Margit-Horvath Foun­da­tion –Contract

Pream­ble

In 2000, Lili Jodelsohn, a sur­vi­vor of the Wall­dorf Con­cen­tra­tion Camp, wri­tes to the Town of Mörfelden-Walldorf:

“We all have a scar­red soul and bit­ter­ness in us, which will never disap­pear. Words can never describe the inju­ries and pain we had to endure. But today, after these expe­ri­en­ces, my only wish is that all men have tolerance and respect towards each other – Regard­less of skin colour, race, natio­na­lity and reli­gion. We should help each other as much as we can.”

She is one of the 1,700 Hun­ga­rian Jewish women who were detai­ned in the Wall­dorf Con­cen­tra­tion Camp from August until Novem­ber 1944. Her atti­tude rep­res­ents that of all sur­vi­vors of this con­cen­tra­tion camp. This should be the gui­ding prin­ciple of the Foundation’s activities .

Mar­git Hor­váth was also a sur­vi­vor. After deca­des of silence and a well-kept dis­tance to the Ger­man society she deci­ded in old age to start tal­king to face the pain of remem­be­ring the uni­ma­ginable hor­ror. Thanks to her rea­di­ness to talk to us we were able to work on the history of this con­cen­tra­tion camp and learnt many bio­gra­phi­cal details. Also long after her death, we are still gra­te­ful for her rea­di­ness to share her memo­ries with us.

 

As the name-donor of our Foun­da­tion, Mar­git Hor­váth rep­res­ents the 1,700 Hun­ga­rian Jewish women who were detai­ned here.

Her son, Gavriel Gold­man, gave the impulse to initiate this Foun­da­tion. The so-called „dama­ges“ for Mar­git Horváth’s time in detention is the „nucleus“ of the Foundation’s funds. This is a spe­cial honor and obli­ga­tion for all those working with and con­tri­bu­ting to the Foundation’s activities.

Dignity, tolerance, inter­cul­tu­ral com­mu­ni­ca­tion, recipro­cal help, respect and civil cou­rage are the basic values behind our Foun­da­tion. For us, it is the heri­tage of the sur­vi­vors of the Holo­caust to main­tain these prin­ci­ples and to sup­port young people to keep them upright.

 

§ 1 Name, Legal form

1. The name of the Foun­da­tion is “Margit-Horváth-Foundation”.
2. The Foun­da­tion is a foun­da­tion under civil law. It will be chan­ged to an incor­po­ra­ted foun­da­tion with legal capa­city in the near future. Pre­sently, the Town of Moerfelden-Walldorf is the cha­rity trustee.
3. The Foundation’s regis­te­red office is in Moerfelden-Walldorf.

§ 2 The Pur­pose of the Foundation

1. The Foun­da­tion ser­ves only public-benefit purposes.
2. The Foundation’s pur­pose is to sup­port artistic and sci­en­ti­fic or socio­cul­tu­ral pro­jects con­cen­tra­ting mainly on the basic human values of civil cou­rage, tolerance and inter­cul­tu­ral com­mu­ni­ca­tion. As a refe­rence to the name-donor of the Foun­da­tion, inno­va­tive pro­jects dea­ling with Jewish history initia­ted by young people are gran­ted prio­rity in the assess­ment of pro­jects to be sup­por­ted. It is howe­ver, not the Founder’s inten­tion to sup­port only pro­jects dea­ling with this sub­ject. App­li­ca­ti­ons for sup­port must be sub­mit­ted in writ­ten form. Oral expla­na­tion may be asked for if deemed necessary. The sup­port con­sists in finan­cial aids for achie­ving the pro­ject goals. Ano­ther task of the Foun­da­tion is to create a sui­ta­ble public frame­work for the pro­ject, e.g. by orga­ni­zing exhi­bi­ti­ons, sym­po­si­ums or dis­cus­sions con­cen­tra­ting on the sub­jects of the pro­ject supported.
3. The Foun­da­tion is entit­led to accept endow­ments from third par­ties. It also makes efforts to obtain fur­ther bene­fits and contributions.

§ 3 Limitations

The Foun­da­tion acts dis­in­te­res­tedly. It does not pur­sue any pur­po­ses with eco­no­mic via­bi­lity. It must not sup­port any per­son under public or pri­vate law for pur­po­ses other than those named under the Foundation’s Pur­pose nor may it grant any sup­port or finan­cial aid beyond rea­son­able limits.

