2025 was a significant year for memory culture—and the double anniversary year brings particular responsibility with it. The focus of the EVZ Foundation has always been the support of survivors of National socialist persecution and to support projects that shed light on Nazi history, open up new perspectives, counter historical revisionism, and promote democracy.
Now is NOT THE TIME TO FORGET.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, patron of the anniversary year NO TIME TO FORGET – 25 Years of the EVZ Foundation, met with eleven survivors of National Socialist persecution from Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel, Ukraine, and Germany during the ceremony at the Jewish Museum Berlin. During the conversation, they shared their personal memories and their hopes for future generations.
© Stefanie Loos
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the former Dachau concentration camp, survivors of Nazi persecution and veterans of the 42nd U.S. Infantry Division took part in the commemorative events.
© Guido Hassel
Eighty years after the end of National Socialism, the findings of the new Gedenkanstoß MEMO Study 2025 show that society-wide efforts to come to terms with the past, knowledge about the past, and commitment to remembrance are under pressure. The press conference announcing the study’s release took place on April 29 at the Topography of Terror.
© Johanna Maria Dietz
At the Theater der Jungen Welt, young people aged 15 and older engaged in an in-depth exploration of youth culture, the Leipzig “Meuten,” and resistance movements both then and now. The result: MEUTEN MEMORIAL MOVEMENT, a compelling musical theater performance that premiered at the Lindenauer Markt. Funded as part of the Educational Agenda Nazi Injustice.
© Marie Laforge
Are emotions a blind spot in educational work? In the expert discussion “Emotion Overload? A Discussion on New Forms of Learning About the National Socialism,” this and other questions were discussed with experts—the discussion was recorded and is available online.
© ]init[ AG
The project “For Real? – Virtual Encounters with Nazi-Era Eyewitnesses,” funded by the Education Agenda Nazi Injustice, analyzes and explores the potential and limitations of virtual reality for teaching history and fostering cultures of remembrance following the imminent passing of Nazi-era eyewitnesses. During its 2025 tour of Germany, the exhibition truck made stops at museums, memorial sites, educational institutions, and public spaces—as seen here in Schwerin.
In April 2025, activists from nine countries—including Poland, Germany, Israel, and Ukraine—gathered for an international networking event as part of the local.history program. The program included workshops, discussions, and a visit to the Majdanek Memorial, where participants engaged in conversations about the impact of the Holocaust on-site.
© Bartek Żurawsk
In September 2025, 80 participants from 16 countries celebrated the fifth anniversary of the “YOUNG PEOPLE remember internationally” program in Berlin. As part of this grant program, which is funded by the Federal Foreign Office, young people from across Europe engage with the history of National Socialism—critically, actively, and across (national) borders.
© Laurent Hoffmann
On December 2, 2025, the EVZ Foundation marked its 25th anniversary at the Jewish Museum Berlin. Together with eleven survivors of National Socialist persecution and representatives from politics, business, and civil society, we paid tribute to the victims of Nazi injustice and sent a strong message about the importance of an active commitment to the culture of remembrance, democracy, and human rights in Europe.
© Stefanie Loos
The concert by the Belarusian Volny Choir, followed by a discussion with representatives of the Belarusian diaspora, vividly demonstrated what it can look like when music becomes a form of protest. Having emerged as a cultural movement in Belarus in response to the mass protests of August 2020, the choir has since been speaking out about its historical past, its present, and its hope for a better future for a new, free Belarus. All of the Volny Choir’s activities are strictly anonymous.
© Stefanie Loos
Reflections from our partners: Why is today NO TIME TO FORGET?
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80 years since the end of the Second World War, 25 years of the EVZ Foundation … the double anniversary year brought a particular responsibility with it.
© Stefanie Loos
In 2025, the EVZ Academy launched new digital learning spaces and, through a variety of new formats, brought European cultures of remembrance into the spotlight in collaboration with partners from civil society, business, and politics. Visit the EVZ Academy now.
