German Holocaust Education Programme Secures Historic Funding Boost
A programme sending young Germans to former Nazi extermination camps has received a major funding boost. The Bethe Foundation will now match federal support for Youth Remembers, doubling its annual budget to €3.5 million. Education Minister Karin Prien stressed the need to keep the memory of Nazi crimes alive as fewer Holocaust survivors remain to share their stories. The Youth Remembers initiative has been running since 2010, funded under the federal Child and Youth Plan with €1.75 million per year. It organises visits for school and youth groups to memorial sites, including Auschwitz, Bełżec, Treblinka, Sobibór, and Majdanek. Over the past 14 years, more than 900,000 young people have taken part in these trips.
The Bethe Foundation, which has supported the programme since its launch, will now provide equal funding to the government's contribution. This increase means the budget will rise from €1.75 million to €3.5 million annually. The extra money will allow even more students to visit the sites where Nazi atrocities took place. Prien highlighted how these visits help young people understand democracy and their role in protecting it. The foundation's goal is clear: by educating new generations about the past, they aim to stop such crimes from ever happening again. So far, the programme has enabled over 40,000 students from 12 German states to see the camps firsthand.
With the new funding, Youth Remembers will expand its reach across Germany. More students will visit the sites of Nazi extermination camps each year. The programme's organisers and supporters believe direct engagement with history is vital for shaping a responsible and informed future.
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