top of page

Die Peace-Pipe-Briefe / Letters to Friends (dt./eng.)

temp_letters_to_friends.jpg

“In 1931 the Rotarians in the city of Keokuk, Iowa must have sensed that dark clouds were brewing in the world, and especially in Europe. They thought about the namesake of their city, Chief Keokuk, and his peace pipe. Their invitation to other Rotary Clubs to join them in smoking the peace pipe was more than a symbolic gesture.“

​

The focus of this 330-page publication is the Peace Pipe Initiative begun by the Rotary Club of Keokuk, Iowa in 1931 and which is now being repeated in a new format that emphasizes 

German-American and worldwide relationships. Both Carol Kahn Strauss of the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City and Bill Tubbs, journalist, Eldridge, Iowa, have generously contributed personal commentaries. The book is bilingual (German-English) and documents

all 196 replies from Rotary Clubs around the world from Berlin to Jerusalem, from Buenos Aires to Cape Town. The original letters as well as today's replies were written in response to

a heightened sense of growing international tension and uncertainty. 

bottom of page