Stay up to date with the latest news from the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution. Here you can learn about our latest events, projects, partnerships and awards, as well as our work to preserve the memory of Nazi persecution, advance historical and civic education, and support survivors of Nazi persecution and their descendants.
We also share updates on new educational programmes, campaigns and initiatives, and provide insights into our commitment to combating antisemitism, anti-Roma discrimination (antigypsyism), racism and other forms of discrimination.
The life story of Ilse Heinrich, researched and documented as part of the #ZumFeindGemacht project by the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution, is now featured in school textbooks in Lower Saxony and Hesse. This means that the story of a woman who was stigmatized and persecuted as “asocial” is now reaching students in history classrooms.
Ilse Heinrich grew up in modest circumstances near Wismar. After finishing school, she wanted to become a pediatric nurse or a ship’s nurse. Instead, she was forced to work in agriculture. She repeatedly fled from the farm where she worked, but was captured and returned each time. The National Socialists stigmatized her as “work-shy” and “asocial.” In 1943, Ilse was committed to the Güstrow workhouse, and in 1944 she was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp. When the camp was liberated, Ilse, who was seriously ill, was raped. She survived.
Ilse Heinrich’s story shows how people were marginalized, stripped of their rights and persecuted under National Socialism because of their social background and way of life. The inclusion of her biography in school textbooks is a major success for our work. Her story will now be read and passed on by a new generation.
Since 2022, #ZumFeindGemacht has told the life stories of a wide range of people persecuted under National Socialism – including people with disabilities, queer people, those stigmatized as “asocial” or “professional criminals,” Swing Youth, and people who expressed criticism of the Nazi regime. The project highlights the fact that Nazi terror targeted a diverse society and draws connections to discrimination and exclusion in the present day.
With more than 100,000 followers in 2026, #ZumFeindGemacht has become one of the Federal Association’s most successful projects. The biographies are published on the project website, in the podcast and across social media.
Further information: www.zumfeindgemacht.de
The life story of Ilse Heinrich, researched and documented as part of the #ZumFeindGemacht project by the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution, is now featured in school textbooks in Lower Saxony and Hesse. This means that the story of a woman who was stigmatized and persecuted as “asocial” is now reaching students in history classrooms.
Ilse Heinrich grew up in modest circumstances near Wismar. After finishing school, she wanted to become a pediatric nurse or a ship’s nurse. Instead, she was forced to work in agriculture. She repeatedly fled from the farm where she worked, but was captured and returned each time. The National Socialists stigmatized her as “work-shy” and “asocial.” In 1943, Ilse was committed to the Güstrow workhouse, and in 1944 she was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp. When the camp was liberated, Ilse, who was seriously ill, was raped. She survived.
Ilse Heinrich’s story shows how people were marginalized, stripped of their rights and persecuted under National Socialism because of their social background and way of life. The inclusion of her biography in school textbooks is a major success for our work. Her story will now be read and passed on by a new generation.
Since 2022, #ZumFeindGemacht has told the life stories of a wide range of people persecuted under National Socialism – including people with disabilities, queer people, those stigmatized as “asocial” or “professional criminals,” Swing Youth, and people who expressed criticism of the Nazi regime. The project highlights the fact that Nazi terror targeted a diverse society and draws connections to discrimination and exclusion in the present day.
With more than 100,000 followers in 2026, #ZumFeindGemacht has become one of the Federal Association’s most successful projects. The biographies are published on the project website, in the podcast and across social media.
Further information: www.zumfeindgemacht.de
On 8 October 2026 at 3:00 pm, Markus Reinhardt and Krystiane Vajda will share their family history at the Storytelling Café organised by the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution.
Violinist Markus Reinhardt comes from a Sinti family from Cologne. In 1940, his grandparents Karl Josef and Katharina Reinhardt, together with their twelve children and other relatives, were deported from Cologne-Deutz to occupied Poland. From there, the family was transferred to various camps, including Auschwitz. Upon arrival in Auschwitz, Karl Josef Reinhardt urged his family to survive:
“Whoever manages to get out of here alive will meet again in Cologne!”
