This article may rely excessively on sources
too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being
verifiable and
neutral. (July 2017) |
Auslandsdiest Österreichs | |
![]() | |
Formation | 1998 |
---|---|
Type | non-profit organization |
Focus | Holocaust remembrance, antisemitism, anti-fascism, humanitarian aid, development aid, peace movement, environmental protection |
Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
Area served | Global |
Services | volunteering service, National service alternatives |
Method | education, study trips, seminars, workshops, awards |
Fields | memoria ( remembrance), misericordia ( mercy), pax ( peace) |
Chairman | Tobias Aigner |
Website | https://www.auslandsdienst.at/en |
The Austrian Service Abroad ( German: Auslandsdienst Österreichs) is a non-profit organization funded by the Austrian government which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in form of the Gedenkdienst, supporting vulnerable social groups and sustainability initiatives in form of the Austrian Social Service and realizing projects of peace within the framework of the Austrian Peace Service. The Austrian Service Abroad is the issuer of the annually conferred Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award.
The Austrian Service Abroad has its origin in the acknowledgement of the Austrian government, in particular by chancellor Franz Vranitzky in 1991, regarding the Austrian people's share of responsibility for the crimes committed by National Socialism during WWII. [1] The initiative initially started in form of the Gedenkdienst in 1992. In 1998 the organization Austrian Service Abroad, named 'Association for Services Abroad' until 2006, was founded adding the Austrian Social Service and the Austrian Peace Service.
The organization provides young male Austrians a government-funded alternative to the compulsory military service by sending them to institutions of Holocaust commemoration, social service or peace promotion for a time period of at least 10 months. It also provides volunteers of all genders a platform to work in its partner institutions for 6 to 12 months, while being financially supported by the Austrian government for their work abroad. [2]
The Austrian Service Abroad is funded and supervised by the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs and subject to the Austrian Federal Act on the Promotion of Voluntary Services (Bundesgesetz zur Förderung von freiwilligem Engagement.) [3]
Before being sent out as Austrian Servants Abroad the candidates undergo a preparation period (typically 1.5 years) during which they are educated on the subject-matter relevant to their place of assignment. They are also being trained with professional skills via contributing to the work-flow of the organization.
Once a year the president of Austria and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invite all Austrian Servants Abroad of the year before departure for a reception at the Hofburg and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively. The Austrian Servants Abroad are commonly referred to as "little ambassadors of Austria".
The Austrian Service Abroad is non-confessional and non-partisan.
The Austrian Service Abroad cooperates with the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The servants abroad are obliged to cooperate with the Austrian embassy in their respective host country.
Some of partner institutions or organizations are the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oświęcim, Poland, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, United States, the World Jewish Congress in New York, United States, the Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai in Shanghai, China, the Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Center in Moscow, Russia, the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the Tom Lantos Institute [4] in Budapest, Hungary, the Ashraya Initiative for Children [5] in Pune, India, and A chance for children [6] in Zigoti, Uganda.
The Austrian Service Abroad is also a partner of the Israeli Volunteer Association [7] partnering on the initiative Understanding Israel [8] in conjunction with the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs.
Gedenkdienst is the concept of facing and taking responsibility for the darkest chapters of one's own country's history while ideally being financially supported by one's own country's government to do so. Gedenkdienst has the acknowledgment of, the apology for and the assumption of responsibility for atrocities done by one's own country's society in history as its basis. Gedenkdienst is about honesty with one's country's past and the desire to rectify past wrongs. Gedenkdienst is about providing people of the perpetrator's side a platform for education and going to the victim's side to serve the remembrance of the evil done and the commemoration of its victims. Gedenkdienst is about peace on the basis of honesty regarding the past. [9]
The program was founded in 1992 and has been a part of the association Austrian Service Abroad since 1998. It remembers the crimes of Nazism and commemorates its victims. Gedenkdiener work for Holocaust remembrance memorials and institutions as well as research facilities. Examples are the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, the World Jewish Congress in New York, the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim or Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
In addition, Austrian Holocaust Memorial servants are also sent to serve in former refuge countries of the victim groups persecuted by the Nazis, for example to the Casa Stefan Zweig in Petrópolis (Brazil) or the Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai (China).
