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Edition 12/2024
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Dear Readers,
Every year on December 8, a day of action for better education takes place, on which many people throughout Germany get involved in this urgent issue. We also have to ask ourselves: what can we do to tap into the educational potential in our society to promote lifelong and inclusive learning?
One thing is certain: In times of deliberate disinformation and revisionist accounts of history, there can be no free, democratic future without an understanding of the past. Through active engagement, our foundation, our projects and our partners demonstrate that education about the history of National Socialism in particular is an indispensable foundation for responsible action in the present.
In this newsletter, you can read about the new paths we’re pursuing in education and how we’re involving young people in this process. You can also find out about how Ukrainian cultural and educational institutions have been defying the Russian attack on Ukraine for over 1,000 days, and how they are able to become places of meaningful interaction once again – with the support of the EVZ Foundation.
In our interview series "3 questions for...", Vira Dranhoi, Vidnova Fellow and President of the Human Rights Roma Centre, explains how she is fighting against the structural discrimination of the Roma community and the limited access to education in Ukraine.
Stay engaged with us in advancing education and securing the future — it’s definitely a worthwhile endeavor!
Dr. Andrea Despot
CEO of the EVZ Foundation
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COMPETITION
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Writing against exclusion!
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As every year, Jugendpresse Deutschland e.V. selects the best school newspapers in Germany: in addition to prize money and attending the award ceremony in Germany’s second federal chamber, the Bundesrat, the winners will also receive special training in writing techniques. How can I report on my school without marginalizing people and without replicating prejudices? The EVZ Foundation is once again sponsoring the special prize for discrimination-sensitive reporting this year. Don’t miss out – it’s worth taking part!
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Submit your contribution by January 15
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CULTURE(S) OF REMEMBRANCE
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YOUNG PEOPLE remember on site
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How can young people be involved in planning and implementing cultural remembrance projects relating to Nazi crimes? How can we help strengthen their commitment to combating antisemitism, racism and right-wing extremism? Together with the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the EVZ Foundation is providing funding of around two million euros for new projects nationwide dedicated to a critical appraisal of the history of Nazi crimes. The wide-ranging ideas for the projects were developed by memorial sites and history initiatives with the involvement of young people.
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Find out more about the funding program 
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#WATCHOUTHSTRY
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Aktion Reinhardt – Spaces of the Holocaust
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Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, Belzec: how do we commemorate the systematic murder of Jews, Roma and Sinti in connection with the so-called Aktion Reinhardt – the German plan to exterminate Polish Jews in occupied Poland? In mid-November, an exhibition opened in Berlin entitled Aktion Reinhardt: Spaces of the Holocaust. The content was developed jointly by the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site and the cultural association Brama Grodzka based in Lublin in a collaborative EVZ-funded project.
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Visit the exhibition – it is on until December 30
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review
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#WatchOutHstry
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Fill in the gaps, tell unheard stories, show connections: Under this motto, the EVZ Foundation, with your help, has focused on lesser-known events, places and victims' biographies related to the crimes of the National Socialists over the past two years.
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Discover backgrounds 
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SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
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YeMistechko – a place for everyone in Ukraine
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The Russian war against Ukraine is also directed against Ukraine’s independent cultural identity – which is why Ukrainian cultural institutions are being targeted. Numerous cultural, educational, leisure and sports venues were forced to close as a result. The EVZ Foundation’s funding program "YeMistechko – a place for everyone" is currently supporting socially relevant institutions such as museums, libraries, theaters, archives and cultural venues as they seek to develop into social gathering places to bolster community life – whether a multi-generational center in a library, a meeting space in a museum, or a cultural center where survivors of Nazi persecution receive humanitarian aid.
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View a selection of projects 
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CULTURE(S) OF REMEMBRANCE
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Memorial digital: preserving the holdings
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Up until 2021, the largest archive of the human rights organization Memorial – a long-standing EVZ Foundation partner – was located in Moscow. It held some 900 linear meters of documents on German-Soviet history, along with thousands of audio and video interviews. Employees were able to evacuate the archive before Russian authorities banned the organization and searched the premises in spring 2022. Since then, the EVZ Foundation has supported Memorial in setting up exile structures and digitizing its physical archive holdings.
