Newsletter November 2024
Dear friends and supporters of the National Fund,
In this edition of our newsletter we are pleased to share with you the outcomes of the most recent meeting of the Board of Trustees which took place on 15 October 2024, and provide you with the latest news on the tasks and activities of the National Fund and the Cemeteries Fund.
Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2024: The Nominees
The announcement of the prize winners and the tribute to the contemporary eyewitnesses will take place in March 2025 in a ceremony at the Austrian Parliament.
Photo: Parliamentary Administration
As the Simon Wiesenthal Prize enters its fourth year, we are pleased to report that once more the call for entries was met with an enthusiastic response, with a slew of projects and initiatives being entered for this year’s Prize, which is endowed with a total of 30,000 euros. The National Fund received around 230 entries from 32 countries. The youngest candidate is 15, the oldest 98 years old.
After carefully reviewing the entries, the Simon Wiesenthal Prize Jury drew up a shortlist of potential prize winners, which it submitted to the National Fund’s Board of Trustees.
We are therefore pleased to announce the nominees for the 2024 award:
The following entries have been nominated by the jury for the Main Prize for Civic Engagement to Combat Antisemitism and Educate the Public about the Holocaust:
- CHRISTEN AN DER SEITE ISRAELS (Austria)
- GAMARAAL FOUNDATION (Switzerland)
- KAROLINE PREISLER (Germany)
- SABE ANTISEMITISM WORKPLACE (Austria)
The following entries have been nominated by the jury for the Prize for Civic Engagement to Combat Antisemitism:
- COMMUNITY SECURITY TRUST (Great Britain)
- DINA PORAT (Israel)
- MOHAMMED OMAR (Italy)
The following applications have been nominated by the jury for the Prize for Civic Engagement to Educate the Public about the Holocaust:
- GHETTO FIGHTERS‘ HOUSE (Israel)
- RE.F.U.G.I.U.S. (Austria)
- ZENTRUM FÜR ERINNERUNG DUISBURG (Germany)
The Board of Trustees of the National Fund reached its decision on the winners of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize from the jury shortlist on 15 October 2024. One winner will be announced in each of the three categories.
The announcement of the prize winners and the tribute to the contemporary eyewitnesses will take place in March 2025 in a ceremony at the Austrian Parliament.
Project funding
The current deadline for project funding applications is 1 February 2025.
On 15 October 2024, the Board of Trustees of the National Fund approved a total of 73 project funding applications and awarded funding totalling approx. 430,000 euros.
The projects were funded in the following categories:
- Education / research / science / archive / research: 23 projects
- Events: theatre / exhibitions / symposia / concerts: 16 projects
- Memorials / memorial plaques / commemorative events / trips: 11 projects
- Media: books / DVDs / CDs / documentaries / audio books: 23 projects
For an overview of all projects and programmes funded by the National Fund, take a look at our project database.
Thematic Focus Area 2025
On 15 October 2024 the Board of Trustees of the National Fund decided on an area of thematic focus for its project funding from 2025 onwards in accordance with the National Fund Law.
On the recommendation of the Committee, special focus will be placed on funding projects that serve to identify and combat disinformation circulated by online media. Particular focus will be placed on projects seeking to counteract disinformation relativising the Holocaust or undermining the culture of remembrance.
Especially since 7 October 2023, disinformation has been circulating on a massive scale in online media with narratives that seek to relativise the Holocaust and delegitimise the commemoration of the crimes of the Holocaust and its victims. Even if such narratives do not necessarily cross the threshold of criminal liability, they often have at least the same effect. Therefore, in order to counter this disinformation, it is necessary to develop targeted content that can be made available to users of online media, especially those who want to play an active role in combatting disinformation. This content is also essential for flagging false or misleading information and providing platforms with well-founded arguments to remove it.
One third of the total project funding budget will be earmarked for this focus area in 2025.
New Guideline for Project Funding
The Board of Trustees also adopted a new guideline for project funding this year, which broadens the scope of the projects that can be submitted for funding and defines the procedures for awarding funding in more detail.
In future, it will also be possible to fund projects that benefit the descendants of victims of National Socialism, as well as projects that involve conducting academic research on the role of perpetrators and followers under the Nazi regime. The Fund will also continue to support educational and school projects in order to raise awareness about the past and enable a nuanced examination of history.
In addition to legal entities, natural persons are now also eligible for funding. Projects are no longer required to be co-funded. Moreover, two additional deadlines for submitting applications for decision by the Board of Trustees have been introduced, bringing the total to four dates per year. From next year, the submission deadlines will be 1 February, 1 April, 1 September and 1 November.
