The South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation (SAHGF) was established in 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the Cape Town Holocaust Centre. It provides the educational and philosophical direction for the three Holocaust Centres in South Africa: the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, the Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre. Each centre serves as a space for memory and learning, to serve as a memorial to the victims of Nazism; to teach about the consequences of prejudice, racism, antisemitism, xenophobia and homophobia; and to promote an understanding of the dangers of indifference, apathy and silence.The SAHGF raises historical awareness of the Holocaust and other genocides across the world and uses the platform to focus on human rights issues in contemporary society. Through these efforts, the SAHGF aims to help address the issues of racism, antisemitism, bigotry and marginalization which still plague post-Apartheid South Africa, and to promote social activism.

BACKGROUND: RABBI ISRAEL MILLER FUND FOR SHOAH EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION
(Taken from the Claims Conference website: http://www.claimscon.org/about/history/)

"Through its contributions to leading institutions that have expertise in Holocaust research, education, and documentation, the Claims Conference seeks to help ensure that future generations learn of the Holocaust. As the Shoah recedes from memory to history, it is crucial that future generations have available the records, photos, and other materials that institutions are still able to assemble today. It is also crucial that the history of the Holocaust is preserved and presented in a way that is meaningful and accessible to generations who will not be able to meet survivors first-hand."

HISTORY OF THE CONFERENCE ON JEWISH MATERIAL CLAIMS AGAINST GERMANY
(Taken from the Claims Conference website: http://www.claimscon.org/about/history/)

"In response to calls from Jewish organizations and the State of Israel, in September 1951 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany addressed his Parliament: '…unspeakable crimes have been committed in the name of the German people, calling for moral and material indemnity… The Federal Government are prepared, jointly with representatives of Jewry and the State of Israel…to bring about a solution of the material indemnity problem, thus easing the way to the spiritual settlement of infinite suffering.'

"One month after Adenauer’s speech, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, co-chairman of the Jewish Agency and president of the World Jewish Congress, convened a meeting in New York City of 23 major Jewish national and international organizations. The participants made clear that these talks were to be limited to discussion of material claims, and thus the organization that emerged from the meeting was called the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany—the Claims Conference. The Board of Directors of the new Conference consisted of groups that took part in its formation, with each member agency designating two members to the Board. The Claims Conference had the task of negotiating with the German government a program of indemnification for the material damages to Jewish individuals and to the Jewish people caused by Germany through the Holocaust. On September 10, 1952, after six months of negotiations, the Claims Conference and the West German federal government signed an agreement embodied in two protocols. Protocol No. 1 called for the enactment of laws that would compensate Nazi victims directly for indemnification and restitution claims arising from Nazi persecution. Under Protocol No. 2, the West German government provided the Claims Conference with DM 450 million for the relief, rehabilitation and resettlement of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, according to the urgency of their need as determined by the Conference. Agreements were also signed with the State of Israel."