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Visit a digital exhibition on the history of Memorial
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Save the date: "Augen auf" Cinema Day on January 27
Given the current political situation, it is especially important to look for new approaches to remembrance. Society threatens to drift further and further apart, the extreme right is gaining strength, and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to rage: with its Cinema Day "Augen auf" [“Eyes open”] on January 27, the EVZ Foundation seeks to shed light on how the past, present and future are intertwined, establishing links to the here and now and creating a space for remembrance through the medium of film and cinema: The aim is to provide a low-threshold, easily accessible opportunity for people to meet, engage in reflection and exchange ideas.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, numerous cinemas will be showing films that critically examine the history of National Socialism and the Holocaust based on diverse (narrative) approaches and with accompanying conversation and discussion sessions. Aimed at all age groups, the event will transform cinemas into places of remembrance, encounter and dialogue.
Cinema Day will be launched on Monday, January 27, 2025 in three cities – Berlin, Frankfurt/Main and Rostock – and will become a nationwide film week from 2026 onwards.
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Luigi Toscano portrays Holocaust survivor Weronika Kowalska. Her family was deported by German authorities to the Piotrków Trybunalski ghetto near Łódź in Poland and then forcibly resettled after the war.
For the moving project "Ma bistrass! – Lest we forget" supported by the EVZ Foundation, photographer and filmmaker Toscano portrayed numerous survivors of the Nazi genocide of the Roma/Romnja and Sinti/Sintize and their relatives in order to share their experiences and pay tribute to their legacy. Toscano also recorded their stories and personal narratives in accompanying interviews conducted in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine.
To this day, Roma/Romnja and Sinti/Sintize remain marginalized in our society. Few of them have been adequately compensated for Nazi crimes, while many still have to contend with prejudice throughout Europe. Since 2014, Luigi Toscano has portrayed almost 500 survivors of Nazi persecution in order to draw attention to their stories.
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Visit the exhibition in Paris from today onwards
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Vira Dranhoi, Vidnova fellow, President of the NGO "Human Rights Roma Center"
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Vira Dranhoi was a recipient of the Vidnova Fellowship EVZ Foundation was funding. It supports civil society actors from Ukraine who have been forced to leave their local context – financially and with mentoring. As the president of the "Human Rights Roma Center" she leads efforts to support and empower Roma communities. She is from Odesa (Ukraine) and is currently studying at the Central European University in Vienna (Austria).
Vira, why do you believe this project is important right now?
This project is critically important at this moment because the Roma community in Ukraine continues to face significant socio-economic challenges, exacerbated by the ongoing war and its consequences. These challenges include systemic discrimination, limited access to education, legal aid, and social services, as well as heightened vulnerability during times of crises. Addressing these issues now is essential for preventing further marginalization and fostering long-term resilience within the community.
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Read the whole interview
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Experts estimate that there is an enormous number of unreported antigypsist incidents. Another shocking incident occurred in Göttingen at the beginning of October, when 80 swastikas and the letters “AFD” were sprayed on a residential building. The people housed in the building include Roma refugees. The German association Bundes Roma Verband e.V. drew attention to the ongoing threats in an open letter, calling for solidarity with those under threat.
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DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT E.V.
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Persecution of Queer People under National Socialism
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The experiences of queer people during and after the Nazi regime are still a largely neglected aspect of history. Under the funding program YOUNG PEOPLE remember international, ten students from Germany and Poland came together at the Sachsenhausen Memorial to do research for a podcast series on the Nazi persecution of queer people.
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Listen to the podcast
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SPIEGEL
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The Nazi past of medium-sized companies in Germany
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Spiegel magazine reports on the failure of German firms to critically examine their Nazi past. A recent study by the association for company history Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte (GUG) shows that out of the 1,250 German firms of various sizes that were studied, very few have had academic research carried out to critically examine the history of National Socialism in connection with their company chronicles.
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Read now
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| NEWSLETTER 01/2025 |
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| Our next issue will be published at the beginning of January! |
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Find out more about our cinema day, the networking day on antisemitism education and a new project at the Historical Museum Frankfurt in the first issue of 2025! |
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| All issues 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
www.stiftung-evz.de
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Responsible:
Dr. Andrea Despot
Editorial:
Sophie Ziegler,Jana Bültge, Sonja Folsche, Sarah Keller, Thomas Stein
Image Credits:
Kateryna Babenko, Lukas Überhuber/Luigi Toscano, Vira Dranhoi. |
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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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