Obermayer German Jewish History Awards - A Tribute Abgeorgdnetenhaus, Berlin January 27, 2020
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A Tribute
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards
Abgeorgdnetenhaus, Berlin
January 27, 2020
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 1
A Tribute
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards
Presented to:
Norbert Giovannini
Roland Müller
Karl-Heinz Nieren
Michael Batz, Distinguished Service Award
Anniversary Awards:
Fan Project of Sports Youth Berlin & Hertha BSC
Geschichtomat
Network for Democratic Culture
Sabeth Schmidthals, Distinguished Service Award
2 Obermayer German Jewish History Awards
Introduction
THE OBERMAYER GERMAN JEWISH HISTORY AWARDS MARK THEIR 20TH
anniversary this year.
For two decades, the Awards have raised awareness of Germans who have
done extraordinary work to breathe new life into the once-vibrant Jewish culture
in their communities. Their work crosses many realms, including educational
programs, exhibitions, restoration of synagogues and cemeteries, installation of
Holocaust memorials, genealogical research, development of websites, publications,
Stolpersteine (stumbling stones), public programs, and other activities. Most are
volunteers who have devoted countless hours to such projects. Together, they
have advanced the cause of intergenerational and intercultural healing.
Anniversary Awards
This year we have added special Anniversary Awards. These awards go to people
and organizations that, through innovative efforts, find ways to use the lessons
of history to fight current prejudice and racism. They are changing attitudes that
lead to intolerance, as well as fostering the kind of understanding among differ-
ent cultures that prevents prejudice from taking root. A deep sensibility about
German Jewish history and culture helps us understand the relationship between
oppressors and the oppressed, examine different perspectives, and see each other
as human beings first. The Anniversary Awards honor those who are using these
lessons in creative ways to combat conflict and prejudice today.
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 3
About the Awards
GERMAN LIFE WAS ONCE FILLED WITH THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JEWISH SCHOLARS, SCIENTISTS,
writers, and artists, who often worked collaboratively with other Germans. The Nazi regime and its
obliteration of the German Jewish community ended a long period of peaceful coexistence and
cooperation.
Today, an increasing number of German individuals and organizations maintain an interest in
and commitment to Jewish history and culture. Many have worked for years to preserve that history,
often at great personal cost and without being recognized for their efforts. The Obermayer German
Jewish History Awards provide an opportunity to acknowledge these individuals and organizations.
Their achievements reflect a personal connection to Jewish history and an embodiment of the Jewish
concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world).
“So many people in the rest of the world, especially Jews, have not yet forgiven the Germans
and don’t recognize that the German population today almost entirely had nothing to do with the
Holocaust and are trying to do their own part to make amends for their ancestors’ past actions,” said
Dr. Arthur S. Obermayer, in an interview conducted shortly before his death in 2016. Dr. Obermayer,
a highly accomplished American entrepreneur, scientist, and activist whose grandparents all came
from southern Germany, founded the Obermayer German Jewish History Awards in 1999 to recog-
nize the efforts of people working to raise awareness of local Jewish history and rebuild an apprecia-
tion of Jewish culture.
There are still many in the world who, by word or by deed, are ready to oppress Jews or other
minorities. Knowing the lessons of history so well, the awardees honored here have often furthered
the fight against intolerance. They exemplify how acknowledging a country’s dark past can become
a motivation to improve the present and future.
Widen the Circle
In 2019 the Obermayer Foundation launched a new division, Widen the Circle, to reflect the im-
portance of that fight today. Widen the Circle oversees the Obermayer Awards and works to combat
prejudice by fostering a shared understanding of the past. We are involved in a number of initaitives
to support and connect people doing this work in Germany, the United States, and elsewhere. Widen
the Circle is building a network of individuals and groups that have worked in their own communities
to fight prejudice and to confront the history that allowed prejudice to grow. We shine a light on
those people and add our capabilities and network to amplify their work as a means to combat hate.
4 Obermayer German Jewish History Awards
OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Norbert Giovannini
Nominators: Verena Meier, Anna Parrisius, Juliane Hoheisel, Beate Kosmala, and Micha Brumlik, Berlin; Andrea Edel, Frank Engehausen, Daniela Gress, Steven
Less, Annegret Lösener, Hans Lösener, Nele Mantaj, Hans-Martin Mumm, Jona David Pawelczyk-Kissin, Claudia Rink, Véronique Simons-Less, and Sabrina Zinke
and Ingo Runde, Heidelberg, Germany; Jacqueline Dotzer, Neckargemünd, Germany; Theresia Bauer, Stuttgart, Germany; Christian Jansen, Trier, Germany
WHEN NORBERT GIOVANNINI BEGAN organize the first formal return to Heidelberg
his education dissertation at Heidelberg of 80 Jewish residents and their descen-
University in the 1980s, he initially focused dants from around the world.
on student politics in the city from 1918 He has helped organize exhibitions in
through World War II. But in the course Heidelberg’s town hall and installed com-
of his research, he discovered a history memorative plaques at the site of the old
of diverse Jewish student populations— synagogue, listing the names of hundreds
conservative and traditional, Zionist and of Heidelberg Jews deported to Dachau,
liberal—who formed the first Jewish polit- Gurs, Auschwitz, Theresienstadt, and else-
ical community at one of Germany’s most where. In 2011, after more than a decade
prestigious universities. of research, Giovannini published Remem-
“I was interested in what happened bering, Preserving, Commemorating: The
with Jews, who had always been in this Jewish Inhabitants of Heidelberg and Their
problematic situation—as a minority dis- Relatives Until 1945, an encyclopedia
criminated against on the one hand and, containing the family histories of all 2,600
on the other hand, as [a people] interested former Jewish inhabitants of Heidelberg.
