Strengthening the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people

The CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW grant opportunity aims to strengthen the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people, falling under the EU's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme. This call is focused on projects that preserve Jewish heritage, combat antisemitism, educate, and counter distortions of historical facts regarding the Holocaust.

Eligible applicants include non-profit organizations, civil society groups, public bodies, and educational institutions that work on Holocaust remembrance, historical education, and human rights. The funding type is categorized as a grant, specifically a lump-sum grant, and applicants do not need to form a consortium, allowing for single applications.

Geographically, the program is primarily open to entities in EU member states, with potential inclusion of organizations from EEA countries and EU candidate countries. The targeted sectors involve culture, education, and human rights, emphasizing Holocaust remembrance and education.

The call allows for projects at various implementation stages, aiming for actionable outputs such as educational programs and digital tools. While the total budget for this initiative is EUR 18,000,000, the specific funding per project is variable and determined using a lump-sum calculator.

The application process is a single-stage open call, with submissions due by October 1, 2025. The funding is fully covered by the grant, with no co-funding required.

An online information session is scheduled for June 30, 2025, aiming to provide further guidance and details regarding the application process. Projects should focus on awareness campaigns, preserving memory, and educational outreach, promoting a community of remembrance and resilience in combating antisemitism. The evaluation period will occur from October 2025 to March 2026, with grant agreements expected to be signed between April and July 2026.

In summary, the grant is a critical opportunity for organizations dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, providing essential funding and support for educational and advocacy projects aimed at preserving history and fighting against historical distortion and antisemitism.

The CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW call, part of the European Remembrance - 2025 (CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM) initiative, aims to strengthen the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people. The call falls under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) and is implemented through CERV Lump Sum Grants (CERV-LS). The call is a single-stage submission process.

The Shoah is recognized as a defining legacy for the EU, marked by the murder of six million Jewish people and the persecution of others. The call emphasizes the importance of preserving first-hand accounts, memorial sites, and education, especially as the number of survivors decreases. It addresses the instrumentalization of the Holocaust in propaganda, the politicization of the Holocaust in Member States, and the conflation of the Shoah with conflicts in the Middle East. The call aims to empower citizens to counter these distortions and antisemitism.

The call supports projects that focus on developing networks of Young European Ambassadors to promote Shoah remembrance and networks that use places of memory for educational purposes, aligning with the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030).

Projects can focus on:
Addressing how the Shoah took place, how the crimes were committed, which actors were involved, the roles of collaborators and bystanders, as well as the roles of saviours and Righteous among the Nations, including pre-war and immediate postwar historical developments.
Countering Holocaust denial, distortion, trivialisation and victims’ inversion, including countering false comparisons, conspiracy theories propagated online, and conflation with the Middle East conflict.
Countering historical falsification and memory competition related to the Shoah, especially among Europeans that shared a common history but have divergent views on their common past.
Addressing divergent and opposite national historical narratives, on regional basis, of the history of the Shoah, including parallelism with other negative common shared historical regional events.
Promoting memory activism related to the Shoah including by supporting grassroot commemorative work.
Digitalising historical material and testimonies of witnesses for education and training purposes.
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and national Holocaust remembrance days.
Combating glorification of Nazism, countering neo-Nazis manifestations and activities.
Promoting provenance research on looted art to foster awareness raising, mutual learning or training activities.

An online info session is scheduled for 30 June 2025, from 9:30 to 17:00 Brussels time. Registration closes on 27 June 2024 at 17:00 Brussels time.

The call was published on 19 June 2025. The deadline for submitting applications is 1 October 2025, 17:00 CET (Brussels time). The evaluation period is from October 2025 to March 2026. Information to applicants will be provided in March 2026, and the signature of the grant agreement is expected between April and July 2026.

The proposal page limit is 70 pages, as described in the Call document, section "5. Admissibility and documents". Eligible countries and other eligibility conditions are detailed in section "6. Eligibility" of the Call document. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are described in section “7. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion” of the Call document. Submission and evaluation processes are detailed in sections “8. Evaluation and award procedure” and “11. How to submit an application” of the Call document. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section “9. Award criteria” of the Call document. The indicative timeline is in section "4. Timetable and deadlines" of the Call document. The legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in section “10. Legal and financial set-up of the Grant Agreements” of the Call document.

