Theme-Based Program

Throughout the anniversary year 2025/26, we will be releasing a series of brief video interviews with the hashtag #25EVZVoices, featuring people who are part of the EVZ Foundation’s story and giving them an opportunity to talk about their perspectives and memories.

In the podcast Wert & Würde (Value & Dignity), the EVZ Foundation reflects on its history and how compensation came to be paid to foreign forced laborers. The podcast talks about the political debate, the establishment of the EVZ Foundation, and the personal experiences of those affected. Available on all podcast platforms starting in the fall of 2025.

Is it possible to compensate people who were made to carry out forced labor under the National Socialist regime? This interactive learning module investigates the payments made to survivors and the establishment of the EVZ Foundation in 2000. Why did it take so long to acknowledge the victims’ suffering? Which interests and dilemmas played a part in this delay? And what can we learn from this historic process for the present day? How can you register? Go to the EVZ Academy online platform, enter the code #Ausgezahlt and register! The course will appear on the home page.

The interactive website Mit Stempel und Unterschrift (With Stamp and Signature) allows young people to familiarize themselves with historical documents on NS forced labor and teaches them how to engage critically with sources. Support programs for teachers and multipliers who use this website are being developed on the EVZ Academy’s online platform.

Ma Bistrass! Lest We Forget is a multimedia remembrance project by photographer Luigi Toscano that honors members of the Sinti and Roma community who survived the National Socialist regime. The exhibition features large-format photographs and interviews with survivors, sends a powerful message condemning discrimination, and calls for social recognition of the Sinti and Roma minorities. In November 2025, the exhibition will be displayed at various locations across Berlin.

With #notimetoforget we are looking for photos that capture developments, challenges and current best practices in historical and political education work, whether that be on site, in face-to-face encounters or in the digital space. Prizes will be awarded for the best contributions, which will also feature on the Foundation’s website.

The event series EVZ Conversations! brings together people in politics, civil society and business – both digitally and in person. In 2025, this format will take place in several of the EVZ Foundation’s priority countries under the motto “EVZ Conversations! goes Europe”.

80 years after the end of World War II, the project Gedenkanstoß – rethinking how we remember is showing how important it is that NS injustice is addressed in local civil society, social networks, and public discourse. On its tour of six cities, it will encourage people to get involved and open up a wide range of opportunities for encounters and discussions in the region.

Ukrainian film maker Lesya Kharchenko has created a film documentary accompanying one of the last survivors of the women’s concentration camp Ravensbrück. The film follows the survivor on her desperate search for an answer to her most important existential question: Is it possible to forgive? The film will be shown as part of the EVZ Foundation’s 25th anniversary celebration, NO TIME TO FORGET.

The gallery walk “A TIME NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN” provides an overview of the history of the foundation's establishment, the disbursement processes, the foundation's work to date, and its future prospects. Learn more here!