§ 4 Ori­gi­nal Funds

1. The Foundation’s ori­gi­nal funds con­sist of the dona­tion by Mr. Gavriel Gold­mann, son of Mar­git Horváth.
2. The Foun­da­tion is entit­led to accept endow­ments and con­tri­bu­ti­ons from third par­ties. The mini­mum amount for a con­tri­bu­tion is 1,000 €. Con­tri­bu­tors are given an act of honour and are lis­ted in the regis­ter of the Margit-Horváth-Foundation with a serial num­ber. Con­tri­bu­ti­ons must be used to increase the ori­gi­nal funds unless a spe­cial pur­pose is sta­ted by the contributor.
3. In order to ensure the Foundation’s activi­ties to be con­ti­nued con­tin­gency reser­ves equal to 15% of the pro­ceeds will be established.
4. The Foun­da­tion binds its­elf by con­tract to keep the admi­nis­tra­tive expen­ses as low as pos­si­ble, to use all funds in an eco­no­mi­cal and effi­ci­ent way and to publish an annual report on the use of the funds.

§ 5 The Foundation’s Funds, Fis­cal Year

The Foun­da­tion pur­sues its tasks using the funds remai­ning after deduc­tion the annual reserve. All funds must be used in com­pli­ance with the Foundation’s Pur­pose. The fis­cal year of the Foun­da­tion is the calen­dar year.

§ 6 Bodies of the Foundation

Bodies of the Foun­da­tion are
1) The Board of Cura­tors
2) The Board of Trus­tees (Management)

The mem­bers of the bodies work on a volun­tary basis. Their expen­ses are refunded.

§ 7 The Board of Curators

1. The Board of Cura­tors con­sists of at least seven mem­bers. At the time of the Foundation’s crea­tion, these are:
   • Gavriel Gold­mann, Foun­der, son of Mar­git Hor­váth (for­mer detai­nee in the Wall­dorf con­cen­tra­tion camp) or a per­son to be named by him.
   • Agnes Ger­gely, daugh­ter of Klara Sar­kadi (for­mer detai­nee in the Wall­dorf con­cen­tra­tion camp)
   • Rep­re­sen­ting the Town of Moerfelden-Walldorf: Bern­hard Brehl, Mayor
   • Rep­re­sen­ting a Jewish com­mu­nity, working pro­fes­sio­nally with young people: Noemi Staszewski
   • Rep­re­sen­ting a high school in Moerfelden-Walldorf: Mar­git Geffert-Holl, teacher at the Bertha-von-Suttner-Schule
   • Rep­re­sen­ting a high school in the Rhein-Main area: Rai­ner Kur­rat, teacher at the Freie Wal­dorf­schule, Frankfurt
   • Rep­re­sen­ting a scientific/educational insti­tu­tion in the Rhein-Main area: Susanne Wieg­mann, direc­tor of the Anne-Frank-Centre, Frank­furt am Main
   • One of the three “dis­co­ve­rers” of the Wall­dorf Con­cen­tra­tion Camp: Alfred J. Arndt
   • Ulrike Hol­ler, jour­na­list, the Hes­sian Radio and TV Institution
   • Chris­tiane Reeh, lawyer, Frank­furt am Main
   • Helga Glanz, hono­rary staff mem­ber working on the his­to­ri­cal rese­arch on the Wall­dorf Con­cen­tra­tion Camp
   • Hel­mut Kress, ban­king expert, Moerfelden-Walldorf
   • Rep­re­sen­ting a prac­tical edu­ca­tio­nal insti­tu­tion in the Rhein-Main area: NN

   Each mem­ber of the Board of Cura­tors is appoin­ted for four years. It is pos­si­ble to appoint addi­tio­nal mem­bers by a two thirds majo­rity. Initi­ally, the new mem­bers are appoin­ted as “guests” for one year with all aut­ho­ri­ties. Their mem­bership can then be pro­lon­ged by ano­ther four years. Each mem­ber of the Board of Cura­tors names a sub­sti­tute in agree­ment with the Board of Cura­tors and the depu­ting insti­tu­tion. The mem­bers can be re– appoin­ted. In the case of with­dra­wal of a mem­ber, the Board of Cura­tors names a suc­ces­sor in agree­ment with the depu­ting insti­tu­tion. The with­dra­wing mem­ber remains in her/his posi­tion until a suc­ces­sor is appointed.

