The Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism, Dr. Felix Klein, is again offering the honorary award for Jewish life this year. The prize is intended to honor voluntary commitment that strengthens Jewish life in Germany and makes it more visible.
Everyone who deals with contemporary Jewish life in Germany and who wants to contribute to making Jewish voices and perspectives in Germany visible and whose projects meet one or more of these criteria is invited to apply: It shows or strengthens Jewish life in its diversity, contributes to the reduction of prejudices, ignorance and clichés, strengthens democracy and social cohesion, shows Jewish life in the social context and contributes to perceiving it as a natural and integrative part of society. In addition, it deals with secular or religious Jewish life in Germany or shows successful ways of imparting knowledge about current Jewish life in the educational sector.
Stand against hate and hate speech
Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke sees the Volunteer Award as a great opportunity to encourage civil society and motivate other people to deal with the whole diversity of Jewish life and to take a stand against hate and hate speech. “Offenbach is home to many people of the Jewish faith. Civil society engagement and prevention of anti-Semitism remain important. Our response to cowardly attempts at intimidation can only be to stand up openly for our Jewish neighbors, friends and acquaintances, to defend them against verbal hostility and to speak up for them. We already have good projects and ideas and I would be delighted if applications for the new prize were also submitted from Offenbach society,” said Schwenke.
The award is given in two categories: one category is aimed at young people under the age of 27, the other is without age restriction. Both prize categories are endowed with 5,000 euros each. Individuals, associations, initiatives and groups (e.g. school classes or schools) who are mainly active on a voluntary basis are eligible to participate. Purely full-time projects and project sponsors are excluded, as well as those in which the full-time part is predominant.
Ensure greater visibility of Jewish commitments in Germany
The chairwoman of the Jewish community in Offenbach, Nina Gavrilenko, also emphasizes the importance of awarding the honorary office prize for Jewish life. “Last but not least, the war in Eastern Europe and the large number of refugees arriving in Germany have impressively reminded us all of how committed and warm-hearted our free and democratic society is. The Jewish communities also had the great honor of making their contribution to this. Without voluntary commitment and the commitment of thousands of volunteers, it would be and is impossible to master this task for society as a whole. This commitment deserves great recognition. The award of the honorary office prize for Jewish life is a beautiful symbol of recognition and at the same time motivation to ensure greater visibility of Jewish commitment in Germany,” emphasizes Gavrilenko.
The application deadline is June 15, 2023. More information and the application form for submitting proposals is available at: www.antisemitismusbeauftragter.de/ehrenamtspreis.
The volunteer officer Manuel Dieter is available for questions on 069/8065 2624 or by email to manuel.dieter@offenbach.de.
(Text: PM City of Offenbach)
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