Karl Josef Reinhardt and his wife survived, but six of their children were murdered in the camp. Among the survivors was Markus Reinhardt’s father, who endured the horrors of Auschwitz as an eleven-year-old boy. After the war, the survivors returned — as agreed — to the place in Cologne-Bickendorf from which they had been deported.
Markus Reinhardt was born there in 1958. Together with his wife Krystiane Vajda, he conducted interviews with surviving family members. In these moving conversations, they speak for the first time about the crimes committed in the camps — about violence, hunger and medical experiments. Memories that accompanied the survivors throughout their lives.
Based on these conversations, Krystiane Vajda also wrote the children’s and adults’ book “Niemals wegschauen – Der Weg der Sinti-Familie Reinhardt” (“Never Look Away – The Story of the Reinhardt Sinti Family”), which tells the family’s history of persecution in a way that is accessible and sensitive for younger readers.
The Cologne Testimony Café takes place several times a year and is open to school classes, youth groups and other interested participants.
If you are interested in attending, the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution kindly asks you to register in advance by contacting 0221-179294-15 or rex@nsberatung.de.
Contact:
Vanessa Rex
Tel. 0221-179294-15
rex@nsberatung.de
Venue:
Bürgerzentrum Nippes - Altenberger Hof
Mauenheimer Str. 92
50733 Köln
24 July 2026
Yesterday, our Community and Testimony Café became a place for an intergenerational exchange on a topic that shapes our present and future: artificial intelligence.
Employees of congstar visited the Encounter Café and gave an interactive presentation on the opportunities and risks of AI for the participating survivors of Nazi persecution. Together, they discussed how deepfakes can be used for political disinformation, why the so-called “grandchild scam” (Enkeltrick) can become even more convincing through AI, and what older people in particular should look out for.
At the same time, they also demonstrated the potential of artificial intelligence for remembrance work. For example, holograms of contemporary witnesses could be created that allow future generations to hear about survivors’ experiences of Nazi persecution and ask questions - even when survivors are no longer able to share their stories personally.
A particularly impressive moment showed how AI can help overcome barriers: Many participants of the Café came to Germany as Jewish quota refugees (Kontingentflüchtlinge) from the successor states of the former Soviet Union and speak Russian as their first language. The congstar employees used AI to quickly adapt their presentation into Russian.
A heartfelt thank you to the dedicated congstar employees for this inspiring afternoon and for the respectful dialogue with the participants of our café!
21 July 2026
At yesterday’s memorial ceremony organised by the German Federal Government to mark the anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944, a controversy arose: Tobias Korenke, great-nephew of the Protestant theologian and resistance fighter against National Socialism Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted to remove a wreath laid by the AfD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. Security personnel intervened; the wreath was damaged in the process, and Korenke was asked to leave the ceremony.
His explanation to the media reflects the feelings of many descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution and resistance fighters:
“Many descendants, and I am one of them, feel a deep anger when we see the AfD laying wreaths here. We will not accept this here.”
For many people, it is difficult to accept that a party which has repeatedly attracted attention through the relativisation of Nazi crimes, attacks on German remembrance culture and far-right positions is participating in a commemoration of resistance against National Socialism.
Why Many Descendants See This Wreath as a Provocation
As the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution, we represent numerous survivors of Nazi persecution as well as their children, grandchildren and further descendants. Many of them lost parents or grandparents due to National Socialism. For others, the consequences of persecution continue to affect their families to this day.
For them, commemorating the victims and resistance is not a symbolic obligation, but part of their own family history.
The fact that the AfD, as a parliamentary group represented in the German Bundestag, is invited to official commemorative events can be understood as an expression of parliamentary practice and is open to debate. However, the fact that it additionally lays a wreath and thus seeks to symbolically place itself within the tradition of resistance against National Socialism is perceived by many affected people as deeply contradictory and hypocritical.
