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| EDITION 06/2023 |
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Dear Readers,
On June 22, 1941, the invasion of the Soviet Union by the German Wehrmacht marked the commencement of a war of extermination by Nazi Germany on an unprecedented scale. For populations in the occupied territories, the war and the German occupation amounted to a reign of terror that lasted nearly four years with ongoing consequences.
Let us never stop remembering – especially today! The German crimes on a massive scale also targeted victim groups that for a long time received no attention; and in some cases they are still subject to discrimination and violence today. The so-called "Holocaust by Bullets", which is barely anchored in the collective memory, took place mainly on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus – with the murder of approximately 2.6 million Jews. In German captivity, more than 3.4 million Soviet prisoners of war died of hunger, frostbite, consequences of forced labor or systematic shootings. There was also the genocide against the Sinti and Roma, the crimes of “euthanasia” and the murderous terror against the Soviet civilian population in the context of deportation, forced labor, the so-called "anti-partisan operations" and starvation practice.
In view of these elusive dimensions: Why do Eastern and Southeastern European countries hardly play any role in Germans' remembrance of World War II? Read the answer given by the Eastern European historian Dr. Katja Makhotina as part of our annual theme #WatchOutHstry in our section "3 Questions for..."!
Also: We discuss Shrinking Spaces for Civil Societies with Nobel Peace Prize laureates from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia as part of EVZ Conversations! Is civil society engagement for a peaceful transformation possible even from exile? If so, how?
Keep debating and engaging with us!
Dr. Andrea Despot
CEO of the EVZ Foundation |
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EVZ CONVERSATIONS!
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Civil societies under pressure: Nobel Peace Prize laureates in discussion
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Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is also an attack on European civil societies. How can we deal with it? How do we remember our histories? How do civil society players respond to war propaganda and shrinking spaces? In the new episode of EVZ Conversations!, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Oleksandra Matviichuk (Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine), Irina Scherbakowa (Memorial, Russia), and Natallia Pinchuk (wife of the imprisoned laureate Ales Bialiatski, Belarus) engage in discussions. The event takes place in cooperation with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Join us for the panel discussion on June 8, 2023, in Leibniz Hall!
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Register now 
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
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YOUNG PEOPLE remember [re]act finding memories
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How can young people actively shape the culture of remembrance? In the program "YOUNG PEOPLE remember", the EVZ Foundation, together with the Federal Foreign Office, promotes bilateral and multilateral encounters of adolescents and young adults at historical sites of National Socialist persecution. Furthermore, projects with experts for the development of concepts for international youth encounters are funded. Do you have any ideas for contemporary and innovative methods and projects that convey National Socialist history to heterogeneous target groups?
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Apply now up to September 18! 
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LGBTIQ RIGHTS
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Everyday violence despite the improvements: Rainbow Europe Map 2023
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LGBTIQ people in Europe: What is their situation and which developments are concerning? Since 2009, ILGA-Europe has been comparing the ways European countries differ in terms of their legal and political situation for LGBTIQ people – and providing concrete recommendations to politicians for action. The criteria of equality, family, hate crime, legal recognition, physical integrity, space for civil society and asylum are highlighted in 49 countries for this purpose. A result of the Rainbow Europe Map 2023: The legal situation for LGBTIQ persons has steadily improved in many European countries. However, Germany is currently experiencing an increase in acts of violence against members of sexual minorities! Through the partnership with ILGA-Europe, the EVZ Foundation is expanding its ongoing commitment to LGBTIQ self-organizations in Central and Eastern Europe.
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Discover the analysis and Rainbow Map now 
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SURVIVORS OF NATIONAL SOCIALIST PERSECUTION
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Project visit in Israel
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The people who survived National Socialist terror and persecution are now very elderly. Many of them still suffer physically and emotionally from their traumatic experiences to the present day; many live alone and are dependent on outside help. How can we provide psychological, physical and social support for survivors so that they can age with dignity? Since its establishment, the EVZ Foundation has been working with partners in Israel to improve the lives of Holocaust survivors. At the beginning of May, the EVZ Foundation's project coordinator, Christa Meyer-Prochnow, visited partners on site – she met survivors of National Socialist persecution and their descendants as well as committed helpers and young volunteers.
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Read the report about the project visit now
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
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Strengthening Sinti and Roma in Germany
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During the National Socialist era, Sinti and Roma were persecuted and murdered by the state; and to this day, they are socially and institutionally marginalized and discriminated against. So, how can Roma and Sinti self-organizations or equal participation be strengthened? Are there initiatives that take into account the diversity of communities and advocate for disadvantaged girls and women? The EVZ Foundation supports projects by and for Roma and Sinti in cooperation with the Freudenberg Foundation. Submit a project idea now up to June 30, 2023!
