The Julius Hirsch Prize is in memory of former Germany international Julius Hirsch, who is believed to have been murdered at Auschwitz in 1943, and honours individuals, initiatives and clubs every year. The award winners speak out publicly in support of democracy and human rights, and against antisemitism, racism, extremism and violence. The Eintracht Frankfurt Museum has been rewarded for such commitment in 2021. Through campaigns, discussions, exhibitions and memorial events, managing director Matthias Thoma and his team have succeeded in taking a stand against marginalisation beyond Eintracht and the city of Frankfurt, and promoting peaceful coexistence.
In particular, the Eintracht Frankfurt Museum was recognised for its critical handling of club life under national socialism, with the main focus on research, communication and creation of memorial sites. The museum’s sustained and comprehensive work in the field of research and reappraisal as well as the contemporary and broad communication of the club’s history during the National Socialist era were also determining factors for the jury, which includes close family members of Julius Hirsch.
The curiosity is always there and there are always new topics that we can open up again. It’s certainly a characteristic of ours that we keep on researching.
Matthias Thoma, managing director Eintracht Frankfurt Museum
Thoma sees the award as vindication of his and his team’s work. “The curiosity is always there and there are always new topics that we can open up again. It’s certainly a characteristic of ours that we keep on researching. The prize money will be used by the Eintracht Frankfurt Museum for a third search project. We’ve done two of these before which finished with trips to Theresienstadt and Buchenwald. The next project is planned for the coming year, as the Eintracht Frankfurt Museum’s reappraisal is far from over.”
“Remembrance has to stay alive,” stressed DFB vice-president Peter Peters at the start the evening. “We need to stamp out any spark that could start a fire as early as possible.” His colleague Dr. Rainer Koch added that the Julius Hirsch Prize was a “visible sign against antisemitism and every form of discrimination”.
