For many years, the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution (Bundesverband Information & Beratung für NS-Verfolgte e.V.) has been publishing books, documentation volumes, conference proceedings, brochures and information materials on topics including Nazi persecution, compensation, cultures of remembrance, as well as the experiences of survivors and their descendants.
The publications combine practical counselling experience, academic perspectives and the voices of Nazi persecution survivors and their descendants. They serve as sources of information for affected persons, professionals, researchers and multipliers in historical and civic education. They contribute to making knowledge about the consequences of Nazi persecution accessible for the present and future.
The siege of the Russian metropolis of Leningrad from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944 was one of the great crimes against humanity of the Second World War. More than one million civilians lost their lives in the city. During the years of the siege, unimaginable suffering occurred, including cases of cannibalism.
In Germany, this war crime remains comparatively little known.
To change this, our project on the Siege of Leningrad involved conversations with survivors who experienced the siege as children. Their memories, along with the historical background, have been documented digitally (www.leningradblockade.de) and in this publication. Blokadniki documents these stories of persecution in both German and Russian and preserves them for future generations.
The publication can be ordered by contacting info@nsberatung.de. We kindly ask readers to cover the shipping costs. Donations are greatly appreciated.
Citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia can receive the book free of charge via the website of the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Nordrhein-Westfalen.
“We were good enough to be used as cannon fodder! Nothing was ever mentioned about mental deficiency. (…) I ask you to examine this matter thoroughly. If a man loses an eye while in prison, he receives a pension. And they do not want to give me anything at all! This is, by God, not fair!”
Viktor Berger, who was persecuted by the Nazis because he belonged to the minority group of Yenish people, wrote these words in 1958 in a complaint submitted to the Freiburg Regional Court.
Who were the people who were labelled enemies and persecuted by the Nazis? This is the question addressed by our social media campaign #ZumFeindGemacht, which entered its third year in 2024. Comprehensive background information is available on the campaign website www.zumfeindgemacht.de. Ten new stories are now available in book form.
The publication can be ordered by contacting info@nsberatung.de. We kindly ask readers to cover the shipping costs. Donations are greatly appreciated.
Who were the people who were labelled enemies and persecuted by the Nazis? This is the question addressed by our social media campaign #ZumFeindGemacht, which entered its second year in 2023. Comprehensive background information is available on the campaign website www.zumfeindgemacht.de. Nine new stories are now available in book form.
The publication can be ordered by contacting info@nsberatung.de. We kindly ask readers to cover the shipping costs. Donations are greatly appreciated.
Today, most people know that Jewish people as well as Sinti:zze and Rom:nja were persecuted by the Nazis. However, many other groups and individuals were also persecuted for a wide variety of reasons: they were imprisoned in prisons and concentration camps, forcibly sterilised, tortured or murdered.
In our social media campaign #ZumFeindGemacht, we tell the stories of people who were persecuted because of their sexual orientation, because they were considered mentally ill, because they had the “wrong” skin colour, because they refused to abandon their political convictions, or simply because they expressed their opinions at the wrong place and time.
The first twelve biographies from our campaign have now been published in book form in #ZumFeindGemacht Volume 1.
The publication can be ordered by contacting info@nsberatung.de. We kindly ask readers to cover the shipping costs. Donations are greatly appreciated.
As is well known, traumata can be passed from one generation to the next; and hardly any other group is so affected by this phenomenon as the descendants of those persecuted by the Nazis. Yet, how exactly does this transfer take place? What role do family traditions and continued social practices play? Might genetics play a role? Furthermore, can this cycle at all be broken?
The descendants of those persecuted by the Nazis can draw on unique resources and skills. They make significant contributions to political and social confrontations with the Nazi era, and they work for the welfare of the survivors. Many are active in political education and advocate for an appropriate culture of remembrance. In a time of increasing right-wing populism, their views are indispensable.
The book is available in bookshops and directly from us. Price: €32.95 plus shipping costs.
There is no doubt that survivors of Nazi persecution have been shaped by their experiences for the rest of their lives. However, their children have also been affected. They have made significant contributions to the social and political process of coming to terms with the past and have supported the well-being of their parents. As a result, descendants of survivors are also directly affected by the consequences of their parents’ experiences of persecution and trauma and often require counselling and support themselves.
This anthology includes both thematic discussions on these issues and documentation of the results of the conference “Second Generation”. For the first time, a publication addresses the topic of descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution from the different perspectives of various groups of victims.
The book is available in bookshops and directly from us.
Price: €19.95 plus shipping costs.
This book was largely written by young people. Some of them were not yet adults when they began their work. However, the twelve students from Gesamtschule Bergheim showed the courage to engage in personal encounters with survivors of Nazi persecution and refugees.
The result is a book that combines biographies of survivors of Nazi persecution with contemporary perspectives on displacement and flight, without drawing comparisons between them.
