An agreement will be signed on February 1, 2012 between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Israel whereby Germany will support Yad Vashem to the sum of one million euro annually, from 2012-2021. The agreement signifies the German government’s wish to help facilitate Yad Vashem’s various activities in Israel and globally which further commemoration, documentation and education of the events of the Holocaust.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, and Israeli Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar, will sign the agreement tomorrow at Yad Vashem’s Research and Administration Building, in the presence of Hildegard Muller, Chairman of the Management board, BDEW German Association of Energy and Water Industries and the Chairperson of the Society of Friends of Yad Vashem in Germany, and Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem.

“The German government recognizes Yad Vashem as the world center for Holocaust documentation, research and education, and understands its special meaning for the Jewish people and the world at large,” said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. “This agreement strengthens the obligation of the German government and the German people regarding Holocaust remembrance.”

The funding will support the systematic location and acquisition of documents from the Holocaust at archives across the globe, as well as making them accessible; in disseminating information about the Holocaust online, including through a new German version of Yad Vashem’s website; and enrich the activities of the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)