Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur

The Federal Foundation for the Reconciliation of the SED Dictatorship ( Federal Foundation for reprocessing ) is a Federal public foundation based in Berlin. CEO Rainer Eppelmann.

Tasks

The mission of the Foundation is the analysis of the history and consequences of the SED dictatorship in the GDR.

History

The Foundation was established "reclamation of history and consequences of the SED Dictatorship in Germany " from 1992 and 1995 on 5 June 1998, following the recommendations of the two study commissions. She advises and supports projects, archives, associations, researchers and educational institutions. Furthermore, it supports the advice and support of victims of the SED dictatorship and have their own publications.

Organization

The highest organ of the Federal Foundation is elected for five years Foundation, the 26 representatives of the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag, the federal government and the state of Berlin and personalities belong to that particular effort in the work-up. The Foundation is run by the Bundestag deputies Markus Meckel as chairman and Hartmut Koschyk as his deputy. In addition, there is a volunteer working Board, whose chairman of the GDR civil rights activist Rainer Eppelmann is. The Board is responsible for decisions on the concrete foundation work. The honorary board form since May 2009 Rainer Eppelmann, Bernd Faulenbach, Annemarie Franke, Gerry Kley and Gerd Poppe.

The Foundation is supported by advisory boards, where personalities from the social work-up, the archive landscape and science are represented. The Foundation is subject to the legal supervision of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.

The switching of the foundation is the office that works on behalf of the Board and is headed by Anna Kaminsky. In the office 25 employees are working.

Order

The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED dictatorship to promote the mission of the comprehensive reappraisal of the causes, history and effects of the dictatorship in SBZ and DDR, then design the all-German culture of memory going to accompany the process of German unification and to the processing of dictatorships participate on an international scale. The declared aim of the Federal Foundation is to encourage cooperation with other institutions and partners, society as a whole confrontation with the communist dictatorships in Germany and Europe. The Federal Foundation wants to support this argument, to convey the public awareness of the communist dictatorships in the Soviet Zone / GDR and East-Central Europe and anchor overcome in the mostly peaceful revolutions of 1989 as the outstanding events in the history of democracy, and thus help to overcome the consequences of the German and European division.

Fields of work

The Foundation seeks to support projects in memorials, citizens 'initiatives and independent archives, stimulate at the victims' associations, with regional and local, science and political education in schools and other community groups and content as well as financially. In addition, the Federal Foundation developed information and publications. With panel discussions, workshops and conferences, witness talks, seminars and continuing education debates should be encouraged and given food for thought that move the way you process through knowledge transfer, communication and consultation.

Since 1998, about 2300 projects the historical- political education, archive and documentation projects, exhibitions, documentaries and publications and projects of the associations of victims of the SED dictatorship was supported by the German Federal Foundation. In their scholarship programs, the Federal Foundation workup has promoted over 75 young researchers since 2001.

The German Foundation has a library and an archive of documentation service, books, documents and other materials primarily to focus on opposition and resistance in SBZ and DDR, and make accessible political persecution and repression. The public is a reading room. In addition, the Archives of the Federal Foundation will work up consulting tasks, in particular for the archives of the East German opposition.

The press office provides information for journalists in their bi-monthly historical calendar service ready.

Financing

The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED dictatorship has received as endowment from the SED assets of 75 million euros. Overall, the Foundation has assets of about 77 million euros. The budget of the Federal Foundation is funded from the interest income of the assets and an annual grant from the budget of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.

Controversy

2009 of the Foundation, the scholarship program "New Horizons 1989 " advertised, were involved in the total of 17 church, employer-friendly, union and party-affiliated foundations, which also include the party belonged to the Left related Rosa Luxembourg Foundation. The collaboration with the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation was rejected by Hubertus Knabe, a member of the Science Advisory Board, but was endorsed by the majority of Foundation committees. After becoming aware of the disagreement among other prominent civil rights activist and historian referred to in an open letter this cooperation as a violation of the statutory mandate of the Foundation and asked them to to terminate the cooperation with the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation immediately.

The signatories include civil rights and persecution of the SED dictatorship as Bärbel Bohley and Werner Schulz and writers such as Lutz Rathenow, Joachim Walther, Ralph Giordano and Erich Loest. They are supported by figures such as Lea Rosh and Michael Wolff son.