Fans of German soccer club Borussia Dortmund serenade their team. Photo: Reuters / Wolfgang Rattay.

One of Europe’s most storied soccer clubs is among the five top German companies who announced a major donation to Israel’s national Holocaust memorial on Tuesday.

Borussia Dortmund is contributing $1.1 million of a total $5.6 million donation to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The soccer powerhouse — which is currently top of the German league, two points above arch-rival Bayern Munich — joined leading German corporations Daimler, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen in making the donation.

The money will be spent on designing and building a new space — the Shoah Heritage Collections Center — to hold Yad Vashem’s growing collection of Holocaust artifacts. The construction of the new center, with a floor area of approximately 45,000 sq ft, is expected to start in August 2019.

“Remembering, documenting, researching and teaching are the pillars on which Yad Vashem is founded,” said Hans-Joachim “Aki” Watzke, CEO of Borussia Dortmund, in a statement.  “It is our honor and obligation to strengthen them. Future generations should know the suffering that has been inflicted on people by other human beings.”

Carsten Cramer, managing director of Borussia Dortmund, pointed out that the club had been engaged in Holocaust education programs aimed at soccer fans for more than a decade. “Together with this strong network, we are making a lasting commitment to the memory of the Holocaust, as well as against modern day antisemitism,” Cramer said.

Borussia Dortmund unterstützt die Gedenkstätte @yadvashem mit einer Million Euro. Ein Erklärstück mit Stimmen von Hans-Joachim #Watzke. #BorussiaVerbindet #HausderSammlungen #WeRemember #niewieder pic.twitter.com/H5kLyEtYK2

— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) April 2, 2019