The program annually confers the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award to actors "who have shown special endeavors for the memory of the Shoah".
Austrian social servants serve vulnerable social groups, support the economic and social development of the host country and contribute to environmental protection. They are active in projects relating to street-children, homeless people, educational projects and children villages, elderly and handicapped care, medical care, etc.
An example type of project is the improvement of drinking water supplies in countries of the Third World. Andreas Daniel Matt, the first Austrian social servant was sent in 2004 to a SOS children's village in Lahore (Pakistan).
Since October 1998 hundreds of Austrian social servants have been assigned mainly to countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia.
Since 2018 the Austrian Service Abroad also partakes in the program Understanding Israel, sending young Austrians to do social service at child-care places and handicapped-care facilities in the state of Israel in cooperation with the Israeli Volunteer Association.
Austrian Peace servants are stationed in organizations serving the achievement and protection of peace in connection with (armed) conflicts. They work, for example, at the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in Japan, the John Rabe House in Nanjing, China, the Dayton International Peace Museum in Ohio, USA, the Peace Palace in The Hague and the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights in Osijek, Croatia.
![]() |
At present, Austrian Service Abroad sends young Austrians to the following partner institutions:
In 2006 Andreas Maislinger, chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad, initiated the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (AHMA). Winners:
2006: Pan Guang, [11] Shanghai, PR China.
2007: Alberto Dines, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2008: Robert Hébras, Oradour-sur-Glane, France
2009: Jay M. Ipson, Richmond, Virginia, United States
2010: Eva Marks, Melbourne, Australia [12]
2011: Auschwitz Jewish Center, Oswiecim, Poland
2012: Ladislaus Löb, United Kingdom
2013: Hugo Höllenreiner, Munich, Germany
2014: Marģers Vestermanis, Riga, Latvia [13]
2015: Erika Rosenberg, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2016: Giorgio Frassineti, Predappio ( Forlì), Italy
2017: Ruben Fuks, Belgrade, Serbia
2018: Alla Gerber and Ilya Altman, Moscow, Russia
2019: Tomislav Dulic, Uppsala, Sweden
2020: Dušan Stefančič, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2004 Stefan Stoev, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC, United States
2005 Dr. Andreas Daniel Matt, SOS Children's Villages Lahore, Pakistan
2006 Martin Wallner, Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai, China
2007 Daniel James Schuster, Yad Vashem Jerusalem, Israel
2008 René J. Laglstorfer, Centre de la mémoire d'Oradour, France & Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai, China
2009 Joerg Reitmaier, Auschwitz Jewish Center, Poland & Virginia Holocaust Museum, United States
2010 Peter Loibner, GU SRZ Vera, Russia
2011
Francesco Konigsberger,
Federation of Jewish Communities,
Czech Republic,
Cornelius Schwärzler,
Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Center, Russia &
Fondazione Museo della Shoa, Italy &
Dokumentation Obersalzberg, Germany,
David Witzeneder,
Tropical Field Station La Gamba & Finca Salvador,
Costa Rica
2020
Jonathan Dorner,
Holocaust Museum LA
Monika Messner, Na’amat Kindertagesstätte
2021 Raphael Faul, Florian Müller, Matthias Kralupper, Haris Hadzimejlic, Raffael Winkler
The core concept underlying the initiative of the Austrian Service Abroad is the concept of responsibility. Hereby the initiative is guided by the ethics conceptualized by the Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas who defined the following supreme moral imperative: "Act so that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life". [14] By integrating the chronological dimensions of past, present and future, in addition to the totality of humanity and the full dimension of space, the Austrian Service Abroad is about supporting life in an ethical, sustainable, global, responsible and permanent manner.