in modern science and participation in His most recent book, called Silent
democracy,” he says. “I had read the diary Helpers (Stille Helfer), published in August
of Anne Frank and other books about 2019, describes the Heidelberg residents,
the Holocaust—a kind of fundamental both prominent and ordinary citizens, who
socialization through literature that was helped Jews during Nazi times by pre-
very formative for me—but this was really paring their emigration papers, providing
the first time I began to work on Jewish legal assistance, relocating them to neigh-
historical subjects.” bors or friends, and helping them escape
In the 30 years since, Giovannini has or survive the war.
written four books and numerous articles Given the recent rise of the right wing
PHOTO CREDIT: STUDIO GUDRUN-HOLDE ORTNER/HEIDELBERG, PRIVATE
as he devoted himself tirelessly to examin- in Germany, Giovannini says the ongoing
ing and resuscitating Heidelberg’s Jewish work of remembrance becomes more criti-
past. His 1992 edited collection of articles, cal now. “In one way it is a form of survival
Jewish Life in Heidelberg (Jüdisches Leben through restoration and remembrance,”
in Heidelberg), chronicled the Jewish com- he says, “remembering all those who were
munity’s contributions and achievements oppressed and murdered in this era, and
from the Middle Ages through World War remembering what could happen if there
II. He later contacted many of Heidelberg’s are no morals or democratic institutions or
former Jewish inhabitants, assembling civil rights—when the moral foundations of
their oral histories, and in 1996 he helped civilization are lost.”
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 5
OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Roland Müller
Nominators: Ken Arkwright, Crawley, Australia; Helen Breslauer, Toronto, Canada; Norbert Conrads,
Leonberg, Germany; Arno Herzig, Hamburg, Germany; Tillman Krach, Mainz, Germany; Maciej Lagiewski,
Wroclaw, Poland; Benjamin Sklarz, Petach Tikva, Israel; Konrad Vanja, Ansbach, Germany
FOR SOMEONE WHO SPENT 40 YEARS The experience impacted him deeply.
in engineering, Roland Müller has pub- “That’s when I first became interested in
lished a long list of acclaimed articles and Jewish history,” he recalls. “I began to
books on history, in particular the Jewish think and ask and read about the Jewish
history of Wroclaw, Poland. past and the daily life of Jews, the
Müller holds a doctorate in econom- Holocaust, the concentration camps.”
ics, with a specialty in the construction While he had pursued historical
industry, from the Technical University of research throughout his life, it became
Dresden. But these days he prefers to talk a second career in the late 1990s and
about the book he wrote on the Wroclaw particularly after his retirement as an
synagogue community before the Holo- engineer in 2003. His favorite topic: the
caust or the plaque he had installed recog- history of Wroclaw, which until the end of
nizing Adolf Heilberg, a celebrated Jewish World War II was known as Breslau and
lawyer, peace activist, and city council was part of Germany. In 1925, Breslau had
president prior to the Nazis assuming the third-largest Jewish community in the
power. Or the map and guide he creating country.
detailing a Jewish history trail in Wroclaw. Müller anchors his research with real
In fact, as a youth Müller yearned to people whose stories he brings to life. By
become a historian. But the reality of living connecting with audiences today, particu-
PHOTO CREDIT: SVEN GEISE, MMWR. (MUZEUM MIEJSKIE WROCLAWIA – STÄDTISCHES MUSEUM BRESLAU)
in East Germany, where history was seen larly young people, he hopes to show the
exclusively through the lens of Soviet-style importance of diversity and tolerance. For
communism, dampened that dream. Müller the past isn’t as far from the present
Born in 1942 in the southern Branden- as many people might think, making his
burg town of Elsterwerda, Müller began a work as urgent as ever. “I want to make a
pen pal relationship when he was 12 with contribution,” he says, “to commemorate
a Jewish girl in Warsaw named Tamara Jewish history as far as it is in my power, to
Burstyna. Her father had been a com- counter anti-Semitism in its current form,
mander in the Polish army, and the family and to tell people the truth about what
survived the war living in the underground. happened in the past.”
When Müller visited Burstyna at age 14, he
was the first German the family had met
since 1945.
6 Obermayer German Jewish History Awards
OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Karl-Heinz Nieren
Nominators: Steven Cole, Leawood, Kansas, U.S.; Bernward Coers, Erkelenz, Germany; Pascal Cremer, Geilenkirchen, Germany; David Bier, London, U.K.; Kurt &
Sharley Gottschalk, Redlands, Calif., U.S.; Dina Friede-Gottschalk, Kiryat Bialik, Israel; Richard Dahl, Rehovot, Israel; Rudi Gottschalk, Laren, The Netherlands;
Christian Bremen, Aachen, Germany; Marion Davies, London, U.K.; Hans Bruckschen, Stolberg, Germany; Emily Loeb, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.
