German Colonial Shadows – Perpetrator Lineages

Presencing German Perpetrator Legacy in Descendants

Online | English

What will we be exploring in this Lab?

Collective healing grows when descendants of perpetrators feel supported in facing their own ancestral histories. Germany carries a complex legacy of perpetration - from the Holocaust and WWII to its often-unseen role as the world’s third-largest colonial power. This lab warmly invites participants to explore their relationship to German colonial perpetratorship. As xenophobia and ideas of cultural superiority rise globally, we look to their colonial roots. The lab offers a supportive space for those with perpetrator lineage to soften “colonial amnesia” and reconnect with ancestral history.

Who is invited to participate?

This lab welcomes all with German roots - however distant - multipliers, leaders, and inner activists alike:who feel called to explore the complexity of perpetratorship and embark on this tender journey together; who are committed to shifting from a missionary mindset of “fixing over there” to looking within, pausing, and feeling deeply; who feel ready to support one another in acknowledging and detoxing historical harms while exploring insights from the collective unconscious;  who are open to co-creating a safe-enough, compassionate we-space for what is difficult to face alone.

More about the journey of the Lab

We explore the thinking and behaviors of Germans (and ancestors) entangled in global European imperial expansion, including transatlantic enslavement of Africans, forced missionary work, and resource extraction. We create space to ask: How can the reality of perpetratorship become tangible within and through us? How can we face the role of our country, leaders, or family histories? What is our personal relationship to power and influence? This lab combines collective reflection, somatic awareness, and global social witnessing to deepen understanding of the past and its impact on the present.

When will we be meeting?

We’ll come together for twelve sessions across the year held on Thursdays, 17:00–19:00 and 17:00-20:00 CET:26.2. (2h), 12.3. (2h), 2.4. (2h), 23.4. (3h), 28.5. (3h), 25.6. (3h), 23.7. (3h), 27.8. (3h), 1.10. (3h), 29.10. (3h), 26.11. (2h), 10.12. (2h)Between sessions, you’ll join a triad to meet regularly on your own—these small group meetings can also be in German if you like. It’s a great way to stay connected, practice together, and deepen what we explore in our sessions.