Remembrance Culture and Far-Right Rhetoric Are Incompatible
The party and leading representatives have repeatedly made statements in recent years that relativise Nazi crimes or fundamentally question German remembrance culture. Alexander Gauland referred to the Nazi era as a “speck of bird droppings” (“Vogelschiss”) in German history. Björn Höcke called for a “180-degree reversal in remembrance policy” and described the Holocaust memorial in Berlin as a “monument of shame”.
In addition, numerous other statements by party officials have relativised historical responsibility or excluded people based on their origin, religion or other characteristics. The AfD is also classified nationwide as a suspected case of right-wing extremism by Germany’s domestic intelligence services, and parts of the party have been classified as confirmed right-wing extremist.
Against this background, many descendants perceive the wreath-laying as an appropriation of historical resistance for a narrative that is incompatible with the values of those who fought against National Socialism.
The participants in the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt, as well as many other resistance groups, fought against a regime that disenfranchised, persecuted and murdered people. Their legacy obliges us to uphold democracy, human dignity and the protection of minorities.
Many descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution therefore see it as their responsibility today to continue this legacy. They campaign against antisemitism, racism and right-wing extremism, share their family histories and work to preserve a living culture of remembrance.
The fact that some of them resort to unusual forms of protest demonstrates how deeply concerned they are about current developments.
The 20 July commemoration reminds us above all that democracy cannot be taken for granted. It depends on people who accept responsibility, oppose injustice and stand against those who seek to relativise or erase the lessons of history.
And if this means removing a wreath laid by those who have repeatedly attacked remembrance culture, then even a damaged wreath may ultimately represent the more honest form of commemoration.
We are delighted that our long-standing volunteer Faina Khazanova has been awarded the Miteinander Award for Democracy and Diversity 2026 by the City of Cologne.
For many years, Faina Khazanova has shown outstanding commitment to Jewish quota refugees (Kontingentflüchtlinge) and survivors of Nazi persecution. As part of our “Warmes Zuhause” project and our volunteer visiting and support service, she accompanies older people, creates opportunities for encounters and helps counter loneliness, isolation and social invisibility.
The former paediatrician is much more than a volunteer for many of the people we support: she is a trusted person, a listener and an important source of support. Thanks to her fluent German and Russian language skills, she builds bridges across linguistic and cultural barriers and enables many older people to access community and support in the first place.
With this award, the City of Cologne recognises a commitment that often takes place quietly and out of the public eye, yet is of immeasurable value to our society. Many very elderly survivors of Nazi persecution and Jewish quota refugees experience loneliness. Personal visits, conversations and everyday support can make a decisive difference in their lives.
We are deeply grateful to have Faina Khazanova as part of our volunteer team and warmly congratulate her on this well-deserved honour!
Note:
We would have liked to publish this article with a portrait photo of Faina Khazanova. However, she consciously decided against it out of concern about the consequences of increasing antisemitism.
The fact that a committed volunteer and Jewish woman in Germany today has to fear becoming a target of hatred because her face is visible is alarming. It highlights the challenges many Jewish people face today - and shows how important it remains to stand firmly against antisemitism.
On Sunday, 5 July, our animated film about Peter Finkelgruen celebrated its premiere on the big screen at Odeon Cinema in Cologne as part of the supporting programme of the Cologne Edelweiss Pirates Festival.
For the young people involved, this moment was something truly special: seeing the film they had developed and produced themselves on a cinema screen for the first time was a moving conclusion to an intensive collaborative project.
The audience was also deeply impressed. During the discussion afterwards, the young filmmakers spoke with visitors about the creation of the film, Peter Finkelgruen’s life story and the significance of the Edelweiss Pirates.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who shared this special day with us — especially our dedicated young filmmakers and their course instructor Diana Menestrey.
The Next Opportunity: Edelweiss Pirates Festival on 12 July
For anyone who missed the premiere, there was another opportunity on 12 July 2026 to see our animated films: As part of the Edelweiss Pirates Festival in Cologne’s Friedenspark, the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution presented four animated films about the lives of survivors of the Nazi era: Richard Reinisch, Tamar Dreifuß, Marina Sagsaganska and Peter Finkelgruen.