KARL-HEINZ NIEREN SPENDS MUCH OF Jewish history to the public consciousness. from five separate families.
his time researching the past. But as a re- He co-founded the Geilenkirchen Remem- As a high school teacher, he invited
tired high school teacher, he knows that an brance Initiative (Initiative Erinnern Geilen- witnesses of Nazi atrocities into his class-
important aspect of his work is the impact kirchen) to promote religious and cultural room at Anita Lichtenstein Comprehensive
it has both today and into the future. tolerance, discourage discrimination, and School to speak about what they saw.
For decades after World War II, few educate citizens about the destruction of Since his retirement in 2007, Nieren has
people knew about or acknowledged the the town’s Jewish community. Working served as the primary resource for high
rich Jewish legacy of Nieren’s hometown alongside his pupils, he helped clean school students across the region who are
of Geilenkirchen. The North Rhine-West- and maintain the Geilenkirchen Jewish studying the Holocaust, frequently bring-
phalian town had served for centuries as a cemetery and renovate Geilenkirchen’s ing his guests to Geilenkirchen schools to
center for Jewish life in the region north of Synagogue Square. He helped install speak with students.
Aachen. Then, in the 1970s, Nieren began nearly 100 stumbling stones recognizing Says Pascal Cremer, faculty advisor for
taking his students to visit Geilenkirchen’s the former homes of Geilenkirchen’s mur- historical remembrance work at Saint Ursu-
Jewish cemetery to commemorate Kristall- dered Jewish inhabitants. After exhaustive la high school in Geilenkirchen, “Multiple
nacht. research, he created two publications, former students have told me that they
“They were shocked,” he recalls. “You Jewish Citizens of Geilenkirchen During consider the visit of Geilenkirchen Jewish
could read the names of the Geilenkirchen [the] Nazi Era in 2013 and Jews in survivors … a central experience from
families on the graves, on the stones, and Geilenkirchen: Searching for Traces in their school days. These experiences and
that was the starting point. We talked the Town (Juden in Geilenkirchen—Auf the encounters with local Jewish history
about the community, the former syn- Spurensuche in der Stadt) in 2014. have a lasting influence on the children
agogue, the fates of the town’s former Nieren frequently welcomes the and young adults. They tell their families
Jewish citizens, and so it developed—it descendants of Geilenkirchen’s former and friends about it, they keep alive the
was the beginning.” Jewish residents, guiding them to family remembrance, and they experience the
Nieren has worked tirelessly, and with homes and other Jewish landmarks. In positive effects of compassion and mutual
remarkable results, restoring Geilenkirchen’s 2019 alone, Nieren hosted 31 people tolerance.“
PHOTO CREDIT: KURT SIKORA (PRIVATE)
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 7
OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Distinguished
Service
Michael Batz
Nominators: Detlef Garbe, Miriam Rürup, Jürgen Sielemann, and Michael Studemund-Halévy, and Carola
Veit, Hamburg, Germany; Josef & Christine Joffe, Munich, Germany
EACH JANUARY 27, ON HOLOCAUST Batz’s work has explored the auctioning
Remembrance Day, Hamburg playwright off of Jewish properties in Hamburg, inves-
and theater director Michael Batz stages tigated the killing of children in Hamburg’s
a new and powerful production exposing children’s wards, and chronicled the crimes
facets of the city’s Nazi past. The popular, of the Gestapo at Hamburg’s secret police
meticulously researched performances headquarters. Is It a Long Way From
incorporate an unusual storytelling style in Auschwitz to Hamburg? (Ist es weit von
which historical characters speak in their Auschwitz nach Hamburg?) examined the
own words. history of 1,500 Jewish women deported
It all began in the 1990s, when Batz from Auschwitz-Birkenau to Hamburg in
read Christopher Browning’s book Ordi- 1944, where they were used as forced
nary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 labor.
and the Final Solution in Poland. The book Young people have been drawn to the
told the World War II story of 412 men in work—some 800 typically show up for the
a Hamburg police unit who traveled to special performance day held annually for
southern Poland and participated in mass Hamburg’s youth.
killings of Jews. “It was a Hamburg story “My approach is to make the docu-
and I wanted to know more details about ments speak, because I think the truth
it,” Batz says. His research took him from is concrete and knowledge requires
the Hamburg prosecutor’s office to the detail, detail, detail,” says Batz, who is
central office of state legal administration co-founder of the Kulturfabrik Kampnagel
in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg. performance space, artistic director of
What he discovered there in the archives the Hamburg Art Ensemble, and founder
PHOTO CREDIT: HAMBURGISCHE BÜRGERSCHAFT, HAMBURGISCHE BÜRGERSCHAFT, AHRENS
set his artistic life on a new course. of the Theater of the Speicherstadt. “We
Using the policemen’s original have to keep on fighting for an open
statements to explore the horror suffered society and democratic values. I want to
by their Jewish victims, Batz turned his live in a society of understanding and
investigation into a dramatic reading and respect, a society that is rich in otherness
documentary performance with 10 actors and curiosity for the other. Each human
and a group of musicians. It premiered in being is an ‘other’ for others, and only in
1998 at Hamburg city hall. Batz, like his this perspective lies liberation for each
audience, was transformed by the experi- person.”
ence, which helped lay bare the crimes of
the Nazi era in a unique artistic form. He
has produced a new performance each
year since.
