The Board of Trustees of the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) resolved, by written procedure, to temporarily suspend the nominating rights and membership of the Board of Trustees members from the Republic of Belarus and the nominating rights of the Russian Federation, effective March 21, 2025. The Board of Trustees cites the following reasons for this decision: the threat to the achievement of the Foundation’s purpose, the threat to the reputation of the Foundation, and the risk to persons involved in Foundation projects, all of which arise from the continued membership of representatives of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on the EVZ Board of Trustees.
Legal basis: Amendment of the Law on the Creation of the EVZ Foundation
An amendment to the Law on the Creation of the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future, passed by the German Bundestag and Bundesrat, has enabled the Board of Trustees to temporarily exclude members for good cause. The amendment came into force on March 6, 2025. It can be found here on the EVZ Foundation website (Section 5(1a) EVZ-StiftG).
Background to the decision
The statutory mandate of the EVZ Foundation is to preserve the memory of the injustices of National Socialist persecution. This includes international cooperation in the fields of humanitarian aid, social welfare, culture and education.
Due to Russia’s violations of international law through its war of aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and again from 2022 onwards, it has become increasingly difficult to uphold this mandate in the Russian Federation and in the Republic of Belarus:
individuals and organizations funded by the EVZ Foundation in these countries have faced growing repression and criminalization. As a result, the EVZ Foundation has been compelled to temporarily suspend its programs in the two countries and instead seek alternative ways to support survivors of Nazi persecution.
What happens next with project funding in these countries?
Within the framework of its mandate to preserve the memory of Nazi injustice, the EVZ Foundation’s responsibility to civil society in Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus remains ongoing.
Following Russia’s invasion, the EVZ Foundation expressed its solidarity with Ukraine and launched new funding initiatives. The Board of Trustees passed a resolution establishing a solidarity fund for Ukraine, for example.
The Foundation also stands in solidarity with project partners in Germany and across Europe who, as a result of their work, have been criminalized or forced into exile by the state in Russia and Belarus as so-called “undesirable foreign organizations”.
History of the EVZ Foundation
The EVZ Foundation's mission is to keep alive the memory of the injustice of National Socialist persecution, to accept the resulting responsibility today, and to actively shape the future. The primary reason for establishing the Foundation in 2000 was the payment of humanitarian compensation to former forced laborers under the National Socialist regime – a milestone in Germany's efforts to come to terms with the past. Through its fields of activity EDUCATION and ACTION, the Foundation today funds projects that aim to help survivors of National Socialist persecution, to promote inter-national understanding and to strengthen human rights.
Status: March 25, 2025