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Information about the call for applications
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In November 2022, the EVZ Foundation's Board of Trustees approved a Solidarity Budget of EUR 800,000 for 2023 – this corresponds to 10% of the EVZ Foundation's own funding volume. The Foundation uses these funds to provide targeted support for projects that strengthen the work of refugees, the development of exile structures, as well as other solidarity projects. The focus is on Ukrainian civil society as well as non-governmental organizations from Belarus and Russia, for example the Nobel Peace Prize winner MEMORIAL – a clear signal against Russia's war of aggression which violates international law.
The photo shows Vidnova fellows at a networking meeting in April. The upcoming cohort of sponsored activists was able to engage in an intensive exchange of ideas there. The project Vidnova - which means 'restoration' - includes scholarships continuing for several months for Ukrainian civil society players. They receive vital financial support to engage in Ukrainian civil society, even from exile. Meanwhile, NGOs across Europe have become host organizations for the fellows. The program was conceived by commit gGmbH of MitOst e.V. and the EVZ Foundation; it is funded by the EVZ Foundation and other organizations.
The Solidarity Budget will be used to support even more partners across Europe. Two examples: The association Quarteera develops local communities for Russian-speaking refugees and LGBTIQ people in Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden. In this way it establishes an active civil society in exile and engages in the sphere of political education. Furthermore, the EVZ Foundation funds the Lithuanian NGO Formula for Humanity, which works to build a civil society structure of Belarusians in exile and counters propaganda.
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A snapshot from Tbilisi, Georgia: In September 2022, 53 young adults met there for the MEET UP! Youth Conference organized by the EVZ Foundation. Participants from Germany, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine discussed pressing questions, strengthened their commitment and were able to use the platform for exchange and inspiration.
Our new Activity Report includes many more impressions from the year 2022 as well as insights into the involvement of the EVZ Foundation. The report highlights an important issue: The overarching theme for us has also been the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. For our history-conscious foundation, it has meant above all to assist and stand by civil society and the people in Ukraine.
Read how, in addition to the Solidarity Budget for civil society work, the EVZ Foundation provided targeted emergency relief measures a few days after the start of the war and, together with partners, established the Aid Network for Survivors of Nazi Persecution in Ukraine. Dr. Anton Drobovych, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and member of the Board of Trustees of the EVZ Foundation, looks at the context of Russian armed aggression as well as national memory in Ukraine in a guest article. Also: In the Activity Report, you will discover numerous excellent projects and examples of innovative approaches and gain an insight into our finances as well as the third-party funded programs "Education Agenda NS-Injustice" and "Holocaust Education".
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Have a look at our year 2022 now 
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Dr. Katja Makhotina, research associate at the Chair of History of Eastern Europe at the University of Bonn.
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Ms. Makhotina, MEMO V shows that Eastern and Southeastern European countries usually play hardly any role in Germans' remembrance of World War II. Why is this?
One reason is the western orientation of the German culture of remembrance: Western neighbors such as France, the Netherlands or Italy were also much closer to the Germans in everyday life than the Soviet Union, Poland or Yugoslavia. On the other hand, there is the ongoing transmission of the image of the "enemy in the East" through the anti-communist sentiment of the old Federal Republic, which then also became characteristic for East Germany after reunification. It is significant that Soviet and Polish literature about the war that had appeared in the GDR was not republished in the West. Consequently, the voices of those affected have not been perceptible here. For many decades, Germans claimed the victim perspective for themselves, centralized in the dazzling myth of the German sacrifice at Stalingrad. The fathers' generation was actually involved in the mass crimes of the Wehrmacht - but for a long time people couldn't and wouldn't talk about that. The West German connection had demanded that the FRG integrate the Holocaust as a negative memory for the nation. Society had no place in its emotional household for other victims or their perspectives. The ongoing unwillingness to become aware of the deeds of the war generation and the absence of the perspective of those affected in the culture of remembrance mean that these countries are still not on the map of remembrance in Germany to this day.
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Read more
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DIE ZEIT
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The Survivor
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Ilan Jacobi was hidden in a convent as a child – and this allowed him to survive the Holocaust. DIE ZEIT accompanied Jacobi to the Vatican, where he was able to read for the first time a letter of petition from his mother to Pope Pius XII. Scientists at University of Münster (WWU) managed to identify and notify Jacobi as the son of Hildegard Jacobi, the petitioner at the time, as part of the "Asking The Pope For Help" project funded by the EVZ Foundation. During World War II, thousands of Jewish people from all over Europe wrote letters to the Vatican. They were asking for support to escape National Socialist persecution. An estimated 15,000 of these petitions are stored in the Vatican's archives. They are being researched as part of the "Asking The Pope For Help" project and made available to the public in a digital edition.