The film about Peter Finkelgruen tells the story of the Edelweiss Pirates’ resistance against the Nazi regime and also honours Peter Finkelgruen’s decades-long commitment to the recognition of this resistance and to historical justice.
The animated films were created as part of an animation project with young people from Cologne. Based on personal encounters and conversations with survivors and their families, the participants researched the biographies, developed the stories and transformed them into animated films together.
The result is a series of powerful cinematic memories that tell history from the perspective of those affected and make it more tangible for young people today.
We look forward to welcoming many interested visitors at the Edelweiss Pirates Festival!
At least 160 survivors of Nazi persecution are currently affected by the loss of key social support programs. Following the unexpected termination of funding by the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (EVZ), the Community and Testimony Cafés in Düsseldorf and Recklinghausen as well as the project "Warm Home" are now facing an uncertain future.
These programs are aimed at elderly survivors, many of whom still suffer from the long-term consequences of persecution, displacement, and trauma. The regular gatherings provide protected spaces for exchange, social participation, and mutual support, helping to counter isolation in old age.
In the community cafés, survivors meet regularly, accompanied by staff members and volunteers. Several times a year, public testimony cafés are held where contemporary witnesses share their life stories with school classes and interested visitors. These personal encounters make an important contribution to historical and civic education and help prevent antisemitism, racism, and right-wing extremism.
The "Warm Home" project focuses in particular on survivors of Nazi persecution with a migration background, especially Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Since 2009, social networks have been formed in private homes that foster integration, reduce loneliness, and enable mutual support. The project is now implemented in several cities across North Rhine–Westphalia.
“For the participants, these programs are not a ‘nice to have’ but an essential social anchor in everyday life,” explains Dr. Jost Rebentisch, Managing Director of the Federal Association. “Without new funding, they face closure. This would have immediate consequences for people who have already experienced exclusion and persecution.”
The current situation affects the Federal Association during an already challenging period: at the end of 2025, funding for the successful social media education project #ZumFeindGemacht also came to an end. Several projects are therefore under financial pressure at the same time.
To ensure the continuation of these programs, a public fundraising appeal has been launched. Donations will help secure the community initiatives, prevent social isolation, and continue remembrance work with survivors.
Further information and donation options can be found on the Betterplace donation page.
How does Nazi persecution continue to shape the present day? Which stories are remembered — and which remained untold for a long time?
In our interview series “Voices of the Descendant Generations”, eight descendants of victims of Nazi persecution have spoken so far. They share their family histories and speak very personally about the impact persecution had on their families. One recurring theme is trauma that continues across generations, as well as decades of silence.
At the same time, they discuss their perspectives on remembrance culture in Germany, society’s handling of the Nazi past, and their experiences with antisemitism.
Previous interview guests include, among others:
You can find the interviews on YouTube. More videos will follow.
As there are now only a small number of survivors left who can speak about their experiences under the Nazi regime, the perspectives of descendants are becoming increasingly important for remembrance culture.
Their perspectives can help raise awareness about the consequences of group-focused hatred and discrimination and demonstrate how persecution, exclusion, and disenfranchisement can affect entire families across generations. Yet to this day, many people remain largely unaware of their perspectives and of the impact the Nazi era continues to have on their lives. We believe it is important to give space to their family histories and personal experiences and to ensure that their voices are heard.
No time to watch the full-length interviews? You can also find the descendants’ personal accounts on our website.
Are you looking for speakers for your educational project? Through the Federal Association, teachers, schools, and other multipliers can request descendants of victims of Nazi persecution as speakers for workshops, discussions, and storytelling cafés. If you are interested, please contact us via email at info@nsberatung.de.
Recently, we had the opportunity to welcome Professor Frank Bösch, Director of the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, to our Cologne Begegnungscafé (“community café”). The Begegnungscafé is a protected space where survivors of Nazi persecution and their descendants regularly come together to share their experiences and stay connected through dialogue. Many of the participants are also Jewish contingent refugees from the former Soviet Union and its successor states.
