Retrospective

Activity Report 2023

Overview and Highlights

On this page, we invite you to discover highlights and examples from the foundation's activities in 2023. You can find the report as a PDF further down the page.

The Year in Pictures

Nobel Peace Prize laureates of 2022 spoke on June 8 on the topic of "Civil Societies under Pressure": Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine), Irina Scherbakowa, Memorial (Russia), and Natallia Pinchuk, wife of imprisond Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski (Belarus).

At the launch of the MEET UP! Youth for Partnership online magazine, young experts from seven countries introduced and discussed their projects.

During the "Education in Motion" event series, Dr. Ronen Steinke (keynote) and experts discussed how to deal with antisemitism in the police and judiciary.

Ukrainian Nadija Slesarewa tirelessly reported on concentration camp imprisonment, NS forced labor, the Stalinist terror and Holodomor she experienced. Her most recent appearance was in a video interview with the EVZ Foundation in November 2023. She passed away in December 2023. Her appeal to humanity and her enjoyment of life despite her experiences will remain an inspiration.

Andrea Despot (Chief Executive Officer) at the New Year's Reception of the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Visit to the USA by the Board of Directors of the EVZ Foundation, including a stop at the New York-based Leo Baeck Institute and the Jewish Claims Conference (JCC), with which the EVZ Foundation conducts the "Holocaust Education" program. Here, visitors take part in a guided tour through the permanent exhibition through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.

The EVZ Foundation exhibited and gave away publications and materials on the Foundation's subjects at the Berlin Book Festival. On Bebelplatz, visitors commemorated the book burning that took place 90 years ago with a variety of activities, readings, an exhibition and an interview with historical eyewitness Ruth Winkelmann.

Placing a wreath at the Sobibor Memorial in Poland: A group of prisoners took the risk of carrying out an uprising in the Sobibor NS extermination camp 80 years ago. Several hundred people were able to escape into the surrounding forest as a result of the armed action, and around 40 of them survived the war.

The EVZ Foundation in Figures

  • 143 Projects

    projects were implemented from own funds in 2023.

  • 7,66 Mio. Euros

    total own funds implemented as part of project funding.

  • 34,71 Mio. Euros

    from third-party funds and donations were added.

Funding 2023 in figures

  • 586,4 Mio. Euros

    were the foundation's assets as at December 31, 2023

  • 18,6 Mio. Euros

    total income generated in 2023

Find more facts and figures

Our Highlights

  1. Asking our partners

    Our partners and project participants review the year 2023 (see report pages 8/9). You can read more interviews with our project partners in the newsletter or at www.stiftung-evz.de/en/three-questions-for.

  2. Award-winning

    Sveral of the projects, partners and organizations funded by the EVZ Foundation have received a variety of prizes and awards for their commitment. Congratulations to all project participants and winners!

     

  3. #WatchOutHstry

    When it comes to the collective memory concerning crimes committed by the National
    Socialists, there are still many gaps and forgotten stories. The EVZ Foundation is portraying
    lesser-known events, places and biographies of victims of National Socialist crimes under the
    motto #WatchOutHstry.

     

  4. In the misty morning light, two mushrooms stand on a meadow. Barracks can be seen in the background.

    winning pictures

    In the true sense of the word, the photo competition for the annual theme also sheds light on little-known events and biographies.

     

  5. Exchange forum

    The EVZ Academy is a driving force and disseminator of the EVZ Foundation's strategic, programmatic and communicative approaches: an analog and digital European forum for learning, innovation and exchange.

     

EVZ Academy

Supporting civil society: Examples from the promotion

  • #EDUCATION

    YOUNG PEOPLE Remember International: [Re]Shape Places of Memory

    The program enables young people to critically engage with history.The focus is on transnational learning at historical sites of Nazi persecution and extermination as well as questions of European culture(s) of remembrance. Funding is provided to memorial sites, educational institutions and NGOs in Germany, Europe and Israel.

  • #EDUCATION

    "Shout, Sister, Shout!"

    The art exhibition "Shout Sister, Shout!" tells the stories of Jewish women from Bytom who were marginalized and murdered during the National Socialist era. By juxtaposing historical and current experiences of women's marginalization, the exhibition builds a bridge between past and present.

funding examples EDUCATION

Funding examples EDUCATION AND ACTING

Funding examples ACTING

  • #ACTING

    There are no foreigners: Supporting Survivors of the Genocide Against the Roma and Internally Displaced Persons

    The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine poses an acute threat to the lives of survivors of the genocide against the Roma and often causes re-traumatization. The project provides support to survivors and internally displaced persons in the city of Odessa and the northern districts of the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions with the aim of ensuring their material and physical well-being and social stability, even under wartime conditions.

  • #ACTING

    Citizens' initiative “Center for Joint Action and Help”

    The war in Ukraine has aggravated the precarious situation of the Roma, who are facing poverty and discrimination. Civil society players in Transcarpathia have joined forces to build a permanent coalition aimed at improving the humanitarian situation of displaced Roma, promoting their social participation, and coordinating existing aid services.

  • #ACTINg

    Strengthening LGBTIQ Self-Organizations in Times of Great Change

    The ongoing war in Ukraine has led to high risks and uncertainties for LGBTIQ organizations. ILGA-Europe's program responds to this challenge with long-term and flexible support for LGBTIQ organizations in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as strategic strengthening, support, and capacity building.

funding examples ACTING

  • #PROJECT EXAMPLE

    Memory Savers

    The Ukrainian Memory Savers initiative supports museums, their employees and young people interested in a career in the museum sector. The project is run by the Center for Digital History (Rivne, Ukraine) and SUCHO (Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online) and is funded by the Foundation EVZ as part of the solidarity budget.

  • #ACTING

    Informed, courageous, committed! A Joint Initiative Against Antisemitism

    "Informed, courageous, committed!" combats antisemitism in the workplace, where thousands of people with diverse backgrounds meet every day. The project uses a blended learning program to empower and motivate employees from various companies to take an active stance against antisemitism and thereby promote a positive and discrimination-sensitive working environment.

  • #ACTING

    Asking the Pope for Help

    Thousands of Jews appealed to Pope Pius XII for help during the National Socialist regime. In the "Asking the Pope for Help" project, their letters are systematically recorded in the Vatican archives and prepared in a digital edition for the public and academia. In this way, the project is making an important contribution to research.

Activity report 2023

Order form for the Activity Report

Personal information
Amount and language version