Organisation

Offices

The Foundation is based in Celle. It also has offices at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial and the Wolfenbüttel Prison Memorial. Celle is the location of

  • the Director’s office, the central administration for all of the Foundation’s operations, and the Publications, Press, Communications and Development department;
  • the Lower Saxony Memorials Development department, which is responsible for funding projects at memorials and remembrance initiatives as well as trips to memorials;
  • the Documentation Office for the History of Persecution and Resistance in Lower Saxony, 1933-1945.

Governing Bodies

The Foundation’s governing bodies are the Foundation Board and the Director. The Chair of the Foundation Board is Julia Willie Hamburg, Lower Saxony Minister for Culture and Education.

Committees

The Foundation has an Advisory Board as well as various committees appointed by the Foundation Board to advise the Foundation’s governing bodies.

Financing

The Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation receives financial support from the federal state of Lower Saxony. Since 2009, the Bergen-Belsen Memorial has received proportional funding from the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

  • Foundation Board

    Foundation Board

    The Board approves the Foundation’s charter, its budget and staff appointment schemes, its rules of procedure and salary regulations as well as the appointment of the Director. The Board may also make decisions on other matters. It monitors the management of the Foundation and approves the annual accounts and the discharge of the management pursuant to section 7 of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation Act.

    The members of the Foundation’s Board are:

    • Julia Willie Hamburg, Lower Saxony Minister for Culture and Education, Chairman (Deputy: Permanent Secretary Marco Hartrich)
    • Barbara Otte-Kienast, MdL (CDU member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament) (Deputy: Jens Nacke, MdL)
    • Christoph Bratmann, MdL (SPD member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament) (Deputy: Dr. Silke Lesemann, MdL)
    • Lena Nzume, MdL (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament) (Deputy: Eva Viehoff, MdL)
    • Maike Pucks (Wolfenbüttel prison/Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice) (Deputy: Christine Meyer)
    • Dr. Ulrich Haselhoff (Lower Saxony Ministry of Finance) (Deputy: N.N.)
    • Dr. Britta Bopf (Secretary at the Federal Commission for Culture and the Media) (Deputy: Hanna Liever)
    • Michael Fürst (Lower Saxony Federation of Jewish Communities) (Deputy: Marina Jalowaja)
    • Prof. Menachem Z. Rosensaft, World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Associations (USA), Chairman of the Foundation’s Advisory Board, (Deputy: Michael Gander, Association of Memorials and Remembrance Initiatives in Lower Saxony, Deputy Chairman of the Foundation’s Advisory Board)

    The following members of the Advisory Board attend the Board meetings in an advisory capacity:

    • Janine Marx-Moyse
    • Dietmar Sedlaczek (Association of Memorials and Remembrance Initiatives in Lower Saxony)
    • Christel Trouvé (Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation, France)
     
  • Director

    Director

    Dr. Elke Gryglewski

     
  • Advisory Board

    Advisory Board

     

    The Advisory Board advises the Foundation’s Board on all matters of memorial work and historical research pursuant to section 9 of the Lower Saxony Memorial Foundation Act. Its members represent various survivors’ associations as well as other organisations, associations and foundations.

     

    The members of the Foundation’s Advisory Board are:

     

    • Prof. Menachem Z. Rosensaft, World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Associations (USA); Chairman (Deputy: Gloria Golan)
    • Arie Olewski, Irgun Sh'erit Hapleta (Israel); Chairman (Deputy: N.N.)
    • Dr. Michael Gander, Association of Memorials and Remembrance Initiatives in Lower Saxony; Deputy Chairman (Deputy: Hedwig Thelen) 
    • Prof. Dr. Felix Bernard, Lower Saxony Catholic Office (Deputy: Oliver Böhmer)
    • Dr. Zsuzsa Misur, Hungarian Association of Former Bergen-Belsen Prisoners (Deputy: Tibor Feig)
    • Martine Letterie, Amicale Internationale KZ Neuengamme (AIN) (Deputy: Christine Eckel)
    • Dr. Sandra Donner, Wolfenbüttel city council (Deputy: Markus Gröchtemeier)
    • Rainer Hoffschildt, Association for Research into the History of Homosexual Life in Lower Saxony (VEHN) (Deputy: Thomas Wilde)
    • Marina Jalowaia, Lower Saxony Federation of Jewish Communities (Deputy: Michael Grünberg)
    • Dr. Michael Borchard, Konrad Adenauer Foundation
    • Mario Franz, Lower Saxony Association of German Sinti and Roma
    • Prof. Dr. Janine Marx-Moyse, Amicale des Anciens Déportés de Bergen-Belsen (France) (Deputy: Dr. Dominique Trimbur)
    • Peter Wanninger, Bergen-Belsen Working Group Association (Deputy: Elke von Meding)
    • Leszek Wieciech, Polish Association of Former Bergen-Belsen Prisoners
    • André Raatzsch, German Sinti and Roma Cultural Centre (Deputy: N.N.)
    • Heiner Scholing, Life and Environment Foundation / Heinrich Böll Foundation Lower Saxony (Deputy: Anke Egblomassé)
    • Claudia Dettmar-Müller, Bergen town council (Deputy: Michael Buhr)
    • OLKR Andrea Radtke, Federation of Lutheran Churches in Lower Saxony (Deputy: OLKR Dr. Kerstin Gäfgen-Track)
    • Michael Quelle, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Lower Saxony (Deputy: Victor Perli)
    • N.N., Representative of people born in the Bergen-Belsen DP camp (Deputy: Menachem Z. Rosensaft)
    • Dr. Dietmar Sedlaczek, Association of Memorials and Remembrance Initiatives in Lower Saxony (Deputy: Andreas Ehresmann)
    • Dr. Christel Trouvé, Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation (Frankreich)
    • Stephan Meuser, Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Deputy: Linda Matzke)
    • Sarah Vogel, Bergen-Belsen project group in the Lower Saxony Youth Association (Deputy:  N.N.)
    • N.N., Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Deputy: Sylvia Bruns)
     

Committees

Commissions of experts advise the Foundation on various issues. The following three commissions are currently active: