Joseph Moses Oleshangay from Tanzania received the Weimar Human Rights Prize on Sunday evening. According to the city, Oleshangay advocates for the rights of the Maasai in his homeland and fights against their forced relocation by the government.
The winner receives 5,000 euros
Because of his commitment, the lawyer has suffered reprisals and has already survived an assassination attempt, it is said.
Oleshangay beat seven other nominees for the human rights award. In the end, the city council voted for him as the award winner.
The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros and was awarded on Human Rights Day. The winner also received a trophy from the Weimar artist and Weimar Prize winner Walter Sachs.
Oleshangay said at the award ceremony in the ballroom of the Prince’s House of the University of Music that the award meant a lot to him and to the people who fight for their common cause. He feels honored.
Weimar awards prize for Nazi crimes
The human rights prize is awarded at a ceremony in Weimar. The patron of the prize is the journalist Gundula Gause.
The city of Weimar has been awarding the prize since 1995 as a symbol of its special responsibility after the crimes of National Socialism. Between 1937 and 1945, the Nazis imprisoned around 280,000 people from Europe in the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar. Around 56,000 prisoners were murdered, died of disease, hunger or forced labor.