play there. Imagine, riding to a nearby town on my bicycle and upon my arrival in the next town I was greeted by a big sign “Jews not wanted here.”  I escaped - to England first and then to the US and there was introduced to the four freedoms for all citizens: 1.(freedom of speech, 2.freedom of religion, 3.freedom of the press and 4. freedom from want). This was such a reverse way of living and learning. 

I am in the process of healing from my Holocaust experience. I am 95. It is both an individual matter, a family matter and extends outward to the political, economic, social and cultural influences. It deals with friends, neighbors, my family, early and later childhood influences, home, schools, teachers, and religious experiences. A note from my youngest daughter, Tamara Klugman: This blog is part of my father’s last leg of his journey and personal healing. The goal is to interrupt the inter-generational genetic blueprint of trauma and help the world heal.