8 Obermayer German Jewish History Awards
OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Anniversary
Fan Project of Sports Youth
Berlin and Hertha BSC
SINCE 1990, FAN PROJECT OF SPORTS you just walk around the amateur pitches
Youth Berlin (Fanprojekt der Sportjugend you hear lots of discriminatory chants; you
Berlin) has worked with Berlin’s major pro- see a lot of racism, anti-Semitism, sexism,
fessional soccer club, Hertha Berlin Sports and violence.”
Club, to promote tolerant and nonviolent Learning From Our History touches
soccer culture. Now, one joint venture “people you would normally never reach,
between Fan Project Berlin and Hertha people who in their everyday lives may
BSC has fans facing an uncomfortable side not pay attention to what happened to the
of team sports: the past and current pres- Jews of Berlin,” says Adam Kerpel-Fronius,
ence of prejudice and anti-Semitism. a historian with the Foundation Memorial
Learning From Our History (Aus der to the Murdered Jews of Europe. “But
eigenen Geschichte lernen), launched in when it comes to people who were in
2015, aims to help change soccer culture their club, members or doctors, it can help
and provide a positive impulse for society open their eyes.”
by examining club history during the Nazi One of the first group efforts focused
period, says project director and historian on Hermann Horwitz, a Hertha BSC sports
Söhnke Vosgerau. doctor in the 1920s and 1930s who was
The project has three major aims: to killed at Auschwitz. Volunteers pieced
research the history and role of Hertha together a complex biography, published
BSC under Nazi rule; explore the biogra- in 2017. “We had a fantastic group of 20
phies and fates of long-forgotten Jewish fans who researched, wrote emails around
club members; and support active the world, went to archives, [and] used all
participation among Hertha BSC fans, possible means to find information,” says
encouraging their commitment to stand Vosgerau.
against anti-Semitism, discrimination, and Later, other volunteers looked into
intolerance. the fates of Hertha club members who
Already, some of the project’s ap- were thrown out in 1938 for being Jewish.
proaches have been adopted by other Vosgerau would like to research perpe-
PHOTO CREDIT: FAN PROJECT OF SPORTS YOUTH BERLIN
fan organizations and soccer clubs around trators in team history, too. “It will be
Germany. Researching club history has harder to find out,” he admits, “because
proven an effective tool for developing a we would be scratching on the images of
critical view of the dark side of football fan icons.”
culture, Vosgerau says.
“We have a huge soccer culture in
Germany, but there are lots of things that
are not nice in that culture,” he says. “If
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 9
OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Anniversary
Geschichtomat
ON A DAMP NOVEMBER MORNING, With the help of historians and media Geschichte der deutschen Juden). “Don’t
teenagers are walking up to strangers in experts, pupils research, interview sources get me wrong, it’s a very important part.
the Platz der Republik park, where a large and eyewitnesses, visit museums and But if the only thing you learn is that Jews
black monument blocks the view of Altona archives, shoot and edit their own videos, were a persecuted minority and not a part
Town Hall, an imposing 19th-century build- and write accompanying material. Their of society, you get a wrong impression.”
ing. “Can we ask you a few questions?” projects are uploaded to the website. Working in public schools with educa-
The monument is a memorial to the Since Geschichtomat was founded tors and pupils during a “project week,”
lost Jews of Hamburg’s Altona district. by Ivana Scharf in 2013, more than 800 Geschichtomat facilitates first-person
There were about 5,000 Jews in this dis- students have participated and almost 200 interviews, access to primary sources, and
trict before the Nazis came to power. “Did short films have been produced. direct experience.
you know what this is?” the pupils ask The website has become a resource Panagiotis Maltasiadis, head of the
those willing to talk on camera. Very few for new projects, with teaching materials high school department of the Joseph
have noticed the black-painted, rectan- created by kids for kids about such topics Carlebach school in Hamburg, says his
gular sculpture, though they pass by often. as kosher food, Jewish holidays, and the students who have participated developed
The students will edit the com- Kindertransport—a short-lived rescue both personal and practical skills.
ments of passersby and an interview program that helped Jewish children flee Geschichtomat, he says, “helps our stu-
with Anne-Kathrin Reinberg, Hamburg’s Nazi Germany and Austria for homes in dents become self-confident and demo-
specialist on visual art, into a short doc- England. cratic” contributors to German society.
umentary that will become part of the “When you learn about Jewish life In many schools, Bisotti says, old preju-
Geschichtomat website. Geschichtomat is in German schools you learn about the dices are still there. “We want to show that
a history project that is building a virtual Holocaust and maybe about persecu- Jewish people are, and were, just normal
map of Jewish sites in Hamburg while tions in the Middle Ages,” says Carmen German citizens, just like any others. And
bringing pupils on a journey into the past Bisotti, manager of Geschichtomat, which we hope that some barriers are going
and present. The name roughly translates is based at Hamburg’s Institute for the down.”
as “history machine.” History of German Jews (Institut für die PHOTO CREDIT: GESCHICHTOMAT
10 Obermayer German Jewish History AwardsOBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Anniversary
Network for Democratic
Culture (NDK)
BENEATH ITS CALM SURFACE, THE and backgrounds. One challenge has been building
Pestalozzi High School in Wurzen is a Among their projects: popular support for work against violent
troubled place. Right-wing youth threaten • Workshops on the history of the new far-right groups. People are afraid
those they deem outsiders. Their targets Nazi period, East Germany, the period of to stand out and become targets in their
walk through the halls looking over their unification and the aftermath, including own neighborhoods, and they fear being
shoulders. Teachers and administrators meetings with eyewitnesses, commem- labeled as traitors.