This article may rely excessively on sources
too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being
verifiable and
neutral. (July 2017) |
Auslandsdiest Österreichs | |
![]() | |
Formation | 1998 |
---|---|
Type | non-profit organization |
Focus | Holocaust remembrance, antisemitism, anti-fascism, humanitarian aid, development aid, peace movement, environmental protection |
Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
Area served | Global |
Services | volunteering service, National service alternatives |
Method | education, study trips, seminars, workshops, awards |
Fields | memoria ( remembrance), misericordia ( mercy), pax ( peace) |
Chairman | Tobias Aigner |
Website | https://www.auslandsdienst.at/en |
The Austrian Service Abroad ( German: Auslandsdienst Österreichs) is a non-profit organization funded by the Austrian government which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in form of the Gedenkdienst, supporting vulnerable social groups and sustainability initiatives in form of the Austrian Social Service and realizing projects of peace within the framework of the Austrian Peace Service. The Austrian Service Abroad is the issuer of the annually conferred Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award.
The Austrian Service Abroad has its origin in the acknowledgement of the Austrian government, in particular by chancellor Franz Vranitzky in 1991, regarding the Austrian people's share of responsibility for the crimes committed by National Socialism during WWII. [1] The initiative initially started in form of the Gedenkdienst in 1992. In 1998 the organization Austrian Service Abroad, named 'Association for Services Abroad' until 2006, was founded adding the Austrian Social Service and the Austrian Peace Service.
The organization provides young male Austrians a government-funded alternative to the compulsory military service by sending them to institutions of Holocaust commemoration, social service or peace promotion for a time period of at least 10 months. It also provides volunteers of all genders a platform to work in its partner institutions for 6 to 12 months, while being financially supported by the Austrian government for their work abroad. [2]
The Austrian Service Abroad is funded and supervised by the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs and subject to the Austrian Federal Act on the Promotion of Voluntary Services (Bundesgesetz zur Förderung von freiwilligem Engagement.) [3]
Before being sent out as Austrian Servants Abroad the candidates undergo a preparation period (typically 1.5 years) during which they are educated on the subject-matter relevant to their place of assignment. They are also being trained with professional skills via contributing to the work-flow of the organization.
Once a year the president of Austria and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invite all Austrian Servants Abroad of the year before departure for a reception at the Hofburg and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively. The Austrian Servants Abroad are commonly referred to as "little ambassadors of Austria".
The Austrian Service Abroad is non-confessional and non-partisan.
The Austrian Service Abroad cooperates with the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The servants abroad are obliged to cooperate with the Austrian embassy in their respective host country.
Some of partner institutions or organizations are the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oświęcim, Poland, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, United States, the World Jewish Congress in New York, United States, the Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai in Shanghai, China, the Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Center in Moscow, Russia, the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the Tom Lantos Institute [4] in Budapest, Hungary, the Ashraya Initiative for Children [5] in Pune, India, and A chance for children [6] in Zigoti, Uganda.
The Austrian Service Abroad is also a partner of the Israeli Volunteer Association [7] partnering on the initiative Understanding Israel [8] in conjunction with the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs.
Gedenkdienst is the concept of facing and taking responsibility for the darkest chapters of one's own country's history while ideally being financially supported by one's own country's government to do so. Gedenkdienst has the acknowledgment of, the apology for and the assumption of responsibility for atrocities done by one's own country's society in history as its basis. Gedenkdienst is about honesty with one's country's past and the desire to rectify past wrongs. Gedenkdienst is about providing people of the perpetrator's side a platform for education and going to the victim's side to serve the remembrance of the evil done and the commemoration of its victims. Gedenkdienst is about peace on the basis of honesty regarding the past. [9]
The program was founded in 1992 and has been a part of the association Austrian Service Abroad since 1998. It remembers the crimes of Nazism and commemorates its victims. Gedenkdiener work for Holocaust remembrance memorials and institutions as well as research facilities. Examples are the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, the World Jewish Congress in New York, the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim or Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
In addition, Austrian Holocaust Memorial servants are also sent to serve in former refuge countries of the victim groups persecuted by the Nazis, for example to the Casa Stefan Zweig in Petrópolis (Brazil) or the Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai (China).
