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Former director of Wiener Holocaust Library presented with the Cross of the Order of Merit at the German Embassy in London
Chargé d’Affaires, Julia Gross presents the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ben Barkow, © German Embassy London
On 28 April 2022, the German Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Julia Gross, presented the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ben Barkow for his academic work in the service of Holocaust remembrance.
Mrs Gross highlighted his outstanding contribution to Holocaust education during his 20 years at the helm of the Wiener Holocaust Library.
At a ceremony at the Residence of the German Ambassador in London, Chargé d’Affaires Julia Gross thanked Ben Barkow, until 2019 director of the Wiener Holocaust Library, for his outstanding work in the field of Holocaust remembrance and education.
Julia Gross said:
You have devoted your life to education and building bridges between communities and countries. You offered your personal help to countless Jewish refugees from Germany and established close ties with important institutions in Germany.
Barkow initiated and oversaw key developments which culminated in the Wiener Holocaust Library’s “Strategic Plan 2019-23”, including the extension and digitisation of the archive, the development of the hugely important and popular website “The Holocaust Explained”, the cooperation with the “International Tracing Service” in Bad Arolsen and the exploration of new sources of finance for the Wiener Holocaust Library.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Gross also thanked the current leadership of the Wiener Holocaust Library for its outstanding work in the service of Holocaust study and remembrance. She added that the German Foreign Office was able to substantially increase its financial contribution to the important work of the Library in 2021.