(September 12, 2007 - Jerusalem) Today, the Prince of Asturias Foundation announced that Yad Vashem has received the prestigious international Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, expressed his appreciation to the Foundation and the jury for recognizing the work of Yad Vashem.

The Prince of Asturias Award for Concord is bestowed upon the person, persons or institution whose work has made an exemplary and outstanding contribution to mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence amongst men, to the struggle against injustice or ignorance, to the defense of freedom, or whose work has widened the horizons of knowledge or has been outstanding in protecting and preserving mankind's heritage. This year, 47 candidates from 28 countries competed for the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. Yad Vashem's nomination was proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and supported by eminent public figures from around the world, including former Mexican president Vicente Fox Quesada, former UN Secretary-General Koffi A. Annan, former European Parliament president and 2005 Prince of Asturias Award Laureate (for International Cooperation) Simone Veil, German Parliamentarian Joschka Fischer, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, US senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Holocaust researcher and Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, and Israeli president Shimon Peres.

Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, thanked the Foundation for its recognition. “I am deeply moved, and very proud, that Yad Vashem has been honored with the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. My sincere appreciation goes to the Prince of Asturias Foundation for this singular honor. This prestigious international award recognizes that the memory of the Holocaust - the systematic murder of the Jews that took place in the heart of Europe - has profound significance for the coexistence of the family of nations, today, and through the ages. The receipt of the Prince of Asturias Award inspires us to continue in our efforts to build a better future through our confrontation with the past, and emphasizes the awesome responsibility that Yad Vashem bears. As the generation of the witnesses to these horrors dwindles, Yad Vashem will continue to transform their memory into building blocks for a better world - one characterized by tolerance and mutual respect amongst all peoples.”

The Award will be presented on October 26, 2007 in Spain, in the presence of the Spanish royal family. Previous winners of the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord include UNICEF, Médecins sans Frontières, H.M. Hussein I, King of Jordan, Stephen Hawking and JK Rowling. Award winners in other categories include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Simone Veil, Václav Havel, and Nelson Mandela. This year Al Gore, Amos Oz, and Bob Dylan were among the winners.

“I am overwhelmed that the Foundation has recognized Yad Vashem’s outstanding accomplishments. Over the past decade, Yad Vashem has positioned itself to face the challenges of the future. Building on over 5 decades of documentation and research, Yad Vashem is committed to broadening the scope of its educational and commemorative activities both at the Jerusalem campus and abroad,” said Perla Hazan, Director of the Iber-American, Spain and Portugal Desk at Yad Vashem

The reading of the Jury's decision will be broadcast on live television and the signal will be openly transmitted via the Hispasat satellite [satellite information: http://www.fundacionprincipedeasturias.org/ing/01/noticia651.html ]

About Yad Vashem:
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, was created by the Israeli Parliament in 1953. Located in Jerusalem, it is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, documentation, research and education. Yad Vashem expresses the authentic, personal, cry of the generation who can tell the story. It is an account of the rupture of an entire world in which the perpetrators committed unprecedented cruelty and unprovoked murder, neighbors stood silently by, and only the very few chose to defy the pervading moral crisis and save their fellow human beings. It was a time when the very values that underpin our civilization collapsed. Yad Vashem also recalls those individuals who retained their sense of humanity and justice. These Righteous Among the Nations symbolize Man's humanity, and the essence of Man's freedom to choose good in the face of evil. Nearly 22,000 individuals from across Europe and beyond have been thus recognized. Among them are Ambassador Sanz Briz and Dr. Jose and Carmen Santaella of Spain.

Over the past decade Yad Vashem has revolutionized the approach to Holocaust commemoration. Through its new museum complex, research facilities and the International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem is prepared to meet the challenges of the future and meaningfully impart the legacy of the Holocaust in the 21st century.

At Yad Vashem, education is at the forefront, with the knowledge that reaching educators and younger generations in Israel and abroad is the key to ensuring that such murderous ideologies are buried forever. The multi-disciplinary approach and innovative educational initiatives of Yad Vashem’s School, enrich the knowledge of educators around the globe.

As we remember the events of the Holocaust and the lives, communities and culture destroyed by the Nazis and their collaborators, we remember the human spirit that, although beaten, refused to die. The Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to save Jews, the Jewish partisans and resistance fighters who fought the Germans against all odds, the artists who created astonishing works in the direst conditions, the historians who recorded for posterity the terrible events of their time, the teachers, rabbis and others who continued to care for their children and communities even while all around them the basic tenets of civilization collapsed - the researchers, educators, museums, monuments and memorials at Yad Vashem pay tribute to them all.

Yad Vashem is visited annually by over one million people. More than 7 million visitors are expected to visit www.yadvashem.org in 2007.

Information about the Prince of Asturias Foundation and Awards is available at http://www.fundacionprincipedeasturias.org/ing/index.html

More information about Yad Vashem is available at www.yadvashem.org