walter gruggenberger (spö), andreas hörtnagl (övp) and andreas maislinger (independent) founded the association of the holocaust memorial service in 1992. the association wanted to enhance holocaust awareness, including its causes and consequences. the association is responsible for the assortment and care of its volunteers before, during and after their service. the volunteers have the possibility to apply for one of the partner organizations. in addition to that understanding the role of the austrians as offenders, victims and bystanders is very important. also women have the possibility to provide a one-year-long holocaust memorial service as part of the european voluntary service (evs). female volunteers were sponsored for the first time in the year 2008 by the "geschwister-mezei-fond", which was created with the goal to give women the possibility to accomplish the holocaust memorial service under the same conditions as civilian servants.