The program annually confers the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award to actors "who have shown special endeavors for the memory of the Shoah".
Austrian social servants serve vulnerable social groups, support the economic and social development of the host country and contribute to environmental protection. They are active in projects relating to street-children, homeless people, educational projects and children villages, elderly and handicapped care, medical care, etc.
An example type of project is the improvement of drinking water supplies in countries of the Third World. Andreas Daniel Matt, the first Austrian social servant was sent in 2004 to a SOS children's village in Lahore (Pakistan).
Since October 1998 hundreds of Austrian social servants have been assigned mainly to countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia.
Since 2018 the Austrian Service Abroad also partakes in the program Understanding Israel, sending young Austrians to do social service at child-care places and handicapped-care facilities in the state of Israel in cooperation with the Israeli Volunteer Association.
Austrian Peace servants are stationed in organizations serving the achievement and protection of peace in connection with (armed) conflicts. They work, for example, at the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in Japan, the John Rabe House in Nanjing, China, the Dayton International Peace Museum in Ohio, USA, the Peace Palace in The Hague and the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights in Osijek, Croatia.
![]() |
At present, Austrian Service Abroad sends young Austrians to the following partner institutions:
In 2006 Andreas Maislinger, chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad, initiated the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (AHMA). Winners:
2006: Pan Guang, [11] Shanghai, PR China.
2007: Alberto Dines, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2008: Robert Hébras, Oradour-sur-Glane, France
2009: Jay M. Ipson, Richmond, Virginia, United States
2010: Eva Marks, Melbourne, Australia [12]
2011: Auschwitz Jewish Center, Oswiecim, Poland
2012: Ladislaus Löb, United Kingdom
2013: Hugo Höllenreiner, Munich, Germany
2014: Marģers Vestermanis, Riga, Latvia [13]
2015: Erika Rosenberg, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2016: Giorgio Frassineti, Predappio ( Forlì), Italy
2017: Ruben Fuks, Belgrade, Serbia
2018: Alla Gerber and Ilya Altman, Moscow, Russia
2019: Tomislav Dulic, Uppsala, Sweden
2020: Dušan Stefančič, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2004 Stefan Stoev, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC, United States
2005 Dr. Andreas Daniel Matt, SOS Children's Villages Lahore, Pakistan
2006 Martin Wallner, Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai, China
2007 Daniel James Schuster, Yad Vashem Jerusalem, Israel
2008 René J. Laglstorfer, Centre de la mémoire d'Oradour, France & Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai, China
2009 Joerg Reitmaier, Auschwitz Jewish Center, Poland & Virginia Holocaust Museum, United States
2010 Peter Loibner, GU SRZ Vera, Russia
2011
Francesco Konigsberger,
Federation of Jewish Communities,
Czech Republic,
Cornelius Schwärzler,
Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Center, Russia &
Fondazione Museo della Shoa, Italy &
Dokumentation Obersalzberg, Germany,
David Witzeneder,
Tropical Field Station La Gamba & Finca Salvador,
Costa Rica
2020
Jonathan Dorner,
Holocaust Museum LA
Monika Messner, Na’amat Kindertagesstätte
2021 Raphael Faul, Florian Müller, Matthias Kralupper, Haris Hadzimejlic, Raffael Winkler
The core concept underlying the initiative of the Austrian Service Abroad is the concept of responsibility. Hereby the initiative is guided by the ethics conceptualized by the Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas who defined the following supreme moral imperative: "Act so that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life". [14] By integrating the chronological dimensions of past, present and future, in addition to the totality of humanity and the full dimension of space, the Austrian Service Abroad is about supporting life in an ethical, sustainable, global, responsible and permanent manner.