"Don't be a bystander in the face of injustice"
On 12 November 2015 the Secretary General of the National Fund Hannah Lessing was presented the Rosa Jochmann Plaque by the Minister of Education Gabriele Heinisch Hosek. The plaque is awarded by the board of the Federation of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters, Victims of Fascism and Active Ant-Fascists for outstanding dedication in combatting Fascism, right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism.
Hannah Lessing declared herself deeply moved to receive the award: "It is a great honor to be bestowed with the Rosa Jochmann Plaque. I would have liked to have been able to meet this remarkable, movingly resilient woman myself. Her motto 'Don't be a bystander in the face of injustice' is more relevant that ever and reminds us to remain vigilant for signs of authoritarianism."
Secretary General Hannah Lessing’s fellow recipients of awards were the Deputy Federal Chairman and Vienna Provincial Chairman of the Concentration Camp Alliance, Dr. Winfried R. Garscha, the Federal Chairman of the Austrian People’s Party Comradeship of Political Persecutees and Allegiants to Austria, Kommerzialrat Dr. Gerhard Kastelic, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Future Fund of the Republic of Austria, OSR Dr. Kurt Scholz.
In his speech the Chairperson of the Federation of Social Democratic Freedom Fighters and Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Fund, Prof. Johannes Schwantner, praised the recipients’ work in the field of anti-Fascism.
The plaque recalls Rosa Jochmann, resistance fighter, Ravensbrück concentration camp survivor, and veteran social democratic politician. It was awarded for the first time in 2014 to the resistance fighter Käthe Sasso.