Simon Wiesenthal, KBE (December 31, 1908September 20, 2005) was an Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a Nazi hunter. He was presented with many awards, merits, and honorary doctorates over the course of his life.
State awards
Decoration for Services to the Liberation of Austria 1979 Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic given by the Italian President Pertini, 20 July 1979 Congressional Gold Medal United States of America; March 17, 1980 Commander of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 1981 Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany from the President of the German Federal Republic, 1985 Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur France, 1986 Cross of Honour for Science and Art Austria, 1993 Commander's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Poland, 1994 Commander of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 1995 Title “Professor” awarded by Austrian Federal President, Thomas Klestil, 1997 Silver Decoration of the Bosnian Coat of Arms 1998 Order of the White Lion Czech Republic, presented by President Václav Havel, 1999 Great Cross of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins Chile, 1999 Presidential Medal of Freedom United States of America, 9 August 2000 Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire 19 February 2004In recognition of a "lifetime of service to humanity" and for his work at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria 9 June 2005
Local government honors
Diploma of Honor of the City of Los Angeles, 1978Diploma of Honor of the State of CaliforniaHonorary Citizen of Dallas, Texas, 1979Honorary Citizen of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 1979Jerusalem Medal, presented by the Town Council of Jerusalem, 1980Proclamation of the City of New York - Day of Solidarity with Simon Wiesenthal, March 31, 1981Honorary Citizen of Miami Beach, Florida, USA, 1983Honorary Citizen of Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 1984Honorary Citizen of Shelby County, Tennessee, USA, 1984The Assembly, Senate and Governor Mario M.Cuomo of the State of New York declare June 13, 1984 as "Simon Wiesenthal Day"Grand Silver Medal of Honor for Merit; Federal State of Vienna, presented by Mayor Helmut Zilk, 1985Jerusalem Medal in 1985 Medal of the City of Paris, 1992Ring of Honor of the City of Linz, Austria, 1995Honorary Citizen of the City of Vienna, 1995
Organisations
Diploma of Honor of the Internationale de Résistance, Brussels, 1973Dutch Medal for FreedomMedal for Freedom of Luxemburg, 1973Needle of Honor of the Austrian Resistance MovementDiploma of Honor of the League of the United NationsAnnual Award of Merit of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Chicago, Illinois, 1978Diploma of Honor of the Organization of Jewish War Veterans in USAHonorary Member of the French Institut de Recherches de PsychotherapieJean-Moulin-Medaille, Medal of the French ResistanceKaj-Munk-Medal, DenmarkHonorary Member of the Dutch ResistanceHonorary Member of the Danish Association of Freedom FightersHenrietta Szold Award, of the World WIZO Organization in the USA, 197914th Annual Susie Humanitarian Award of the Eddie Cantor Foundation, Los Angeles, 1980Justice Louis Brandeis Award of the Zionist Organization in the USA, 1980Medal of Honor of the Yad Vashem Foundation, JerusalemMember of the International Council of Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, 1980David Award, Prize of Swiss Jewry for outstanding achievements, Jerusalem, 1981Gold Medal of the Union of Jewish Congregations in Austria, 1982Jabotinsky-Award of Anti-Defamation-League (ADL), 1988Franklin D.Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award, Middelburg, Netherlands, 1990Honorary President of the Austrian League for Human Rights, 1991Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold; German Society of the United Nations, Berlin, 1991National Hero Award, New York, United States, 1991UNESCO Medal of Honor, presented by UNESCO Director-General, Federico Mayor, Paris, 1992Erasmus Prize; for an important contribution to European culture and society, presented by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, 1992Award of LAPID - The Movement to Commemorate the Implications of the Holocaust in Israel, 1993Award of the Austrian Booksellers Association for Tolerance in Spirit and in Action, 1995Dedication of the Simon Wiesenthal House of AMCHA (National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Survivors of the Holocaust and the Second Generation), Tel Aviv, 1997European Prize Pro Humanitate for Peace, Justice, and Tolerance, awarded by the Kultur-Fördergemeinschaft der Europäischen Wirtschaft, 1998Luxembourg Freedom MedalDecorations from French resistance groupsDecorations from Austrian resistance groupsIsrael Liberata Gold MedalWorld Tolerance Award; presented by Michael Gorbatschov on “Men’s World Day” in Vienna, 3 November 2000Lo Tishkach Award, presented by the Conference of European Rabbis, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 2000Medal of Honor of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), The Hague, Netherlands, presented at the Documentation Center in Vienna, 17 April 2002Postage stamp issued in his honour by Austria and Israel Post in 2010 World Stamp News
Academic institutions
Wiesenthal was awarded 18 honorary doctorates from universities around the world, including seven faculties of law. Honorary member of the University of Applied Arts Vienna, 1989 Honorary Member of the Academy of Science, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1994 Human Rights Award of the Karl Franzens University, Graz, Austria, 1994 Honorary Doctorate from the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, 1994It is often claimed that Wiesenthal was the first Jew to receive an honorary degree from the Jagiellonian University; this is not in fact the case. See: Honorary doctorate from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel
References