EVENT TIP: Presentation of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025 in Parliament

Click here for the programme and live stream

Vienna (Press Office) – The Simon Wiesenthal Prize will be awarded for the fifth time this Thursday. The prize, endowed with 30,000 euros, is named after the architect, writer and journalist Simon Wiesenthal and rewards civic engagement to combat antisemitism and educate the public about the Holocaust. The National Fund of the Republic of Austria has received around 270 applications from more than 30 countries for this year’s prize.

The opening address will be held by Peter Haubner, Second President of the National Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism. This will be followed some personal remarks from Simon Wiesenthal’s granddaughter, Racheli Kreisberg. She is the founder of the memorial initiative SWIGGI (Simon Wiesenthal Genealogy Geolocation Initiative).

The awards will then be presented in the categories “Educating the Public About the Holocaust” and “Combating Antisemitism”, followed by this year’s Main Prize. Katharina von Schnurbein, the chair of the jury and Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism in Germany, will deliver an address entitled “More than just an award. A mission.”

This year, the awards ceremony will once again pay tribute to eyewitnesses whose individual life stories make an indispensable contribution to passing on and preserving the memory of the Shoah. The awards ceremony will be hosted by ORF journalist Lisa Gadenstätter.

Nominations for the Main Prize

The jury for the 2025 Simon Wiesenthal Prize has shortlisted the following candidates for the Main Prize for Civic Engagement to Combat Antisemitism and Educate the Public about the Holocaust: the “Question Wall” project by the European Leadership Network, the Ichthys Congregation in Wiener Neustadt, Martha Keil and the educational programme “Meet a Jew”.

The “Question Wall” was launched in 2023 by the European Leadership Network (ELNET) as an educational campaign focusing on Jewish life and Israel. The organisation collects questions about Judaism and Israel, publishes them and answers them.

The Ichthys Congregation of Wiener Neustadt is a free church founded in 1990. In 1995, it launched an initiative to track down Shoah survivors from Wiener Neustadt all over the world and invite them back to their hometown for “Weeks of Encounter”.

Through her work, historian Martha Keil raises awareness of the history of National Socialism in Austria. She shares her knowledge through lectures, publications, research projects, exhibitions and guided tours. She has initiated numerous “Stones of Remembrance” and commemorative plaques in St. Pölten and the surrounding area.

“Meet a Jew” is a programme promoting encounters in Germany. In schools, universities, government departments, businesses and grassroots organisations, Jewish participants enter into conversations about their everyday lives, thereby facilitating an open dialogue.

Nominations in the category “Educating the Public about the Holocaust”

Johannes Czwalina, “Memento Wien” (Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance) and the “TikTok Shoah Commemoration and Education Initiative” were nominated by the jury for the Prize for Civic Engagement to Educate the Public about the Holocaust.

Fifteen years ago, Johannes Czwalina initiated a memorial to Jewish refugees in Riehen, Switzerland, using substantial personal funds. In doing so, he created a place of learning and reflection that highlights historical responsibility, individual fates and society’s shared responsibility.

“Memento Wien” builds on the fundamental research carried out by the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) to identify Austrian Holocaust victims by name. It is an online tool for mobile devices that provides information on the Nazi regime’s victims across large parts of Vienna.

The “TikTok Shoah Commemoration and Education Initiative” brings together Holocaust memorial sites and museums from around the world and offers, amongst other things, training on how to use TikTok for educational, remembrance and commemorative work. This enables the initiative to reach target groups who often avoid traditional media.

Nominations in the category “Combating Antisemitism”

For the Prize for Civic Engagement to Combat Antisemitism, the jury nominated the “Centre for Antisemitism and Racism Studies”, the “Coffee with a Jew” initiative and the “Kreuzberg Initiative against Antisemitism”.

The “Centre for Antisemitism and Racism Studies” (CARS) at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences North Rhine-Westphalia focuses on current manifestations of antisemitism and helps to analyse them thoroughly and put this knowledge to practical use.

The Munich-based initiative “Coffee with a Jew” has set itself the task of breaking down prejudices and reservations towards Jewish people through personal encounters over a cup of coffee. Rather than talking about Jewish people, the aim is to talk with them.

The “Kreuzberg Initiative against Antisemitism” has been fighting antisemitism, racism, hatred and intolerance for more than 20 years. It develops educational materials and games, designs exhibitions and publishes books.

Special tribute to the contemporary witnesses

Special tribute will be paid to the 20 contemporary witnesses: Hedi Argent (United Kingdom), Heinz Rudolf Adolf Böhme (Austria), Greta Elbogen (USA), Eva Erben (Israel), Gertraud Fletzberger (Austria), Erika Freeman (USA), Elisabeth Ganglberger (Austria), David Gur (Israel), Roman Haller (Germany), Benno Kern (Austria), Erika Kosnar (Austria), Thomas Lachs (Austria), Siegfried Loewe (Austria), Eveline Elisabeth März (Austria), Harry Merl (Austria), Theodor Much (Austria), Elisabeth Schipek (Austria), Regina Sluszny (Belgium), Katja Sturm-Schnabl (Austria) and Josef Sznajer (Belgium).

Click here to register as a member of the media: Presentation of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025

Source: Parliamentary Correspondence No. 1054 dated 5 November 2026 (in German)

Presentation of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025

Time:

Thursday, 12 November 2026, 5 p.m.

Place:

Parliament, National Council Chamber

Content

This year marks the fifth time that the Simon Wiesenthal Prize will be awarded, and once again, countless grassroots initiatives have entered their projects. Endowed with prize money of 30,000 euros, the award is named after the architect, writer and journalist Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005) and is conferred in recognition of outstanding civic engagement to combat antisemitism and educate the public about the Holocaust. Around 270 entries were submitted to the National Fund of the Republic of Austria from over 30 countries around the world. These projects add powerful momentum to international efforts to combat antisemitism whilst also raising historical awareness. As in previous years, part of the ceremony will be devoted to honouring contemporary witnesses, whose personal testimonies are invaluable for passing on and preserving the memory of the Holocaust.

Programme

Opening remarks

Peter Haubner
Second President of the National Council & Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

Personal remarks

Racheli Kreisberg
Granddaughter of Simon Wiesenthal & Founder of the SWIGGI commemoration initiative

Presentation of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025

Presentation of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025 in the categories:

• Educating the public about the Holocaust
• Combating antisemitism
• Main Prize

The nominees for the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025 are published on the Simon Wiesenthal Prize website.

Address: “Five years of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize: More than just an award. A mission.”

Katharina von Schnurbein
Chair of the jury, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism in Germany

Special tribute to the contemporary witnesses

Peter Haubner
Second President of the National Council & Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

Hannah Lessing
Managing Director of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

Judith Pfeffer
Managing Director of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

The nominees and contemporary witnesses honoured under the aegis of the Simon Wiesenthal Prize 2025 are listed on the website of the Wiesenthal Prize.

Remarks on behalf of the contemporary witnesses

David Gur
Contemporary witness

Reception

Presenter

Lisa Gadenstätter
Journalist, ORF

Music

Patricia Ruesch, vocals

Benedikt Ludwiczek, keyboard