Unfortunately, the book is no longer available in print, but it can still be accessed online. To view the online version, please click on the image. We appreciate donations.
In addition to books, magazines and project publications, the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution has been publishing specialist publications, practical guides, documentation and materials for affected persons, relatives, professionals and interested members of the public for many years.
The publications address key topics related to the association’s work - from compensation and counselling to the living conditions of older survivors of Nazi persecution and the experiences of subsequent generations.
Many of these publications were created as part of conferences, research projects or counselling services provided by the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution. They not only document discussions and findings but also make an important contribution to increasing the visibility of perspectives of survivors of Nazi persecution and their families that have received little attention to date.
The report of findings documents the key insights from an international expert project in which specialists from academia and practice discussed the role of descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution in two thematic working groups.
The focus is on the results of the working groups addressing psychosocial issues and historical-political education. The report examines the effects of transgenerational trauma, social continuities and current experiences of discrimination on subsequent generations and highlights their significance for counselling, research and support services.
In addition, it presents the diverse contributions of descendants to remembrance and educational work, as well as perspectives on their future role in commemorative and educational processes. The report concludes with recommendations for further networking, cooperation and academic engagement with this field.
More about the project:
Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution
Cologne 2011
Many children of Holocaust survivors experience terrible nightmares in which they are persecuted, tortured or killed — as if they themselves were repeatedly reliving the Second World War. In these moments, they suffer from overwhelming anxiety, depression and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. It appears as though these children have absorbed the suppressed and insufficiently processed trauma of their parents — almost as if they had inherited their parents’ subconscious experiences.
This brochure addresses the descendants of survivors of Nazi persecution.
Unfortunately, the book is no longer available in print, but it can still be accessed online. To view the online version, please click on the image. We appreciate donations.
Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution
Cologne 2009
Since the 1980s, experts have increasingly focused on the needs of children of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. Psychologists from Israel, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany have been pioneers in developing appropriate forms of psychological support. By contrast, this issue has not received the same level of attention at the political level in Germany.
Furthermore, the topic of subsequent generations is often overlooked when it concerns other groups persecuted by the Nazis — for example, children of parents who were persecuted for political or religious reasons, children of former forced labourers, Sinti:zze and Rom:nja, and those labelled “underminers of military morale” (Wehrkraftzersetzer) by the Nazi regime.
With this publication, we want to send a clear message to those affected: their needs are recognised and acknowledged. We also aim to draw the attention of policymakers, health insurance providers, social workers, elderly care professionals, and psychological and medical specialists to survivors of Nazi persecution and their children whose experiences have often been overlooked.
Research gaps regarding subsequent generations — particularly when considering the descendants of all groups persecuted by the Nazis — remain substantial.
The publication can be ordered by contacting info@nsberatung.de. We kindly ask readers to cover the shipping costs. Donations are greatly appreciated.
Jelena Wachowski / Michael Teupen / Jost Rebentisch
Cologne 2009
This counselling guide is aimed at everyone who provides support to victims of the Nazi regime in asserting claims for compensation.
The “New Counselling Guide” takes current legal developments into account. It has a clear structure and has been redesigned to be more practical, accessible and user-friendly.
However, the situation of victims of Nazi persecution has also changed over the past decade. While compensation issues were almost exclusively the focus of attention in the 1990s, today questions about a dignified life in old age — with the necessary material and psychological security — have become equally important. For many people, this security is still not guaranteed.
The counselling guide is available directly from us.
Price: €5.00 plus shipping costs.
Andrea Zielke-Nadkarni / Christina Hilgendorff / Sonja Schlegel / Märle Poser
Cologne 2008
The group of survivors of Nazi persecution is rarely addressed in training programmes for elderly care professionals. Yet around 100,000 people who — often unnoticed — carry the biographical burden of their own imprisonment in camps and the resulting trauma were still living in Germany alone at the time of publication.
In old age, increasing physical limitations can lead to a growing need for support and raise urgent questions about appropriate care. Through interview excerpts and summarised personal accounts, this book provides insight into the life experiences of these individuals.
For each personal portrait, suggestions are provided for educational work within elderly care training programmes.
Unfortunately, the book is no longer available in print, but it can still be accessed online. To view the online version, please click on the image. We appreciate donations.
Günther Saathoff; Sonja Schlegel
Published by the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Bonn and Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e.V. in Bonn
2nd expanded edition, 1995
Unfortunately, out of print.
Günter Saathoff; Franz Dillmann; Manfred Messerschmidt
Published by the Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution and the Federal Association of Victims of Nazi Military Justice in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Bonn
Cologne, 1994
Unfortunately, out of print.
Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution (edited by Gerhard Jochem)
Verzeichnis der Nachweise für NS-Zwangsarbeiter(innen) bei Archiven und anderen Institutionen in Deutschland
Cologne 2000
Price: €3.00 plus shipping costs
Unfortunately, out of print.
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