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Our History

The intellectual and historical touchstone for Humanity in Action is the study of acts of resistance during the Second World War and the Holocaust as well as of the process of restoring democracy in Germany.

Humanity in Action Germany was founded as a registered association in 2001 as the fourth partner organization within the international Humanity in Action network. The three older siblings were the United States, Denmark and The Netherlands.

Why do some people resist incursions of authoritarian rule, injustice, and racism while others remain bystanders?

We hosted our first Humanity in Action Fellowship program in Berlin in the summer of 2002 for university students from Germany and the United States. Since its inception in 2002, the Berlin Fellowship has engaged over 300 Fellows from Germany and other Humanity in Action countries.

“From the beginning of Humanity in Action’s work, it was understood that incorporating a German program was essential to achieve the organization’s ambitious purposes. As a Danish funder stated, the future of democracy in Europe would rest on developments in Germany,” says Judith S. Goldstein who founded the organization.

In close cooperation with the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (Foundation EVZ) and other partners, we helped expand the Humanity in Action Fellowship to Warsaw in 2006. After a start-up phase of three years, Humanity in Action Poland was officially founded as an independent organization in 2009.

The German chapter is now home to the European coordination for Humanity in Action and for its outreach to Greece.

Humanity in Action beyond Germany

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