struggle to tackle the problem. Punish- oration events, and educational trips to “NDK in Wurzen represents an attempt
ments don’t seem to make a dent. the Auschwitz and Theresienstadt concen- to take a … neo-Nazi dominated city
It is into such places that the Network tration camps and historical sites of the and turn it into a city that is open to the
for Democratic Culture (Netzwerk für former East German communist regime world,” says Anetta Kahane, founder of
Demokratische Kultur, or NDK) goes, try- • Cultural workshops, including plays, the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which
ing to crack tough teenage exteriors with readings, concerts, films, and a mobile works to oppose right-wing extremism,
engaging lessons in democratic values. It’s stage racism, and anti-Semitism. When NDK
hard work, but someone has to do it, says • Political workshops with discussions started, recalls Kahane, “there wasn’t a
Melanie Haller, NDK association manager. and “Open Space” seminars on demo- single youth club in town that was not
NDK offerings include support for cratic values and combating racism and dominated by neo-Nazis.” Today, youth
local pro-democracy projects; outreach to xenophobia meet at the NDK offices, where additional
migrants and refugees; teaching about the • Youth participation projects, with an space is being renovated for seminars and
persecution of Jews in the Nazi period; Internet platform and a mobile classroom even a place for guests to stay.
working in schools; and hosting public developed by youth for courses on popular People who want change are out there,
events designed to bring together people leisure-time topics says NDK managing director and project
with different backgrounds. The staff of 10, • Coordination of volunteer projects leader Martina Glass, but they “are not
plus dozens of volunteers, organizes 40 with refugees, including a clothing bank always loud enough. We have to support
to 50 projects and events each year that and a café where people of migrant back- them so they can be more visible.”
reach 5,000 to 6,000 people of all ages grounds meet local citizens
PHOTO CREDIT: NETZWERK FÜR DEMOKRATISCHE KULTUR
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 11OBERMAYER
GERMAN JEWISH
HISTORY AWARD
Anniversary,
Distinguished
Service
Sabeth Schmidthals
Nominator: Elke Gryglewski, Berlin, Germany
SABETH SCHMIDTHALS, A TEACHER families came from and share their stories
at Theodor Heuss community school in of migration.
Berlin, has introduced countless pupils of One student of Palestinian background
non-German background to the history “started to cry when she spoke of her
of the persecution of Jews and other family history,” says Schmidthals. “She was
minorities in Nazi Germany. Her aim is asked, ‘Did you ever tell this?’ She said,
to empower them to combat hate and ‘No, no one ever asked.’ And then I began
anti-Semitism using creative teaching to understand. In my opinion, [a] negative
methods combined with sensitivity and attitude to the theme of Jews and perse-
empathy. cution is the flipside of the feeling that no
Not only that, she has brought her stu- one is interested in their suffering.”
dents on trips to Israel as well as to sites of In 2017, she formally launched a
Holocaust history in Poland, France, and working group called Remembrance (AG
Spain. The trips have had a huge impact, Erinnern) to raise awareness of history and
says school principal Annedore Dierker. combat hate and anti-Semitism. Listening
About 80 percent of the school’s 1,000 is key and so is sharing; participants learn
pupils have roots in other countries; many to empathize with others in part through
come from Muslim families. Some are being welcomed to tell their own stories.
not yet German citizens, and others are Schmidthals “understood that her
officially refugees without a promise of a students would only develop an empathy
permanent home here, Dierker says. They for the faith of the victims if they would be
often know little or nothing about Germany, treated with appreciation themselves…
let alone the history of the Holocaust. With enormous patience, she would
Many have experienced discrimination help them with problems in the family, at
themselves. school etc.,” says Elke Gryglewski, deputy
Schmidthals has worked on issues director of the House of the Wannsee
dealing with the Nazi era, racism, and Conference, a memorial at the site where
anti-Semitism, since the 1980s. A key top-level Nazis mapped out their geno-
moment came in the 2014-15 school cide of European Jewry in January 1942.
year, when her teenage pupils read the While sharing their stories is essential
1978 autobiography of German Jewish to developing empathy, it’s “important to
Holocaust survivor Inge Deutschkron, I me that pupils should avoid comparing
Wore the Yellow Star (Ich trug den gelben their suffering,” said Schmidthals. “For
PHOTO CREDIT: PRIVATE
Stern). That’s when Schmidthals started a each person, their own suffering is import-
project called My History, Your History, in ant, and by recognizing this we help them
which ninth graders tell others where their see the suffering of others.”
12 Obermayer German Jewish History AwardsAwards Jury and Selection Committee
Karen S. Franklin co-founded the Obermayer German Jewish prior to that, senior counsel at the Human Rights Campaign. Ms.
