The Jewish communities, whose synagogues were largely destroyed during the Nazi regime and which were often wiped out by the Shoah (Holocaust), were honored in May 2024 - especially in these difficult times for them with a rapidly growing, openly expressed anti-Semitism - by awarding the "International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen" to Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and the Jewish communities in Europe.
"With this award, the Charlemagne Prize Board wants to send a signal that Jewish life is a natural part of Europe and that there must be no place for anti-Semitism in Europe. Jewish life is an important part of European history and present - now and in the future. (...) Together with the President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, and the Jewish communities in Europe, the Board of Directors ... in 2024 honors the outstanding representative of European Jewry and Jewish life in Europe, which has enriched our continent for centuries and will and must always have its place here."