The Education Agenda NS-Injustice enters its second funding phase 

In 2026, EUR 9 million will be available for projects under the Education Agenda NS-Injustice. More than 200 impressive project ideas in the area of non-formal historical-political education addressing Nazi injustice have been submitted to the EVZ Foundation and are currently being reviewed. Selected executing organizations will be invited to submit full applications at the end of January. Before the new projects get underway in summer 2026, it is worth taking a look at the results of the 76 projects from the first funding phase: many of them have received awards, including the Grimme Online Award and the DigAMus Award. And the conversation continues on TikTok, too – content creator Rafid Kabir will be presenting projects and topics from the Education Agenda there over the coming weeks!

News

Pearl Finder

Photo of the Month

Press Review

3 Questions for...

No Place for Hate

Between 1933 and 1945, around 8,000 cases were tried before the former Nazi special court in Mannheim. The relevant files are now held at the General State Archives Karlsruhe. In addition, documents pertaining to nearly 700 cases heard by the Nazi special court in Freiburg are held at the Freiburg State Archives. These records formed the starting point for the Education Agenda project Denunziation – Repression – Verfolgung [Denunciation – Repression – Persecution] by Schülerakademie Karlsruhe e. V., carried out in cooperation with the Baden-Württemberg State Archives. Selected original documents were examined from a scholarly and educational perspective, digitized as examples and made accessible to the public via a new platform about Nazi justice in Baden (NS-Justiz in Baden).

The database provides an overview of the history of the Nazi special courts in Mannheim and Freiburg and shows how the justice system was used for the purpose of repression under National Socialism. It offers free access to court files as well as targeted searches by person, case and location, also with reference to the user’s own place of residence. An e-guide helps users get started with reading and contextualizing the files, while a glossary explains key terms. Students were actively involved in the project: in a cross-school seminar course, they analyzed archival material under guidance, documented their findings and provided feedback on the methodological and didactic materials. Aimed at schools, non-formal education providers and those with an interest in history, the database invites engagement with the themes of denunciation and legal discrimination and conveys the importance of an independent judiciary.

At the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the EVZ Foundation at the Jewish Museum Berlin, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the Foundation’s work in encouraging young people to see their surroundings as places of history – places of injustice, but also of resistance and of help for those who were persecuted.

Eleven Survivors of National Socialist Persecution were invited as guests of honor and met the Federal President in person. Among them was Roman Schwarzman, a survivor of the Bershad Ghetto and chair of the Odesa regional association of former ghetto and concentration camp prisoners. He said that the Foundation had given him the feeling that people in Germany today stand up for peace and tolerance. Another guest was Leokadia Wieczorek, who survived Nazi forced labor as a child in Lower Saxony and spoke about the improvement in German-Polish relations.

The Federal President stressed that it was an honor for him to meet the survivors, to help carry their memories forward and to educate younger generations about what happened. The survivors were portrayed and interviewed by photographer Luigi Toscano, including Christian Pfeil, who was born in the Lublin Ghetto in 1944 and whose projects include local remembrance initiatives in his hometown of Trier.

The computer game Tribunal 45 – Working on Justice was presented in historic Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg – the place where the major Nazi war criminals were put on trial 80 years ago. This marked the conclusion of the Gedenkanstoß tour and multi-module Education Agenda project that had been touring six cities with a traveling exhibition since May.

Representatives of the EVZ Foundation and Memorium Nuremberg Trials discussed with the developers of the game whether a computer game is appropriate to such a serious subject. The conclusion was clearly positive: games were said to be creative, innovative and engaging, enabling group play and voluntary engagement and thereby contributing to a living culture of remembrance.

Players take on the role of French lawyer Aline Chalufour, allowing them to gain interactive experience of legal procedures, historical contexts and decision-making processes. A memorial plaque was installed in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice last May to commemorate Aline Chalufour.

Is there a story or fate that touched you personally?

Emanuela: Every story I dive into becomes my new hyperfocus. I discover queer stories that are invisible in Western narratives – which tend to center around things like Christopher Street Day and Stonewall. These stories really move me. One person who deeply affected me was Agnieszka Kuśnierczanka, a person we know very little about. According to court records from a small Polish town, she was convicted in 1642: she was banished from the town for wearing typical men’s clothing and boldly flirting with women in local taverns. She would get drunk and end up fighting with men. 

I don’t just want to document the queer stories we already have access to – which often involve more privileged people – but also the ones that are still invisible.

Ula: For me, it was the biography of Lieutenant Alexei Petrenko. He was an officer in the Soviet intelligence agency KGB and became a wanted man after beating his wife. He hid in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and came up with a plan to clear himself of the domestic violence charges. His idea was to fabricate a case against gay men in the region and turn them in to the authorities. To do so, he had to enter into sexual relationships with as many men as possible. 

This story stands out because there are so few documented cases that tell the stories of gay men in the USSR. Unfortunately we only know these details because the main figure was an informant for the KGB. And while he’s far from likable, his story yields valuable insights into male same-sex practices in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic during the 1960s.

Gedenkanstoß tour: taking a clear stand against hate and antisemitism

Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, the Education Agenda NS-Injustice project Gedenkanstoß – denk erinnerung weiter [Rethinking how we remember] brought engagement with historical Nazi injustice into market squares, social media, and public debate.
Through artistic, interactive interventions in public spaces, the project commemorated Nazi history and the fates of those persecuted, while at the same time addressing present-day issues of exclusion and discrimination and exploring the lessons that can be drawn from the past. This took place in cities and towns that are not usually at the center of historical and political projects.

The Gedenkanstoß tour through six German cities met with a high level of interest and engagement. However, some posters were anonymously tagged with far-right codes, and the outdoor exhibition was defaced with antisemitic and dehumanizing slogans. The EVZ Foundation strongly condemns these attacks: it has reported the damage to the authorities, and reaffirms its position: #NoPlaceForHate – antisemitism, racism, and hostility toward others will not be tolerated.

Far-right and antisemitic attacks have increased in recent years, and more and more people in Europe hold right-wing populist views. Through the Gedenkanstoß MEMO study, the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University, together with the EVZ Foundation, examined the public’s willingness to engage with the history of National Socialism and assessed the current state of remembrance culture in Germany. Among other things, the study shows how important it is to convey historical knowledge so as to underpin present-day action and strengthen critical historical awareness.

In the next issue we’ll be back with updates on EVZ projects, upcoming events, and new funding calls.