Mayor André Dora of Datteln, Germany, will participate in a panel discussion about peace and unity at 5 p.m. Aug. 7 at Village Hall.
Anyone can attend the event in the council chambers at room 201 on 123 Madison St. Dora, Village President Vicki Scaman and Oak Park resident Alan Hoffstadter will be participants on the panel. The panel will be moderated by Oak Parker Linda Francis.
According to a village news release, the event will start with a traditional German welcoming. The panelists will discuss peace and unity, especially in spaces that have historically been divided, according to village officials.
Scaman and Dora are both members of Mayors for Peace, according to the release, the purpose of which is to work toward a world without nuclear weapons, support safe and resilient cities and promoting a culture of peace.
Before the panel, Dora and guests will tour the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio, Unity Temple, the Oak Park River Forest Museum and Village Hall. They will also enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in the Hemingway District, according to the release.
Hoffstadter, one of the panelists, discovered that his family’s German roots are connected to Datteln, where Dora is mayor, according to a previous Wednesday Journal article. His mother, Charlotte Goldberg, fled Datteln in 1933 at age 15. Today, Datteln is a town with a population of about 35,000 residents.
During Hoffstadter’s time tracing his heritage, he developed a relationship with the mayor and residents of Datteln, according to Wednesday Journal. The town awarded him the Etienne Bach Prize, “which honors individuals who are committed to promoting understanding and reconciliation between people of different, historically adversarial, cultures.”
Scaman also has German roots, according to the article. She is the first in her mother’s family to be born in the United States.