History Awards with Arthur S. Obermayer and currently serves as Finch has served as legal counsel to the Congresses of both the
president of the awards jury. She is Director of Family Research at United States and the Republic of Palau. She is a former adjunct
the Leo Baeck Institute. She was formerly Director of the Judaica law professor at George Mason University School of Law and has
Museum in Riverdale, N.Y., for 20 years and a guest curator at the provided expert testimony on legal and policy issues before the
Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holo- U.N. Human Rights Council, the Parliamentary Assembly of the
caust. Ms. Franklin has served as chair of the Council of American Council of Europe, and the U.S. Congress. She holds a J.D. from
Jewish Museums, president of the International Association of George Mason University and a B.A. from the University of
Jewish Genealogical Societies, as well as co-chair of the Board of Michigan. Anniversary Awards Selection Committee
Governors of JewishGen, the Jewish genealogy website. A past
chair of the Memorial Museums Committee of ICOM (the Interna- Anetta Kahane is Chairwoman of the Board of the Amadeu
tional Council of Museums), she was awarded the 2012 ICOM-US Antonio Foundation. She was born and raised in East Berlin and
Service Citation for her work in Holocaust-era property restitution. worked as a Latin American scholar in the GDR. In 1991 she
The citation is the highest honor of ICOM-US. President, Obermayer founded the Regional Offices for Education, Integration and
German Jewish History Awards Jury Democracy (Regionale Arbeitsstellen für Bildung, Integration und
Demokratie or RAA e.V.) for the new federal states. As manag-
Sara Nachama became the executive founding director of the ing director she was involved in democratization processes at
Berlin branch of Touro College and University Systems (New York, schools and intercultural education. In 1991, together with other
N.Y.) in October 2003. It is the only Jewish American College in personalities such as Joachim Gauck, she received the Theodor
Germany offering bachelor and master programs. Since 2005 Heuss Medal on behalf of the peaceful revolution and self-liber-
she has been a vice president and rector of Touro College Berlin. ation of the former GDR. In 1998, Kahane founded the Amadeu
She is on the board of Jewish Community in Berlin, where she Antonio Foundation, of which she was chairwoman of the Board
is responsible for the Culture and Adult Education Centre. She of Trustees. Since 2003 she has been the full-time chairwoman of
is a board member of Berlin’s Christian-Jewish Association. She the foundation. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of
also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Hospital in the Theodor Heuss Foundation. In the summer of 2002 Kahane
Berlin. In 2014 she was awarded a Federal Cross of Merit for her was awarded the Moses Mendelssohn Prize of the State of Berlin.
voluntary community services. Vice President, Obermayer German Anniversary Awards Selection Committee
Jewish History Awards Jury and Chair, Anniversary Awards Selec-
tion Committee Hanno Loewy is the Director of the Jewish Museum Hohenems
in Austria. The founding director of the Fritz Bauer Institute, he
was guest curator for the permanent exhibitions of the Jewish
Museum Frankfurt am Main and Berlin. Dr. Loewy was president
Cristina M. Finch is a human rights lawyer from Washington, of the Association of European Jewish Museums from 2011 to
D.C. with more than 20 years of experience in political advocacy, 2017. His many publications cover subjects including the histo-
diplomacy, and grassroots activism. Ms. Finch serves as the head ry of photography, film, and modern aesthetics; Jewish history
of the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department at the and culture and contemporary Jewish politics; and the impact
Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for of the Holocaust on literature and film. His most recent book is
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. During her tenure she All About Tel Aviv–Jaffa. Die Erfindung einer Stadt (All About Tel
has led the development and drafting of several ODIHR publi- Aviv–Jaffa: The Invention of a City), together with Hannes Sulzen-
cations, including Understanding Anti-Semitic Hate Crime and bacher, 2019. Obermayer German Jewish History Awards Jury
Addressing the Security Needs of Jewish Communities. Before
joining the OSCE, she was the managing director of the Identity Frank Mecklenburg is Chief Archivist and Director of Research
and Discrimination Department at Amnesty International USA and at the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) New York, where he has worked
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 13since 1984. He heads the LBI Archives branch at the Jewish the executive staff of Berlin’s Senate Department for Construction
Museum in Berlin and is in charge of DigiBaeck, the digital and Housing, he headed Berlin’s agency for construction waste
archives project at LBI. He has been an active participant in the management from 1996 to 1997. In 1997 he moved to the Sen-
annual conference of Jewish Studies and German Studies and is ate Department for Urban Development, the Environment and
working on a series of articles concerning the history of Jews in Technology and was a division head there until 1999. From 1999
Central Europe during the 20th century from a post-Cold War, to 2004 he was the party manager for the Social Democratic Party
post-East–West perspective. Born in Berlin, he immigrated to the in Berlin. Mr. Wieland has been a member of the Berlin House
United States in 1981, the same year he received his Ph.D. from of Representatives since 1999, where he headed the Budget
the Technische Universität Berlin in modern German history. Committee for many years. Responsible for the deliberations on
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards Jury Berlin’s annual Budget Act and for monitoring the government’s
implementation of the Budget Act, it is one of the legislature’s
Henry Obermayer is a son of Arthur S. Obermayer and Judith most important committees. Obermayer German Jewish History
Obermayer, founders of the Obermayer German Jewish History Awards Jury, Anniversary Awards Selection Committee
Awards and the Obermayer Foundation. He is a psychologist and
a community builder in the San Francisco area. A faculty member
in the Intensive English Program at the University of Rostock in
1988, Mr. Obermayer has returned many times to Germany since Sponsors
then for both professional and personal reasons. Obermayer
German Jewish History Awards Jury The Obermayer Foundation and Widen the Circle
The Obermayer German Jewish History Awards were founded
Joel Obermayer is Executive Director of Widen the Circle and in 2000 by Dr. Arthur S. Obermayer (1931-2016), an American
a director of the Obermayer Foundation. He is a son of Arthur S. entrepreneur, activist, and philanthropist, and his wife, Dr. Judith
Obermayer and Judith Obermayer, founders of the Obermayer Obermayer. The Awards are administered by Widen the Circle, a
German Jewish History Awards and the Obermayer Foundation. division of the Obermayer Foundation. Widen the Circle is build-
Widen the Circle is a division of the Obermayer Foundation that ing a network of individuals and groups that have worked in their
focuses on combatting prejudice by fostering a shared under- own communities to fight prejudice and to confront the history
standing of the past. Widen the Circle is building a network of that allowed prejudice to grow. We shine a light on those people
individuals and groups that have worked in their own communi- and add our capabilities and network to amplify their work as a
ties to fight prejudice and reckon with history that allowed hate means to combat hate.
