Description of organisation

The Foundation’s mission is to commemorate the victims of terror, war and the tyranny of dictatorship and to promote public discussion of these topics. The Foundation wishes to make commemoration with dignity possible for victims and surviving family members. It acquires and preserves historic buildings, collects and preserves material objects and secures archival sources to make them available to a wider public. Its mission is to research, document and publish the structure and development of the concentration camps and their satellite camps in Brandenburg and the history of the NKVD camp and the politicized criminal justice system in the GDR.

The Foundation is responsible for looking after six memorials. They regard themselves as modern contemporary history museums with special tasks. These include working with survivors and their relatives and above all communicating the history of the historical sites. The education departments of the memorials offer guided tours, study days and extended seminars for students and adults in different languages, depending on their interests and learning skills (e.g., programs for people with learning difficulties, as defined by People First).