Status: 12/04/2022 2:04 p.m
The Marion Dönhoff Prize for international understanding and reconciliation was awarded in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg on Sunday. This year it went to the co-founder of the Russian human rights organization Memorial, Irina Scherbakova. Tafel Deutschland received the sponsorship award.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) held the eulogy for Scherbakowa. Against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Scherbakova’s award was a “clear political signal at the right time,” said Scholz. People like the 73-year-old Russian historian sent the message that “another, better, brighter Russia is possible.” Scherbakova received the award “to honor her outstanding contribution to the historical self-enlightenment of her country and her courageous fight for human rights,” the jury justified its decision in October. Memorial was this year together with human rights activists from Belarus and Ukraine also been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sponsorship award for the table
This year’s sponsorship award went to Tafel Deutschland. It is part of the “bitter truth of our country that many people live in poverty for a wide variety of reasons,” said Hamburg’s second mayor Katharina Fegebank (Greens) in her laudatory speech. The more than 960 food banks throughout Germany with their more than 60,000 helpers drew attention to food waste and made sure “that food gets to where it belongs: namely on the plate”. In times of crisis, the Tafel achieved outstanding things. “Your work is more important today than ever before,” Fegebank said.
Prizes are each endowed with 20,000 euros
The prizes awarded by the “Zeit” and the “Zeit” Foundation Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius, each endowed with 20,000 euros, are being awarded for the 20th time. They are named after the former “Zeit” editor Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, who was born in Königsberg in 1909 and died in Hamburg in 2002.
TV tip: You can see more on this topic tonight from 7.30 p.m. in the Hamburg Journal of NDR television.
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