The Leon Zelman Prize for Dialog and Understanding was awarded for the sixth time this year. In mid-June, publicist Uli Jürgens accepted the award from Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Vice President of the Jewish Welcome Service, at Vienna City Hall.
Young professionals from the Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto visit Vienna
A group of young professionals from the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto visited Vienna from June 4 to 11. In cooperation with the Austrian Foreign Service, the Jewish Welcome Service prepared a varied program in which visitors learned about the Holocaust and current Jewish life in the city.
Persecuted. Engaged. Married. Sham marriages into exile
Sham marriages as a survival strategy of Viennese Jewesses in 1938 – the Viennese exile researcher Irene Messinger dedicated herself to this topic in two ways this year: in January she co-edited the annotated memoirs of the Viennese dancer Anita Bild. And now, together with Sabine Bergler, she has curated an exhibition on this topic at Museum Judenplatz.
Van der Bellen and Mailath-Pokorny Host Displaced Persons and Descendants
At the invitation of the Jewish Welcome Service, a group of 30 first- and second-generation Holocaust survivors visited Vienna from October 15 to October 20. The guests from the USA, Israel, Denmark and Uruguay were welcomed by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and City Councilman for Culture Andreas Mailath-Pokorny.
High-ranking delegation of the American Jewish Committee in Vienna
Once again, the Jewish Welcome Service (JWS) hosted a delegation of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) from November 6 to 12. The JWS organized a varied program in cooperation with AJC NY and the Austrian Consulate General. The aim of the visit was to give an impression of present-day Austria – from politics to business and culture to modern Jewish life.
With a sober look: Camilla Hirsch’s Diary from Theresienstadt
Ruth Elkabets and Miriam Prager from Israel visited Vienna a few years ago at the invitation of the Jewish Welcome Service. They brought the diary of her great aunt Camilla Hirsch, in which she meticulously described the everyday life and the conditions at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Thanks to the Mandelbaum publishing house, this diary has now been published and presented at the Jewish Museum Vienna in mid November.
