Support for Ukraine
We stand in support of the state and civil society in the democratic state of Ukraine; we condemn all attempts to challenge the peaceful order in Europe, and we reject the instrumentalization of history to legitimize war.
All the lessons and achievements from history – a rule-based world order, universal human rights, and international humanitarian law which protects civilians from military attack – are being trampled over in Europe by Russian rulers.
We stand alongside civil society, self-organizations, NGO representatives and human rights activists in Ukraine, Russia and the countries in our European vicinity.
Against the background of its founding history, the EVZ Foundation is particularly active in Central and Eastern Europe, Israel and Germany, Ukraine is a focal point. Since 2003, the EVZ Foundation has supported about 700 projects, some of them with long-standing partners in Ukraine.
On 25.02.2022, the EVZ Foundation offered to use already approved project funds for emergency relief measures.Meanwhile, support for our Ukrainian partners is in full swing, especially in our support teams. Project sponsors from Ukraine are able to draw down grants more flexibly as well as accessing other funds more promptly within the framework of existing approvals, provided the banking system is operating. We maintain direct contact with our project sponsors in Ukraine and are available for inquiries and requests for support.
The Board of Trustees of the EVZ Foundation has also approved a solidarity budget for the year 2023. For this purpose 800,000 euros, 10 percent of the planned funding volume of the EVZ Foundation in 2023, have been earmarked. The funds can be used to specifically support projects to strengthen the engagement of refugees, the development of exile structures and other solidarity projects of civil society in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
The Solidarity Budget is used to support even more partners all over Europe. Two examples: The Quarteera association is building local communities for Russian-speaking refugees and LGBTIQ persons in Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden, thereby establishing an active civil society in exile and engaging in the field of political education. Additionally, the EVZ Foundation funds the Lithuanian NGO Formula for Humanity, which works to build a civil society structure of Belarusians in exile and counters propaganda.
We are especially concerned about the plight of elderly survivors of the National Socialist policy of racism and occupation in Ukraine. They are now exposed to acute mortal danger, possible re-traumatization, and the Covid-19 pandemic which is still raging. Here, too, we are in the process of making our support more flexible in order to provide targeted assistance.
An example of the above is the project of the Dnipropetrovsk regional branch of the Ukrainian Association of Prisoners Victims of National Socialism (USWShN) located in the city of Dnipro. A home care service for survivors of National Socialism in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast provides practical and material assistance to more than 100 survivors of National Socialist persecution. On March 5, the members of the victims' association addressed the Russian mothers and against the war with a video message.
Video
Former prisoners and victims of Nazi persecution of the Dnepropetrovsk regional group of the Ukrainian Association of Prisoners appeal to the mothers of soldiers from Russia and Belarus to stop the war.
You will find more examples of the commitment of the EVZ Foundation and funded projects here:
© Elena Sergeeva
On March 9, 2022, the Aid Network for Survivors of Nazi Persecution in Ukraine was established. The Aid Network supports survivors of Nazi persecution in Ukraine, their families and colleagues from Ukraine affected by the war with the help of donations in an unbureaucratically and effective.
© NGO Kapl Vested
In order to support survivors of the genocide against the Sinti and Roma, 25 emergency relief projects have been funded with more than EUR 750,000 since the beginning of the war. Ukraine-wide, the people on site received in this way vital food, medicine, clothing and help with the evacuations.
© Gedenkmuseum totalitärer Regime "Territorium des Terrors" in Lwiw
The project for archival safeguarding in Ukraine helped 48 museums, archives, libraries, research institutes, and other cultural institutions to protect their cultural assets in 2022.
© https://vidnova.org/
The Vidnova-Fellowship program was launched in April 2022 to support Ukrainian civil society activists in exile. The fellowship program allows activists to advocate for human rights and equality in Ukraine despite their escape.
© Gio Matchavariani
The funding program „MEET UP! Youth for Partnership” strengthens international youth exchange between Germany and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Associations on site have been able to implement their projects successfully despite the war against Ukraine.
© Krista und Reinis Dzudzilo
The local.history funding program supports locally and regionally active history initiatives from Central and Eastern Europe remembering the period of National Socialism.
In our new format EVZ Conversations!, we talk to representatives from institutions of work of remembrance, history policy and science about the russian war against Ukraine. What does the war in Ukraine mean for German, Jewish und Ukrainian cultures of remembrance? How can we support Civil Society?
© Margaryta Lisova
The organizations "Gender Zed" (Zaporizhzhia), "KyivPride" (Kyiv), "Sphere" and "Spektrum" (Kharkiv) jointly provide local assistance to the LGBTIQ community. Almost EUR 65,000 in emergency relief from the EVZ Foundation makes it possible to deliver food, provide psychological counseling and more.
© Tolerspace
Since March 2022, the Educational Center Tolerspace has been organizing historical education events and webinars on trauma-sensitive work and self-care for teachers and activists. The NGO also gives individual psychological counseling to young people during the war.
© gelblau.net
In the MediaLab of Remembrance project, young journalists from Ukraine came together to explore the links between the past and the present. "Gelblau" magazine's special bilingual publication is dedicated to the National Socialist occupation and the current war in Ukraine.
© Stiftung EVZ
Russia's war against Ukraine has fundamentally transformed the way we work with our partners to achieve our goals at local level. In a workshop of several days, we therefore developed and tested new approaches to solutions with experts from Ukrainian civil society.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Menschen bei der Übergabe einer Hilfslieferung](/assets/_processed_/b/6/csm_20220316_yellow_bag_Hilfe_Roma_UA_%C3%9Cbergabe_5ffba458ec.jpg)
![[Translate to Englisch:] Screenshot Website Vidnova. Building bridges, navigating relationships, enabling sustainable collaborations with civil society actors and organizations in Ukraine and other European countries](/assets/_processed_/6/9/csm_Vidnova_Facebook_Cover_f99e3b5321.jpg)
![[Translate to Englisch:] Teilnehmende einer MEETUP Jugendkonferenz tauschen sich aus.](/assets/_processed_/0/c/csm_MEETUP_Gio_Matchavariani_cc526b595e.jpg)
![[Translate to Englisch:] Weiße Schuhe stehen vor einer Mauer.](/assets/_processed_/e/a/csm__1941cels_dzudzilo_02_416de4449d.jpg)
![[Translate to Englisch:] Screenshot der Website https://gelblau.net/de/](/assets/_processed_/0/2/csm_gelblau__1__3074f3f221.png)
