The Foundation was established in July 2008 by the Shoah Museum Project Committee, formed at the end of 2006 and including Sons of the Shoah Association, Jewish Community of Rome, City Council of Rome and Union of Italian Jewish Communities.

The mission is to boost the construction of the National Museum of the Shoah in Rome, which is to be built in the park of Villa Torlonia based on Luca Zevi's design.

In the meantime, in 2015 the Foundation set up its headquarters at the Casina dei Vallati at the Portico d'Ottavia, in the area of the ghetto that was raided on 16 October 1943, where it also opened an interpretation centre.

The Foundation works to keep alive and present the memory of the Shoah, the planned extermination of 6 million Jews, and the dynamics that generated it, with specific reference to the Italian racial laws of 1938.

It sponsors conferences and research; as well as touring exhibitions, audiovisual works and memory tours; and carries out intensive teaching and training activities. In particular, in cooperation with the Jewish Community, it organises guided tours of the Ghetto and other sites of the Roman persecution.