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Read now
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FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU
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Deported for use as forced labor: "They dragged me out from under the bed"
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The article in the Frankfurter Rundschau goes in search of traces in letters from "Ostarbeiter" (Eastern workers) and sheds light on the history of NS forced labor in German-occupied territories and Dessau. From Ukraine and Belarus alone, 14,000 young people were deported to Dessau by the German authorities in 1941. They had to carry out forced labor in armaments production at the Junkers factories. Decades after their return, some of them broke the silence and spoke out about deportation, forced labor and National Socialist terror in letters to the Dessau City Archives. In the survivors' own testimonies, it becomes clear how long the victims had to wait for recognition.
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Read now
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TAZ
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South Africa honors Ruth Weiss
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TAZ reports on the occasion of an award ceremony about the courageous work of Ruth Weiss. This survivor of National Socialist persecution and long-time partner of the EVZ Foundation was awarded the highest order for foreigners by South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa at the end of April. Ruth Weiss was born into a Jewish family in Fürth in 1924 - and had to flee to South Africa in 1936 to escape National Socialist terror. As a journalist and activist, she then drew attention to racist policies of the apartheid regime and was banned from entering the country until 1990. In Germany, the 99-year-old continues to campaign as historical eyewitness and author against racism and antisemitism and to maintain the memory of the National Socialist era.
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Read now
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JUNE 14, BERLIN
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Support for Roma as an integral part of Ukrainian society
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How can Roma participate in social life in Ukraine on an equal footing? How has the situation of the community changed since the start of the Russian war of aggression? This is discussed by representatives of the governments of Ukraine, Germany and international organizations. For this purpose, Roma civil society organizations have produced an analysis of the situation as well as recommendations for action in a self-organized consultation process. The conference also serves to further support Ukraine's social and democratic development. The event is organized by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, the Youth Organization for the Promotion of Roma Culture, Ukraine (ARCA) and the Roma Women Fund Organization, Ukraine (Chiricli). The conference is funded by the EVZ Foundation, the Federal Foreign Office, the Protestant Academy of Berlin and the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV).
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More information
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JUNE 17 TO 18, BERLIN
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Berlin Book Festival remembers Nazi book burnings
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In what context did the book burnings take place? What were the consequences for the authors? On May 10, 1933, the German Student Union burned countless books by Jewish and branded authors to the applause of spectators on Berlin's Opernplatz. This initially symbolic National Socialist terror was soon followed by persecution and physical extermination. As part of the Berlin Book Festival on Bebelplatz, the book burning is commemorated by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association with the support of the EVZ Foundation. Visitors to the Berlin Book Festival 2023 commemorate National Socialist persecution with a variety of activities, readings, an exhibition and a talk by the historical eyewitness Ruth Winkelmann. The EVZ Foundation will be represented with a stand on site.
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Come and say hello!
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JUNE 19 TO 20, HAMBURG
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CONTESTED MEMORY - Commemoration of National Socialism and Colonialism
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There has been a discussion for years about how ideas of an inclusive culture of remembrance of the Holocaust and colonialism can be lived in practice. At the same time, both perspectives are often portrayed in competition with each other in the public perception. The Blickwinkel (perspective) conference UMKÄMPFTES ERINNERN of the Anne Frank Educational Center, funded by the EVZ Foundation, is dedicated to questions about coming to terms with the colonial past, its consequences for the present and the relationship of the Holocaust and colonialism in collective memory. The aim is to discover how the controversial discourses can be used productively and how ideas of an inclusive culture of remembrance of the Holocaust and colonialism can be lived in practice.
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Register now
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JUNE 20, DIGITAL
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How-to-Storytelling
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The network meeting of the EVZ Foundation dedicated to communicators from memorial sites, foundations and organizations will focus on how storytelling can be used to communicate a culture of remembrance relating to National Socialist injustice. The storytelling consultant Maike Gosch will share theory and best practices starting at 5 p.m. and will also address the issue of the limitations of storytelling in communicating historical and political content. Be there!
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Register now
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NEWSLETTER 07/2023 |
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| Our next edition will be published at the beginning of July! |
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| At the beginning of July, you will receive another edition of the "Education Agenda NS-Injustice" newsletter: We will be giving news from the various projects and look forward to the mutual exchange in the context of the network meeting. Watch out! |
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| All editions at a glance |
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Stiftung Erinnerung,
Verantwortung und Zukunft
Friedrichstraße 200
10117 Berlin, Germany
T +49 (30) 25 92 97-0
F +49 (30) 25 92 97-11
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Responsible:
Dr. Andrea Despot
Editorial:
Hanna Komornitzyk, Katrin Kowark, Thomas Stein, Sophie Ziegler
Image Credits:
Center for Civil Liberties, Daria Krotova, Natallia Pinchuk, Piotr Strojnowski, ilga-europe.org, Olga Zarko, Gio Matchavariani, Katja Makhotina |
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The editorial team welcomes your opinion on the newsletter and will be happy to answer any questions. We also help with any issues you might encounter: newsletter@stiftung-evz.de
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| © Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft, 2023 |
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