to grow. Mr. Obermayer holds Masters degrees in Technology Along with founding the Obermayer German Jewish History
Innovation in Education from Harvard University and in journal- Awards, the Obermayer Foundation helped establish and contin-
ism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. ues to support the Creglingen Jewish Museum in Baden-Würt-
Anniversary Awards Selection Committee temberg. It has also supported programs related to international
affairs and economics in Israel and the former Soviet Union,
Patrick Siegele has been director of the Anne Frank Center since economic justice in the United States, and U.S. national policy
2014, after many years as an education officer and executive related to small business development.
assistant for the organization. Born in 1974, he studied German
literature, linguistics, and musicology in Austria and Great Britain. Office of the President of the House of Representatives of
After his studies, Mr. Siegele worked as a lecturer and curator for Berlin
various institutions of historical and intercultural education. His President Ralf Wieland sponsors these awards. For many years
main focus is on Holocaust education and anti-Semitism preven- through this event, the Parliament has been commemorating the
tion. Between 2015 and 2017, Mr. Siegele served as coordinator German Holocaust Memorial Day of January 27, the anniversary
of the independent expert group on anti-Semitism (assigned by of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The decision
the German Bundestag). He is a member of the advisory board of was made in the year 2000 to have this event as its principal
the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance as well as of the Forum observance.
Against Racism at the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Since April
2019 Mr. Siegele has worked as a lecturer at Humboldt University Leo Baeck Institute
Berlin, Department of Sociology, in the field of anti-Semitism. The Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) is devoted to the history of German-
Anniversary Awards Selection Committee speaking Jews. Its 80,000-volume library and extensive archival
and art collections represent the most significant repository of
Ralf Wieland has been President of the Berlin House of Repre- primary source material and scholarship on the Jewish communi-
sentatives since October 2011. He was born in Wilhelmshaven in ties of Central Europe over the past five centuries. LBI became a
1956 and served an apprenticeship as a shipping agent. After his co-sponsor in 2014.
vocational training, he worked as an expediter and as the branch
manager of a shipping company. After working as an assistant to
14 Obermayer German Jewish History AwardsPast Award Winners
Winners of past awards originate from almost all states and from both urban and rural Germany. Ranging in age from their 30s to their
90s, they come from very diverse backgrounds. Yet they have in common a love of history, a great curiosity for what was, and a dedi-
cation to tolerance and social justice.
Hans-Dieter Arntz: Euskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2009 Klaus-Dieter Ehmke: Berlin, 2004
Wolfgang Battermann: Petershagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rolf Emmerich: Laupheim, Baden-Württemberg, 2012
2012
Johann Fleischmann: Mülhausen, Bavaria, 2006
Hans Jürgen Beck: Bad Kissingen, Bavaria, 2013
Thilo Figaj: Lorsch, Hesse, 2017
Klaus Beer: Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, 2013
Inge Franken: Berlin, 2007
Lothar Bembenek: Wiesbaden, Hesse, 2004
Peter Franz: Weimar, Thuringia, 2016
Jörg Berkemann: Berlin, 2017
Helmut Gabeli: Haigerloch, Baden-Württemberg, 2010
Hans-Eberhard Berkemann: Bad Sobernheim, Rhineland-
Palatinate, 2003 Bernhard Gelderblom: Hameln, Lower Saxony, 2009
Gisela Blume: Fürth, Bavaria, 2000 Marlis Glaser: Attenweiler, Baden-Württemberg, 2015
Elizabeth Böhrer: Sondheim vor der Rhön, Bavaria, 2019 Barbara Greve: Gilserberg, Hesse, 2010
Günter Boll: Steinenstadt, Baden-Württemberg, 2002 Gabriele Hannah, Martina & Hans-Dieter Graf: Mainz and
Seeheim-Jugenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2019
Karl & Hanna Britz: Bodersweier, Baden-Württemberg, 2018
GröschlerHaus (Volker Landig & Hartmut Peters): Jever, Lower
Angelika Brosig: Schopfloch, Bavaria, 2010 Saxony, 2017
Johannes Bruno: Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2007 Johannes Grötecke: Bad Wildungen, Hesse, 2014
Gerhard Buck: Idstein-Walsdorf, Hesse, 2008 Joachim Hahn: Plochingen, Baden-Württemberg, 2000
Gisela Bunge: Gardelegen, Saxony-Anhalt, 2002 Guenter Heidt: Konz, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2006