As part of his current research project on migration in the context of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Professor Bösch spoke on site with eyewitnesses who came to Germany in the early 1990s - and in some cases even earlier - as Jews from the Soviet Union and other (post-)socialist countries. The conversations were translated and accompanied by Professor Katja Makhotina, Professor of Eastern European History at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg.
In the interview with Professor Bösch, it became clear how little visible these life stories still are in public awareness today. He describes it as follows:
“In public perception, they are actually not very visible, except perhaps in the literary world, because many Jewish immigrants - especially younger ones - have written books. [...] In academic research, there are studies from the 1990s that are based on interviews. However, archive-based studies like the one I am currently conducting do not yet exist.”
Professor Bösch also emphasized the importance of Community and Testimony Cafés:
“Storytelling cafés are extremely important because they bring together eyewitnesses and survivors of terrible events. The fact that I am able to speak here today with around ten eyewitnesses is only possible because of such a storytelling café.”
While the work of the cafés in Cologne is currently secured, the locations in Düsseldorf and Recklinghausen are facing closure due to a funding freeze. Without reliable support, it is becoming increasingly difficult to preserve these protected spaces for survivors of Nazi persecution in the long term.
In order to ensure that these important places can continue to exist in the future, we rely on support.
Please help by making a donation via betterplace: Betterplace donation page.
On 26 March 2026, we had the honour of receiving a special award in Düsseldorf: our project “Volunteer Visiting and Accompanying Service” („Ehrenamtlicher Besuchs- und Begleitdienst“) was recognised with a special prize as part of the volunteer award “Volunteering creates encounters” („Ehrenamt schafft Begegnung“) by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Ministerium für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales des Landes NRW).
Out of a total of 183 nominated projects, ten award recipients were selected – with an additional two special prizes being awarded. We are very pleased that our commitment has been recognised in this way.
The award ceremony took place in Düsseldorf and was opened by Minister Karl-Josef Laumann.
For us, the special prize represents great recognition and, above all, an appreciation of the dedication of our committed and long-standing volunteers.
At the ordinary general meeting on 13 March 2026, the Board of the Federal Association was newly elected. The successful work of recent years is reflected in a high degree of personnel continuity: Chairperson Volker Kirchesch, Deputy Chairperson Hanna Brabanski, and the assessors Frank-Ludwig Thiel, Emanuel Reithofer, Michael Teupen, and Alexander Bakalejnik were re-elected.
There has been one change in the position of Treasurer: this role has been newly filled by Britta Engel. Britta Engel will assume responsibility for the Federal Association’s financial affairs in the future. We would like to sincerely thank the outgoing Treasurer, Inge Spiecker, for her many years of commitment and valuable work, and warmly welcome Britta Engel as the new Treasurer.
With this re-election, the Federal Association considers itself well positioned to continue its existing projects and set new impulses. The overarching goal remains to further develop the work of the Federal Association in line with its statutory mandate: supporting survivors of Nazi persecution and their descendants, as well as advancing historical-political education work.
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Richard Reinisch, a survivor of Nazi persecution who tirelessly shared his story well into old age and dedicated himself to remembrance, education, and humanity.
Richard Reinisch was born in 1929. His childhood was marked by flight, violence, and existential threat. The invasion of Poland by the German Wehrmacht, and later of the Soviet Union, forced him into an endless escape through Poland, the Soviet Union, and eventually to Budapest. During the period of Nazi persecution, his father was murdered by the Gestapo. He did not see his mother again until after the war in Israel.
That Richard Reinisch survived was due to a series of coincidences, the help of other people, and circumstances of almost unimaginable luck. Despite the losses and traumas he endured, he later returned to Germany – a country that had once persecuted him – and made a conscious decision to share his life story.
He remained active as a contemporary witness until the final years of his life. He was particularly connected to our animation project, in which he spoke to students about his experiences of persecution. These encounters resulted in an award-winning animated film. The film stands as a testament to how Richard Reinisch’s personal memories were able to reach young people and bring history to life.
