Update!

Hans-Joachim Watzke receives the 2024 Leo Baeck Prize

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has awarded this year’s Leo Baeck Prize to Hans-Joachim Watzke.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has awarded this year’s Leo Baeck Prize to Hans-Joachim Watzke, the Chairman of the Board of Management at Borussia Dortmund. It is the highest honour awarded by the Central Council of Jews in Germany. The awards ceremony will take place in Berlin on 13 November 2024. The laudation will be given by Hendrik Wüst, the Prime Minister of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia.

The reasoning for the award: “Hans-Joachim Watzke has been a staunch advocate for an open society for many years. The fight against anti-Semitism is a matter that is close to his heart and one which he has made into a fundamental part of his work. Under his leadership, the club Borussia Dortmund have become an important partner in anti-Semitism prevention.”

The President for the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dr. Josef Schuster, explained: “Hans-Joachim Watzke has been crucial to Borussia Dortmund’s pioneering role in the fight against anti-Semitism. The club adopted the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism before many others and, in doing so, motivated other clubs to follow suit. Even after 7 October, Borussia Dortmund – under the leadership of Hans-Joachim Watzke – have always stood, and continue to stand, by the Jewish community in Germany. We want to honour this commitment.”

Since 1957 the Central Council of Jews has awarded people who have made outstanding contributions to the Jewish community the Leo Baeck Prize, which commemorates Rabbi Leo Baeck sel. The award winners include former German Presidents Richard von Weizsäcker (1994), Roman Herzog (1998) and Christian Wulff (2011), former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2007) and other public figures. The Federal Minister of Agriculture and Food, Cem Özdemir, was the recipient of the award in 2022. The award is endowed with €10,000.

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