Practically speaking, it functioned as the East German counterpart of the Union of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes).

The organization played an important role in the commemoration of German resistance to Nazism and The Holocaust in East Germany.

After the Peaceful Revolution in 1990, the KdAW was reorganized into the Interessenverband ehemaliger Teilnehmer am antifaschistischen Widerstand, Verfolgter des Naziregimes und Hinterbliebener (IVVdN).

[5] Furthermore, the KdAW played a role in classifying individuals as "Persecuted by the Nazi regime" (Verfolgter des Naziregimes (VdN)).

[7] This is notable since East German pensions were not always honored by the reunited Germany, as was often the case for National People's Army veterans.