The basis for this is the broadest possible source base, for which the long-term project not only draws on the documents from the central persecution authorities (i.e. police & judiciary), but also systematically evaluates personal documents from numerous other provenances. The aim is to get a detailed account of the opposition and resistance, focussing on events, individuals and groups. You can find a more detailed presentation of the research results to date in our annual reports. A multi-volume book publication of the entire project is currently being prepared. The first volume will be published in mid-December 2024. 

Source-based research and academic evaluation are the main foci of the project - supplemented by exchanges with specialist networks as well as citizens interested in history. Making contact with relatives of politically persecuted people or former resistance fighters is of particular importance. The joint search for information and the exchanging of often fragmentary life stories of parents and grandparents make it immediately clear that this "work on the history" is not only socially important, but also has a huge significance for the family members.

Systematic documentation of the source findings for subsequent research projects and communicating the main questions and results are also part of the project in addition to the comprehensive research work. It also has numerous references to our ongoing “The Gestapo in Cologne” project.