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The Federal Government quintuples its support for the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial
A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement (7 July 2026):
The Federal Government is to quintuple its support for Yad Vashem’s remembrance work over the coming years, thereby strengthening the special relationship between Germany and Israel still further.
The Federal Government recognizes the enduring responsibility of the German people for the Shoah and its consequences and acknowledges the particular significance to the Jewish people of Yad Vashem, the central Holocaust memorial.
At a time when only very few survivors remain to bear witness to the crime against humanity that was the Shoah, the remembrance work conducted by Yad Vashem and other memorial sites is invaluable. As a global documentation centre for the Holocaust, Yad Vashem pursues the work of remembrance via its educational programmes and with the use of modern technologies.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar signed an agreement today to increase Germany’s financial support for Yad Vashem, which has been in place since 2012, from one million to five million euro annually until the end of the decade.
These funds are needed especially now and in the coming years in order to digitise Yad Vashem’s vast collections and to facilitate wider-reaching European and global educational programmes promoting awareness of the Holocaust, particularly for younger target groups.
Foreign Minister Wadephul stated the following in this regard:
Yad Vashem plays a crucial role in ensuring that eyewitness accounts and written testimonies are found, secured, compiled scientifically and conserved in line with the latest standards, as well as digitised and made accessible to a broad general public, including online. Contributing to this effort and thereby resolutely countering the growing trend of Holocaust trivialisation and even denial remains a duty and a commitment for my country.
Background information:
Today, the Federal Government approved the signing of the protocol amending the Agreement of 10 June 2020 between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the State of Israel concerning Financial Support for Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority for Holocaust Research, Documentation, Education and Commemoration.
Foreign Minister Wadephul signed the protocol during his trip to Israel together with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar.