20th Meeting of the Board of Trustees on 13/14 December 2006 in Berlin
PRESS RELEASE
- In recent years, the Foundation has used its interest income to supplement the payments made to former forced labourers. As a result, over EUR 300 million more than originally anticipated in the Foundation Law has been disbursed.
- The Board of Trustees approves additional Fund projects worth EUR 3.4 million.
- The volume of funding approved for international projects of the Remembrance and Future Fund in 2006 has now risen to EUR 7.7 million. The focus is on projects that promote history studies and political education, international exchanges and international humanitarian cooperation.
Berlin, 14 December 2006
I. At its 20th meeting, the Board of Trustees of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” discussed the status of payments to former forced labourers. The Foundation Law provides for such payments to be made up to the end of 2006, and the final tranches are currently being prepared by our partner organisations. The Foundation is now establishing the exact volume of residual funds still available to its partners. The Board of Trustees has resolved that these funds are to be available to the partner organisations until mid-2008 for humanitarian aid projects in their home countries that benefit needy victims of National Socialism. This could take the form of nursing care, therapeutic stays at health clinics, or surgical operations.
Since the start of the payments programme in June 2001, more than 1,660,000 former forced labourers or their legal successors in 100 countries have received payments totalling EUR 4.3 billion. The Foundation’s additional payment programmes for insurance and property losses and personal injury are also now being completed.
The Board of Directors of the Foundation informed the Board of Trustees that more than EUR 300 million had been earned on investments in recent years, and that this sum had been used to compensate forced labourers. The Foundation was therefore able to reach a larger beneficiary group and disburse considerably more than the sum of EUR 8.1 billion originally envisaged under the relevant Law.
II. The revenue generated by the Fund’s capital also enabled the Board of Trustees to approve a total of EUR 3.4 million for projects of the Remembrance and Future Fund. This will enable the funding programmes in 2007 to continue supporting projects that focus on history studies and political education and on promoting active social and cultural commitment.
With the help of these funds, the encounter programme with eyewitnesses, introduced in 2002, and the History Workshop Europe will again be supporting projects in 2007. A total of EUR 1.2 million has been made available for humanitarian aid projects, especially for former victims of National Socialism from Central and Eastern Europe. The Board of Trustees approved a further EUR 1.35 million for strengthening international volunteer services, including EUR 500,000 for a new funding programme Volunteering for Europe’s cultural heritage. Here, young volunteers from Germany and Central and Eastern Europe can help preserve Europe’s cultural heritage through their work in international projects.
Altogether, 300 international projects benefited from the EUR 7.7 million made available by the Fund in 2006. Since the Foundation came into being in 2000, it has disbursed some EUR 27 million to international projects.
After the payments to former forced labours have been phased out in 2007, the core task of the Foundation will centre on the activities of the Remembrance and Future Fund, which was set up to operate on a permanent basis. Dr Dieter Kastrup, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, explained: “After the successful conclusion of payments to former forced labourers, the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” will remain in operation as a permanent grant-giving foundation. Its objective will be to develop into an indispensable instrument for promoting active commitment to humanity and human rights and for learning the lessons of history.”
For more details on the report of the Foundation go to www.stiftung-evz.de; (link: Presse (German only)), and for information on the Fund’s activities to www.fonds-ez.de.
Contact
Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”
Press Officer
Kai Hennig
Markgrafenstrasse 12-14
10969 Berlin, Germany
Tel.: +49 30 25 92 97 30
Fax: +49 30 25 92 97 39
Email: hennig@stiftung-evz.de
Remembrance and Future Fund
Press and Public Relations
Franka Kuehn
Markgrafenstrasse 12-14
10969 Berlin, Germany
Tel.: +49 30 25 92 97 76
Fax: +49 30 25 92 97 42
Email: kuehn@fonds-ez.de
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