In September, right-wing extremism expert Andreas Peham was honored with this year’s Leon Zelman Prize. With this, the jury acknowledged the “extensive activity” that Peham has been undertaking for almost three decades in research, education, and mediation at the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW).
The prize was awarded by city councillor Veronica Kaup-Hasler on behalf of mayor Michael Ludwig at Vienna City Hall. Nina Horaczek, journalist at city newspaper “Falter”, gave the laudatory speech, in which she emphasized that Peham is more than just an “incredibly good analyst” of Austrian right-wing extremism. “He’s also one of those people who clearly lives out the motto ‘never again’ at all times and who fights against all forms of group-focused enmity. Which is why he deserves this prize like no other.”
JWS General Secretary Susanne Trauneck explained the aim of the Leon Zelman Prize for Dialogue and Understanding, which has been awarded since 2013 to people or initiatives that are actively committed to the memory of the Shoah in the spirit of Leon Zelman (1928-2007). The prize is funded by the City of Vienna, is endowed with €5,000, and also honors special civil society efforts, action against antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia, as well as educational and youth work and projects that promote intercultural dialogue. It is a tribute to the long-time director of the Jewish Welcome Service and publisher of the magazine “The Jewish Echo”.
The jury, consisting of renowned experts for memorial and commemorative culture, commended Peham’s “extensive activity from research to education to mediation work in service of dialogue and understanding” and highlighted his internationally recognized works on right-wing extremism/neo-Nazism, Islamism, and antisemitism as much as his lectures and workshops on the prevention of extremism and “his pedagogic skills in working and creating dialogue with young people in high schools, but particularly in vocational schools and youth centers.”