Full details of the changes can be found in our current guideline for project funding.
“Extraordinary Gesture Payment” for over 3,300 Nazi Victims from Austria
Ministerial Council Resolution MRV 70/15
Photo: Nationalfonds
On 20 September 2023, the Austrian Federal Government decided to provide additional support to all living victims of National Socialism from Austria, reaffirming Austria’s special responsibility towards those persecuted by the Nazi regime. Among other things, the Austrian Federal Government’s resolution provided for a one-off “extraordinary gesture payment” of around 5,000 euros each to victims of National Socialism from Austria officially recognised as such under National Fund criteria.
The National Fund was entrusted with implementing the scheme and has all but completed the disbursement process. Over 3,300 victims of National Socialism have received an extraordinary gesture payment. The beneficiaries are living in 40 countries worldwide, most of them in Austria, followed by the USA, Israel, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and France.
The National Fund contacted the people entitled to the payment and obtained from them and verified the necessary personal information and a current proof of life certificate, in order to ensure that the payments could be made as quickly as possible to the elderly survivors. In the few cases in which the beneficiaries passed away after the cut-off date – the date of the Council of Ministers’ resolution on 20 September 2023 – the gesture payment will be made to the heirs. In total, the National Fund has distributed 16.9 million euros in the form of the extraordinary gesture payment.
The Federal Government’s resolution also enabled the National Fund to step up the payments made to needy survivors. People who have already received a gesture payment can apply to the National Fund for an additional payment if they are in particular need of extra assistance or if support appears warranted due to their circumstances. Since 2023, additional payments of 700,000 euros have been made to victims of National Socialism in cases of special need.
The National Fund at Interpädagogica 2024
The National Fund is taking part in the “Interpädagogica” education trade fair
Photo: Interpädagogica
The National Fund is once again taking part in Interpädagogica, the education trade fair for teaching materials, equipment, culture and sports – from early childhood education to creative, lifelong learning. Under the motto Wissen färbt ab (“Knowledge rubs off”), the fair will feature around 250 exhibitors at the Messe Wien exhibition centre from 7 to 9 November 2024.
At the exhibition (and elsewhere), the National Fund provides its book series Erinnerungen (“Lives Remembered”) and accompanying materials free of charge to schools and educational institutions. The series has been published since 2011 and contains the life stories of victims of Nazi persecution. The National Fund’s life story collection comprises 283 (auto)biographies, video interviews, an audio book, and a vast array of photos and documents. The collection is supplemented by additional materials such as a glossary, bookmarks, in-depth texts providing additional context, information on the different reasons people were persecuted and more.
Come and visit us at our booth C1206, have a browse through our books and take some of our goodies home with you! We look forward to seeing you there!
Where: Messe Wien, Hall C, Entrance Foyer D, Trabrennstraße 7, 1020 Vienna
When: Thursday, 7 November 2024 and Friday, 8 November 2024, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 November 2024, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Exhibition Opening in Washington
The exhibition “From Repression to Remembrance” opens at the Austrian Embassy in Washington D.C. on 13 November 2024.
Photo: National Fund/Austrian Embassy Washington
The Austrian Press and Information Service together with the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism is presenting the exhibition “From Repression to Remembrance” in English and German at the Austrian Embassy in Washington D.C.
Speakers at the opening reception are the Managing Director of the National Fund, Hannah Lessing and two distinguished guest speakers, Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, and Ellen Germain, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues.
A panel discussion entitled “Lessons for Tomorrow: Austria’s Commitment to Remembrance and Responsibility” will follow with:
- Evelyn Torton-Beck, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland, Gender Studies Expert
- Pati Jinich, Emmy-nominated host and executive producer of PBS Show “La Frontera” and “Pati's Mexican Table”
- Charlotte Masters, Mental Health Professional and recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania
The exhibition “From Repression to Remembrance” describes the tasks and activities carried out by the National Fund in areas such as Nazi victim recognition, project funding, art restitution, documenting life stories, the restoration of Jewish cemeteries, the Simon Wiesenthal Prize, the Austrian exhibition at Auschwitz, and the compensation and restitution provided to Nazi victims.
When: 13 November 2024, 7:30 p.m. | Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Embassy of Austria, 3524 International Court, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
You can register to attend here.