2. The Board of Cura­tors elects a chair­per­son and her/his deputy from its mem­bers. Re-election is permitted.

§ 8 Com­pe­ten­ces of the Board of Curators

1. The Board of Cura­tors deci­des in all prin­ciple sub­jects and advi­ses, sup­ports and con­trols the Board of Trus­tees. In detail, its tasks are:
   1. Elec­tion of the mem­bers of the Board of Trustees
   2. Advi­sing the Board of Trustees
   3. Review­ing the annual state­ment of accounts inclu­ding the state­ment of assets and liabilities
   4. Review­ing the report on ful­fil­ment of the Foundation’s purpose
   5. Review­ing the budget
   6. Use of the Foundation’s funds
   7. Disch­arge of the Board of Trustees
   8. Chan­ges in the Foun­da­tion Con­tract and app­li­ca­ti­ons for reconstruc­ting, dis­sol­ving or com­bi­ning the Foundation
2. The chair­per­son of the Board of Cura­tors rep­res­ents the Foundation

§ 9 Activi­ties of the Board of Curators

1. The Board of Cura­tors is cal­led to a mee­ting by the Chair­per­son if nee­ded, at least twice a year, sta­ting the agenda and allo­wing a time of 28 days. Mee­tings are con­ve­ned also upon demand of at least two thirds of the mem­bers of the Board of Curators.
2. The Board of Cura­tors has a quo­rum if it was duly con­ve­ned and at least 2/3 of the mem­bers inclu­ding the chair­per­son and her/his deputy are pre­sent. Mis­ta­kes in the sum­mon are regar­ded as eli­mi­na­ted if all mem­bers are pre­sent and none of them makes objections.
3. The Board of Cura­tors makes its deci­si­ons with a two thirds majority.
4. It is obli­gatory to take the minu­tes of the mee­tings. The minu­tes must be signed by the Chair­per­son and the secretary to the Board appoin­ted by him. The minu­tes must be pre­sen­ted to all mem­bers of the Foundation’s bodies.
5. In case of urgency deci­si­ons can also be made by cir­cu­la­ting a writ­ten report unless two thirds of the Board Mem­bers express objec­tions. In this case, an extra­or­di­nary mee­ting has to be cal­led by the Chairperson.

§ 10 The Board of Trustees

1. The Board of Trus­tees con­sists of at least three mem­bers. Each mem­ber of the Board of Trus­tees works initi­ally as a “guest” equip­ped with all aut­ho­ri­ties. After this time, they can be appoin­ted as due mem­bers for ano­ther three years. Re-appointment is per­mit­ted. With­dra­wing mem­bers keep their posi­tion until a suc­ces­sor is appointed.
2. The Board of Trus­tees elects a chair­per­son and her/his deputy from its members.
3. Mem­bers of the Board of Trus­tees can­not be mem­bers of the Board of Cura­tors at the same time.

§ 11 Tasks of the Board of Trustees

1. The Board of Trus­tees exe­cu­tes the busi­ness and imple­ments the deci­si­ons of the Board of Cura­tors. The main tasks are
   • Admi­nis­tra­tion of the Foundation’s assets
   • Use of the funds available
   • Esta­blis­hing an orderly annual state­ment of accounts inclu­ding a state­ment of assets and liabilities
   • Set­ting up an annual report on the ful­fil­ment of the Foundation’s purpose
2. The Board of Trus­tees rep­res­ents the Foun­da­tion in and out of court. For legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion, two mem­bers of the Board are nee­ded one of them being the chair­per­son or her/his deputy.

§ 12 Chan­ges in the Con­tract, Reconstruc­tion or Dis­so­lu­tion of the Foundation

1. Chan­ges in the con­tract are allo­wed as far as they are deemed appro­priate in order to adapt to chan­ged con­di­ti­ons. As far as they might have effects on tax pri­vi­le­ges gran­ted to the Foun­da­tion they must be pre­sen­ted to the tax aut­ho­rity for approval.
2. The Foundation’s pur­pose can be chan­ged only if its ful­fil­ment beco­mes impos­si­ble or the cir­cum­stan­ces change in a way making the pur­pose as sta­ted in the con­tract seem no lon­ger meaningful.
3. In the case of dis­so­lu­tion or annul­ment of the Foun­da­tion or eli­mi­na­tion of the tax-privileged pur­pose, the Board of Cura­tors deci­des on the use of the remai­ning assets. These must be used directly and exclu­si­vely in the public inte­rest, bea­ring in mind the Foundation’s purpose.
4. The Board of Direc­tors can start its activi­ties and make deci­si­ons only after appro­val of the tax authority.

§ 13 Super­vi­sion of the Foundation

1. The Foun­da­tion is sub­ject to super­vi­sion by the Govern­ment of the State of Hessen.
2. Chan­ges in the address, rep­re­sen­ta­tion and the com­po­si­tion of the bodies must be com­mu­ni­ca­ted to the super­vi­sing aut­ho­rity immediately.

§ 14 Effec­tive Date

The con­tract beco­mes effec­tive with the appro­val of the Govern­ment of Hessen.

Bern­hard Brehl
Mayor of Moerfelden-Walldorf
(Trustee)

Gavriel Gold­man
Foun­der
(Son of M. Horvath)