Irene Corbach: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2003 Michael Heitz: Eppingen/Kraichgau, Baden-Württemberg, 2011
Lothar Czoßek: Elsterau, Saxony-Anhalt, 2013 Detlev Herbst: Uslar, Lower Saxony, 2015
Walter Demandt and Almut Holler: Norden and Hage, Lower Heinz Högerle: Rexingen, Baden-Württemberg, 2011
Saxony, 2016
Rolf Hofmann: Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, 2006
Gunter Demnig: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2005
Frowald Gil Hüttenmeister: Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg,
Klaus Dietermann: Netphen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2009 2014
Heinrich Dittmar: Alsfeld, Hesse, 2003 Michael Imhof: Petersberg, Hesse, 2019
Olaf Ditzel: Vacha, Thuringia, 2002 Elmar Ittenbach: Thalfang, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2016
Michael Dorhs: Hofgeismar, Hesse, 2009 Gerhard Jochem: Nuremberg, Bavaria, 2003
Pascale Eberhard: Wawern, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2015 The Joseph Group: Berlin, 2018
Obermayer German Jewish History Awards 15Kurt-Willi Julius: Vöhl, Hesse, 2006 Susanne Rieger: Nuremberg, Bavaria, 2003
Ottmar Kagerer: Berlin, 2000 Gernot Römer: Augsburg, Bavaria, 2000
Cordula Kappner: Hassfurt, Bavaria, 2004 Werner Schäfer: Frankenthal, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2016
Jörg Kaps: Arnstadt, Thuringia, 2015 Ernst Schäll: Laupheim, Baden-Württemberg, 2007
Wolfram Kastner: Munich, Bavaria, 2005 Moritz Schmid: Ichenhausen, Bavaria, 2000
Rolf Kilian Kießling: Forchheim, Bavaria, 2013 Rolf Schmitt: Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg, 2017
Fritz Kilthau: Zwingenberg, Hesse, 2012 Hilde Schramm & The Return Foundation: Berlin, 2019
Monica Kingreen: Windecken, Hesse, 2002 Heinrich Schreiner: Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2002
Egon Krüger: Pasewalk, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, 2019 Werner Schubert: Weisswasser, Saxony, 2012
Ernst & Brigitte Klein: Volksmarsen, Hesse, 2009 Jürgen Sielemann: Hamburg, 2004
Hans-Peter Klein: Melsungen, Hesse, 2014 Karl-Heinz Stadtler: Vöhl, Hesse, 2006
Manfred Kluge: Vlotho, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2008 Brigitta Stammer: Göttingen, Lower Saxony, 2011
Peter Körner: Johannesberg/Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, 2011 Barbara Staudacher: Rexingen, Baden-Württemberg, 2011
Robert Krais: Ettenheim, Baden-Württemberg, 2005 Brunhilde Stürmer: Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2018
Robert Kreibig: Berlin, 2006 Sibylle Tiedemann: Berlin, 2011
Heidemarie Kugler-Weiemann: Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Helmut Urbschat: Vlotho, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2008
2010
Ilse Vogel: Üchtelhausen, Bavaria, 2005
Silvester Lechner: Elchingen, Bavaria, 2014
Christiane Walesch-Schneller: Breisach am Rhein, Baden-
Ina Lorenz: Hamburg, 2017 Württemberg, 2004
Dorothee Lottmann-Kaeseler: Wiesbaden, Hesse, 2004 Wilfried Weinke: Hamburg, 2007
Harald Roth & Volker Mall: Herrenberg, Baden-Württemberg,
2018 Distinguished Service Award
Charlotte Mayenberger: Bad Buchau, Baden-Württemberg, Honors those who do not qualify for our regular awards but
2008 whose important contributions deserve recognition.
Lars Menk: Berlin, 2007 Nils Busch-Petersen: Berlin, 2016
Horst Moog: Hamm-Sieg, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2018 Margot Friedländer: Berlin, 2018
Josef Motschmann: Staffelstein, Bavaria, 2002 Reinhard Führer: Berlin, 2016
Hanno Müller: Fernwald-Steinbach, Hesse, 2013 Wolfgang Haney: Berlin, 2015
Christa Niclasen: Berlin, 2012 Charlotte Knobloch: Munich, Bavaria, 2014
Heinrich Nuhn: Rotenburg an der Fulda, Hesse, 2005 Benigna Schönhagen: Augsburg, Bavaria, 2019
Walter Ott: Münswingen-Buttenhausen, Baden-Württemberg, Leipziger Synagogalchor: Leipzig, Saxony, 2017
2010
Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock: Berlin, 2015
Carla & Erika Pick: Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia, 2003
Projekt Jüdisches Leben in Frankfurt, Angelika Rieber:
Frankfurt, Hesse, 2017 Staff
Steffen Pross: Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, 2014 Executive Director, Widen the Circle: Joel Obermayer
Elisabeth Quirbach and Hans Schulz: Braunsbach, Baden- Management and Coordination: Rebecca Richards-Kramer,
Württemberg, 2016 Betty Solbjor
Profile Writers: Toby Axelrod, Michael Levitin
Johanna Rau: Kalbach, Hesse, 2008
Editors: Craig Bystrynski, Karen Schlosberg
Christian Repkewitz: Altenburg, Thuringia, 2015
German Translation/Adaptation: Heike Kähler
Fritz Reuter: Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, 2008 Design and Layout: Janelle Ng
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