BERLIN – Ahead of Friday’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day, several Germans were this week honored with Obermayer Awards for their work to ensure that local Jewish history and culture destroyed by the Nazis is not forgotten.
The award was initiated 23 years ago by the late businessman and philanthropist Arthur Obermayer, an American Jew of German heritage, who was inspired by the volunteer remembrance work in his family’s hometown of Krieglingen. Over the years, more than 100 projects have been welcomed at festivals sponsored by the Senate of Berlin.
This year’s winners included projects that teach local children about the Jews who lived in their cities, introduce new immigrants to German history, and introduce citizens of today to Jews and their families from their cities. Let’s connect with.
Winners receive a $1,000 stipend, but more important is the recognition that the prize brings, said Joel Obermayer, 55, who began running the foundation after his father’s death in 2016.
“You can’t meet these honorees and not hear about the sacrifices they’ve made,” said Obermayer, whose brother Hank Obermayer is on the jury and sister Marjorie Raven is on the board of directors.
Joel Obermayer’s mother, Judith Obermayer, said, “Arthur must have liked that Joel is passionate about that, that one of his kids took it and got away with it because he cared.”
From left to right: Judith Obermayer, Joel Obermayer, President of the Berlin Senate Dennis Buchner, Marlis and Rudolf Walter, and President of the Obermayer Prize jury Sarah Nachma, at the award ceremony held at the Abgordnetenhaus in Berlin, home of the state parliament, January 25, 2023. (courtesy renae arnold)
Doesn’t go without saying. Many American Jews keep an understandable distance from Germany; Even if they don’t blame the current generation for the crimes of their grandparents, they want to make sure those crimes are not forgotten.
In fact, that’s what the award is for, said Judith Obermayer.
“There are many people all over Germany, in small towns all over the country, who feel that it is important to preserve the Jewish history of their town, that it is part of their culture,” she said. “Germany is at least trying to deal with [the dark side of its history] In ways that other countries are not and should be.”
In 2019, after quitting his job to run the awards full-time, Joel Obermayer created the Widen the Circle Foundation. The group’s goal, he said, is to raise funds and link German projects with projects that “deal with the legacy of our difficult history” in the United States to fight racism and bigotry. The award “connects me both to my father’s work, and to all the things I care about in America, and I didn’t expect that,” he said.
2023 Obermayer Prize winner Jörg Friedrich demonstrates his innovative Holocaust education initiative aimed at teenagers. (courtesy of widening the circle)
This year’s winners include Jörg Friedrich, a former banker who became an educator and developed an innovative approach to educating teenagers about local Jewish history and the dangers of prejudice. Projects have included a traveling exhibit, an app called “Ways of Remembrance”, hiking days focusing on Jewish history and culture, and teaching materials with components in Braille and audio elements for those with learning disabilities. .
They also include Marion Welch, author and manager of Castle Gollwitz for her work forging healing relationships between Jews and non-Jews – including Holocaust survivors and non-Jewish Germans – and Rudolph and Marlise Walter, who have spent over 30 years illuminating has given impetus to the efforts of Jewish history in Bad Kissingen, Bavaria, and the destruction of the local community by the Nazis.
2023 Obermayer Prize winner, author Marion Welsh, honored for her work creating healing relationships between non-Jews and Jews. (courtesy of widening the circle)
Walters has also helped preserve local landmarks of Jewish history, played a major role in renaming the high school after Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Jack Steinberger, a former Jewish pupil, and biographies of former Jewish residents. Created an online notebook with
“I heard a lot about Bad Kissingen when I was growing up,” said Elizabeth Steinberger, Jack Steinberger’s niece and Walters’ principal enrollee.
,[They] Really helped give a bigger picture of life in the city, the people who lived there, and what it was like when my family was there,” said Steinberger, who flew to Germany for the ceremony from her home in North Carolina. “It’s very important work, and it’s beautiful because it’s fixing something so scary.”
2023 Obermayer Prize Laureates Rudolf and Marlies Walter, honored for working to preserve local Jewish history for 30 years. (courtesy of widening the circle)
This year’s winners said they plan to use the monetary award to further their work. For example, Welsh said she would probably apply the money to her integration project for women, to help women go to college. Previous winner Sabeth Schmidthals, who attended this year’s ceremony, said she used the money to help her high school students in Berlin go on field trips related to the remembrance work.
But Joel Obermayer said the prize provides benefits that are more than tangible. The senior Obermayer, he said, once received an email from a laureate whose family and colleagues had estranged from him because of his frequent digging into his family’s Nazi past. Joel Obermayer said, “Even his own kids are tired of it.”
“All of a sudden, she gets this international award, and her name is in the paper, and she’s honored at a ceremony – and suddenly her children and grandchildren realize, no, she’s not crazy, she’s crazy, He’s a hero. And they celebrated him. It changed his life.
Tobi Axelrod is a journalist based in Berlin. he wrote profile On this year’s Obermayer Prize winners for the Obermayer Foundation.