Richard Reinisch engaged with young people with openness. His account of his family history and persecution was more than a report on the past: it was a warning against hatred, antisemitism, and exclusion, as well as a call for responsibility and compassion.
With his passing, we lose an important witness to history and a person who, despite everything, preserved his trust in the power of education, encounter, and remembrance. His legacy lives on in the stories he left behind and in the young people he touched.
We will honour the memory of Richard Reinisch.
It is with profound sadness that we learned of the passing of physician and humanitarian Dr. Semen Glusman, who died on 16 February 2026. The news leaves behind a painful sense of sorrow – and at the same time a feeling of gratitude for having lived in his time and having known him personally and professionally.
I had the honour of meeting him at congresses and conferences, of exchanging views with him, and of listening to his words – words filled with professional clarity, human sincerity, and moral conviction.
Dr. Semen Glusman served, among other roles, as head of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association and the International Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Wars and Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine, and he collaborated with our association. His work was always deeply rooted in humanism. Tirelessly, he advocated for human dignity, justice, and support for those who had been persecuted and traumatised.
He lived according to his conscience and served both people and his homeland, Ukraine, with dignity and honour.
We will preserve his memory with respect and gratitude.
Obituary by our board member, Dipl. Med. Alexander Bakalejnik.
A few weeks ago, we informed you that the current funding for the historical-political education project #ZumFeindGemacht will come to an end at the end of the year, and that a fundraising campaign had been launched.
Thanks to this support, more than €6,000 has been raised so far. This amount is not sufficient to continue the project at its previous scale, but it does make a temporary transitional solution possible: part of the team will continue working on #ZumFeindGemacht on a voluntary basis for the time being.
So far, no follow-up funding has been secured. Efforts to identify long-term funding opportunities are ongoing. In order to bridge this transitional phase and to avoid a complete shutdown of #ZumFeindGemacht, the project continues to rely on support.
Why your support remains crucial
#ZumFeindGemacht has become an important space of digital remembrance culture for many young people, teachers, and educational practitioners. In order to ensure that the voices of Nazi persecution survivors and their descendants are not silenced, solidarity and financial support are still needed during this transitional period.
We therefore kindly ask you:
Help us bridge this phase and support #ZumFeindGemacht.
Donate now to #ZumFeindGemacht
Thanks to the support of the Hans and Berthold Finkelstein Stiftung, we are able to give something back to everyone who supports us via Betterplace with a donation: as a small token of appreciation, you will receive a tote bag with the #ZumFeindGemacht logo – while supplies last. Simply send a short email with your shipping address to info@nsberatung.de, and your tote bag will be on its way to you.
Stay with us, continue following our work – and thank you for making #ZumFeindGemacht possible.
The Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution (Bundesverband Information & Beratung für NS-Verfolgte e.V.) is pleased to announce the extension of the innovative project “Spaces of Memory of Flight” ("Erinnerungsräume der Flucht" until the end of July 2027.
The project combines historical education with cutting-edge virtual reality technology: young people meet survivors of Nazi persecution, conduct interviews, and identify pivotal scenes from their life stories. These scenes are first realized artistically as dioramas and then digitized. Through scanning and transferring them into virtual reality, immersive memory spaces are created, which - enhanced by contextual explanations - allow for an in-depth engagement with the persecution histories of the survivors.
In addition to exploring history, participants acquire technical skills and engage with socially relevant topics such as exclusion, discrimination, group-related hostility, and flight. The project also provides a safe space to reflect on one’s own family and flight histories and to draw connections.
The results are regularly presented to the public, most recently during the Museum Night 2024 at the NS Documentation Center Cologne.
By combining digital and analog formats, the project offers young people an innovative approach to the history of Nazi persecution and encourages reflection on democratic values.
The next phase of the VR project will take place at the Gesamtschule Lindenthal in Cologne. Interested schools, youth groups, and educators are warmly invited to apply to participate in the project.
Contact:
Katharina Pysmenna (Tel. +49 221 17 92 94 18 pysmenna@nsberatung.de)
Katarina Gavrik (Tel. +49 221 17 92 94 22 gavrik@nsberatung.de)
