Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft (EVZ)

The Foundation “Remembrance, Responsi­bility and Future” (German acronym EVZ) was established in the year 2000 to pay com­pensation to former forced labourers during the period of National Socialism (NS). Since 2001, the EVZ Foundation has also granted humanitarian aid to survivors, promoted a critical examination of history and strength­ened civic involvement in Central and Eastern Europe. The EVZ Foundation originally had assets of 5.2 billion euros, half of which was raised by a German industry foundation initiative with over 6,000 participating companies and half by the Federal Government and thus the German taxpayers. As such, the Foundation’s establishment is an expression of the respon­sibility borne by society as a whole for the injustices committed during the National Socialist era. The EVZ Foundation was provided with basic capital amounting to 358 million euros for its ongoing activities. Since then, the EVZ Foundation has used this income to dedicate around 8.5 million euros each year to inter­national projects in the following areas: a critical examination of history, working for human rights, commitment to the victims of National Socialism.