25 years of the EVZ

From August 2, 2025, until June 13, 2026, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a varied program of events focusing on the voices of survivors, the perspectives of young people, artistic and journalistic contributions, insights into the EVZ Foundation’s history, and intergenerational encounters. It will be a year of remembrance and a year for action.

Since it was established in 2000, the EVZ Foundation has continually evolved to take on new social and political tasks in fulfillment of its mandate. What began as an organization responsible for administering compensation payments has become a dynamic player committed to tackling current societal challenges.  

Today’s mission: preserving memory, strengthening democracy

Nowadays, the EVZ Foundation develops and funds international projects and activities that promote commemorative work, strengthen democratic values, and foster civic engagement. Together with its project partners, the EVZ Foundation has spent the last 25 years advancing historical-political education and encouraging critical engagement with antisemitism andantigypsyism, besides helping young people recognize exclusion and discrimination – and empowering them to stand up to it. In Central and Eastern Europe, it is strengthening democratic structures in civil society, promoting cross-border cooperation, and initiating various forms of dialog that link the past, present, and future.

A guiding principle in times of crisis: NO TIME TO FORGET

At a time of overlapping crises – from the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine through growing authoritarianism to a rise in antisemitic violence – this work is more vital than ever before. Now more than ever, NO TIME TO FORGET has become an EVZ principle that provides orientation and calls for action. Ignoring the past leaves the interpretation of history to those who exploit it to fuel hate and undermine democracy. Oblivion creates a vacuum that is all too easily filled with hate, persecution, and historical revisionism. Our anniversary year therefore sends an unequivocal message: Memories must not be allowed to fade. Responsibility has no end. The future depends on strong belief and collective commitment.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

The compensation of forced labourers was a long-overdue act of reparation. The ongoing remembrance work of the EVZ Foundation is crucial in preventing the past from being forgotten.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
The Federal President

The establishment of the EVZ Foundation: a historical turning point

Sometimes, the foundation of an institution is far more than just a formal act – it is a sign of historic change and moral reckoning. The establishment of the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) on August 2, 2000, was one such pivotal moment: Germany finally assumed responsibility for the suffering of millions of forced laborers under the National Socialist regime – and acknowledged a burden of guilt that had been ignored for far too long.
The establishment of the EVZ Foundation was a historic step that marked a turning point in German memory culture. After decades of silence, legal altercation, hesitation and denial, the EVZ Foundation was created in response to increasing national and international pressure to settle class action lawsuits. It also met the persistent demands of survivors to recognize the injustice of NS forced labor and pay compensation to the victims. From then on, the state, the economy, and society jointly assumed political and moral responsibility for the widespread crimes perpetrated as the result of National Socialist injustice.
The core mission – remembrance, responsibility, and future – defined when the Foundation was established 25 years ago is echoed in the words of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel:
 

Elie Wiesel

For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. For not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are also responsible for what we are doing with those memories.
Elie Wiesel
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Ma Bistrass! Against Oblivion – a project by Luigi Toscano. Exhibition opening in Paris in December 2024.

25 years of change

What has happened in this time?

Between 2001 and 2007, the EVZ Foundation paid 4.4 billion euros in compensation to more than 1.66 million former forced laborers and their legal heirs in almost 100 countries. It has developed international education programs in which young people examine the history of discrimination, injustice and exclusion, often in cooperation with survivors. 
 

Facts

It has taken part in major policy initiatives to preserve memory after the eastward expansion of the EU, strengthened civic structures in Central and Eastern Europe, tackled antisemitism through education, and encouraged dialog across borders and between generations. Moreover, it has constantly reinvented itself while remaining faithful to its unassailable values. In its Agenda for the Future 2021, the Foundation consolidated its years of experience, set new priorities and put forward innovative ideas to ensure that it would continue shaping remembrance, education, and civic involvement effectively and sustainably in the future. The bottom line: the EVZ Foundation has changed continually over the last 25 years. 

The extent to which this attitude shapes the foundation's self-image is expressed by Chairwoman Andrea Despot with regard to the anniversary: “The Foundation can look back on a history shaped by responsibility, change, and commitment."

Andrea Despot

What began as a compensation program for forced laborers has developed into a dynamic foundation that promotes a vibrant culture of remembrance and commitment among members of civil society.
Andrea Despot
Chief Executive Officer

"Survivors of National Socialist persecution are still the focus of our activities – which include the provision of social services, encounters between generations, and the preservation of memories”, emphasizes CEO Dr. Andrea Despot.

Remembrance, responsibility and future matter now more than ever

This is because the world has also changed. The accession of Eastern European countries to the EU, the Russian annexation of Crimea, the rise of authoritarian regimes and right-wing movements in Europe, the COVID pandemic, the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine since 2022, the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing armed conflicts in the Middle East – all these events have both challenged the Foundation’s work and spurred it on. 

Right-wing movements are on the rise in Germany, while opportunities for civic involvement are declining in many countries. This is exactly why the principles of remembrance, responsibility and future are now more vital than ever.

Amidst these challenges, Annette Schavan, Chair of the Board of Trustees, emphatically recalls the foundation's original mission – and its unbroken relevance: "The EVZ Foundation stands for confronting one of the darkest chapters in our history. Its founding marked a courageous and groundbreaking moment in which Germany took responsibility—not only with words, but with deeds. This anniversary year invites us to pause and focus on the significance of this work."

Annette Schavan

The Foundation preserves memories and strengthens awareness of humanity, justice and reconciliation in our society. It shows us that remembrance is not a burden, but a duty – a duty to learn from the past so that we can build a peaceful future.
Annette Schavan
Chair of the Board of Trustees

Joint commitment, new alliances, empowered responses

From August 2, 2025, until June 13, 2026, the EVZ Foundation will commemorate its anniversary year with a varied program that brings together the voices of survivors, the perspectives of young people, art, journalism, and encounters between generations. It will focus on those to whom the Foundation remains committed: former forced laborers and victims of National Socialist injustice. Their voices, their suffering, their courage – these are the bedrock of the EVZ Foundation’s work. 
The EVZ will also honor its founding history and the commitment of its partner institutions. Countless people have become involved in the democracy and human rights projects funded by the Foundation, forged new alliances, and worked together to find solutions enabling memory culture to be kept alive in an ever-changing world. Their diverse, creative and empowering responses have guided our actions on many occasions.

The future needs commitment

In a world facing multiple crises and diminishing scope for civic action, the EVZ Foundation’s anniversary sends an unequivocal message: Memories must not be silenced. Responsibility knows no end. The future needs commitment.

Driving change in the future

Together with its partner institutions and project executing agencies, the Foundation will continue to drive change in historical-political education, promote civic involvement, and work for a peaceful present and future.
However, we and our fellow activists still have a lot of work ahead of us.