Applicants must use the standard application form (CERV), available in the Funding & Tenders Portal by clicking on Start Submission. A mandatory lump sum calculator (CERV LS REM, CIV and NETW) is also available in the Funding & Tenders Portal. The European Remembrance call is a lump sum call, with lump sums based on participation, number of countries, and type of events (in-situ or online). The total budget calculated with the lump sum calculator must correspond with the total budget in part A of the proposal.

The call document and annexes include the Call document, application form templates, model grant agreements (Lump Sum MGA), CERV Work Programmes, CERV Regulation 2021/692, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement, and the DECISION authorising the use of lump sums for actions under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (2021-2027).

The total budget for the CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM call is EUR 18,000,000.

This call aims to fund projects that strengthen the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people by supporting educational initiatives, memorial activities, and networks that counter Holocaust denial and distortion. It seeks to empower European citizens to become ambassadors of memory and to promote a common European history based on free, open, and independent research and education. The call encourages projects that address the historical context of the Shoah, combat antisemitism, and promote the values of equality, rights, and remembrance within the European Union.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly mentioned in the provided text. However, based on the nature of the call, it can be inferred that eligible applicants could include organizations involved in education, research, historical preservation, and promotion of remembrance, such as NGOs, research institutes, universities, memorial sites, museums, associations of survivors, and possibly public authorities. The call targets teachers, policymakers, university students, newcomers, migrants, and journalists, suggesting that entities that work with these groups are also eligible.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a "CERV Lump Sum Grant" (CERV-LS). The European Remembrance call is described as a lump sum call, and applicants are required to use a lump sum calculator to determine the budget.

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required or if single applicants are allowed. It is advisable to consult the call document for specific information on this requirement.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is not explicitly stated, but given that it is a call under the "European Remembrance" program and the "Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme," it is highly likely that the primary geographic focus is on EU member states and possibly associated countries. The call aims to empower European citizens and develop a common European history, suggesting a focus on the EU.

Target Sector: The target sector is culture and education, specifically focusing on the remembrance of the Holocaust and combating antisemitism. It also touches upon historical research, education, and memory, as well as countering historical falsification and promoting tolerance.

Mentioned Countries: Ukraine is mentioned in the context of Kremlin propaganda. No other specific countries are mentioned, but the call focuses on the EU and its member states.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is not explicitly stated. However, the call supports projects that focus on developing networks, supporting existing networks, digitalizing historical material, marking remembrance days, and promoting provenance research, suggesting that the projects can be in the development, validation, demonstration, or scale-up stages. The call also supports grassroot commemorative work, which may indicate that projects in the idea stage are also eligible.

Funding Amount: The total budget for the CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW topic, along with other related topics (CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-GENCRIME, CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-TRANSITION, and CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HISTMIGRATION), is EUR 18,000,000. The specific funding range for individual projects is not mentioned, but it is a lump sum call, and the budget must be calculated using the provided calculator.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by the "Open For Submission" status. The call is a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

The CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW call, part of the European Remembrance program under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), aims to strengthen the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people. The call seeks to fund projects that address how the Shoah took place, counter Holocaust denial and distortion, address divergent historical narratives, promote memory activism, digitalize historical material, mark remembrance days, combat glorification of Nazism, and promote provenance research on looted art. The call is open for submission with a deadline of October 1, 2025. The total budget for this topic and related topics is EUR 18,000,000, and the funding is provided as a lump sum grant. Applicants are required to use a lump sum calculator to determine the budget. The call targets a wide range of audiences, including teachers, policymakers, university students, newcomers, migrants, and journalists, and supports projects that develop networks of Young European Ambassadors and support networks that use places of memory for educational purposes. The call is a single-stage submission process, and the evaluation period will take place from October 2025 to March 2026, with grant agreements expected to be signed between April and July 2026. An online info session is scheduled for June 30, 2025, to provide further information about the call.