Commemorative events marking the November pogrom of 1938
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial in Vienna
Photo: BKA/Andy Wenzel
With the support of and/or in partnership with the National Fund, a number of events are once again taking place this year to commemorate the November pogrom of 1938, also known as “The Night of Broken Glass” or Kristallnacht. The following is a selection of events:
“Light of Hope” March of Remembrance
Since 2012, the Youth Commission of the Jewish Community Vienna has been organising the “Light of Hope” March of Remembrance to commemorate the 1938 November pogrom. The march will set off from Heldenplatz; the meeting place is directly in front of the entrance to the House of Austrian History (hdgö).
When: 7 November 2024, 6:30 pm
Where: Heldenplatz, entrance Neue Burg / Austrian National Library
Memorial Service “Out of the Dark”
Under the title “Out of the Dark”, Viva la Classica! Association for the Promotion of Classical Music, in cooperation with the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI), Exilarte, the Jewish Galicia Museum (Krakow) and the POLIN Museum in Warsaw, is organising a remembrance service to remember the November pogrom with lectures, a reading and a musical programme at the Nestroyhof Hamakom Theatre.
When: Thursday, 7 November 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Theater Nestroyhof Hamakom, Nestroyplatz 1, 1020 Vienna
Further memorial events and projects for the November pogrom of 1938 can be found here.
The First National Fund Conference, “Remembrance and Responsibility”
The first National Fund conference, “Remembrance and Responsibility: The Future of Remembrance and the Work to Come to Terms with the Nazi Era in Austria. Outlook for the Year of Remembrance 2025: Eighty Years Since the End of the Second World War and the Founding of the Second Republic.”
Photo: Parlamentsdirektion/Thomas Topf
On Tuesday, 15 October 2024, the first conference of the National Fund took place at the Austrian Parliament in accordance with the latest amendment to the National Fund Law. It took stock of the past and looked forward to the future of commemoration and remembrance work, providing a comprehensive retrospective of the work to come to terms with the Nazi era in Austria and shining a light on its achievements and the projects that have been implemented. This paved the way for a discussion on what how remembrance in Austria could be shaped moving forward and which areas need to be addressed to continue to live up to the responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism and their descendants in the future.
After the opening words of the President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, and the introductory words of the Chairwoman of the National Fund, Hannah Lessing, Katja Sturm-Schnabl, Brigitte Bailer and Elke Rajal held keynote speeches in which they shed light on the conference’s subject-matter from different perspectives. This was followed by a discussion with the memorial service members Moritz Gemel, Philipp Auberger and Tabea Chaharlangi. A podium discussion moderated by Hannah Lessing with Oskar Deutsch, Barbara Glück, Susanne Janistyn-Novák, Andreas Kranebitter and Moritz Wein rounded off the conference. The event was moderated by Judith Pfeffer, Managing Director of the National Fund.
You can find photos of the conference and a report here.
Central Seminar: The Genocide of Roma and Sinti
The 2024 Central Seminar in Stadtschlaining will address the subject of the genocide of Roma and Sinti during the Nazi era.
Photo: OeAD
From 14 to 16 November 2024, the central seminar of the OeAD programme ERINNERN:AT, backed by the National Fund, will take place in Stadtschlaining in Burgenland. The three-day training course for teachers will focus on the genocide of the Roma and Sinti during the Nazi era. In addition to academic input on history and research, the participants will be introduced to new learning opportunities and best-practice examples for teaching in the classroom, in workshops and on excursions.
Teachers’ Workshop at the Old and the New Jewish Cemeteries in St. Pölten
The renovated Jewish cemetery in St. Pölten with the ceremonial hall on 28 June 2024
Photo: Parlamentsdirektion/Johannes Zinner
The National Fund, in cooperation with the Institute for Jewish History in Austria (Injoest), has invited teachers from local schools to explore Jewish history as part of the history of their city, starting with the newly renovated Jewish Cemetery (Karlstettner Straße 3, St. Pölten) and the art project currently being carried out at the Old Jewish Cemetery (Pernerstorfer Platz, St. Pölten). At the learning centre in the former synagogue in St. Pölten (Dr.-Karl-Renner-Promenade 22), work with dedicated teachers will begin from the 2024/2025 school year onwards to anchor the two Jewish cemeteries in St. Pölten and local Jewish history in the cultural memory of the city and the region.
The workshops can be credited as further training by the Private University College of Teacher Education of Christian Churches Austria (KPH) and will take place on 29 November 2024, 24 January 2025, 11 April 2025 and 26 September 2025.
Registration is open until 17 November 2024.
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Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Your Team at the National Fund