This year’s Leon Zelman Prize was awarded to the Austrian Union of Jewish Students (JöH). Vienna’s City Councilor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler presented the award to JöH President Alon Ishay mid-September in the City Senate Chamber of City Hall.
The JöH, which has represented all Jewish students in Austria since its establishment in 1947, was honored for its tireless commitment to combatting anti-Semitism and for promoting a visible Jewish presence in society.
In her laudatory speech, Isolde Vogel, anti-Semitism researcher at the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance, emphasized the role of the JöH: “You are unafraid of challenging others, remain vigilant, and at the same time, you do not allow yourself to be drawn into anyone else’s agenda.” Vogel emphasized that the JöH is an important voice that proves that “Jewish life in Austria… is not silent and invisible,” “but rather loud and pluralistic, inclusive, resistant – and non-conformist in a country where, for some, Jews only seem to exist on days of remembrance.” Vogel praised the student representatives for their strong civic engagement, which manifests itself in demonstrations, vigils, and unequivocal public statements. JöH is “unwaveringly […] dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and all misanthropic ideologies, racism, anti-feminism, and right-wing extremism.”
Against anti-Semitism, right-wing extremism, and racism
The jury justified the award by stating that JöH had “taken an exceptional position” in the past year. They highlighted, among other things, their “organizing empty Shabbat tables for the Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas since October 7, 2023, as part of the initiative ‘Bring Them Home Now.’ Descendants of Holocaust survivors brought visibility to certain ambivalences in the politics of remembrance and commemoration, such as the multi-day vigil at Heldenplatz before the National Council elections in fall 2024 (‘Against the People’s Chancellor & Basement Nazis’), and the thought-provoking action at the Shoah memorial at Vienna’s Judenplatz against the laying of a wreath by the President of the National Council. Furthermore, JöH consistently advocates, in the spirit of the prize’s namesake, for dialogue with other student groups and is involved in joint activist alliances against anti-Semitism, right-wing extremism, and racism.”
The Leon Zelman Prize was founded by the City of Vienna and the Jewish Welcome Service, and endowed with 5,000 euros. It has been awarded since 2013 to people or organizations that are actively committed to the memory of the Shoah in the spirit of Leon Zelman (1928-2007). It honors outstanding civic engagement against anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia, as well as projects that promote intercultural dialogue. Leon Zelman was director of the Jewish Welcome Service for many years and publisher of the magazine The Jewish Echo.
Media reports (in German):
- Der Standard: „Keine Scheu, anzuecken“: JöH erhielt Leon-Zelman-Preis
W24: „Keine Option, nichts zu tun“: JöH erhalten Leon-Zelman-Preis
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