TOMI REICHENTAL AWARDED THE INAUGURAL VOXPRO DIPLOMAT GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2014

20th October 2014

The VoxPro Diplomat Global Achievement Award 2014 was presented to Tomi Reichental this evening by the Founders and Directors of VoxPro, Dan and Linda Kiely, on board the Irish Naval ship LE Samuel Beckett in the presence of the Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney TD, and almost 100 Ambassadors and Honorary Consuls.

Tomi Reichental, who was born in 1935, is one of only two Holocaust survivors left in Ireland. Tomi came to Ireland in the late 1950’s and became a full citizen in 1977. He remained silent about his experiences for over fifty years, like many survivors, before deciding that he had to bear witness to what he had seen. In October 2011, Tomi published his first book “I was a boy in Belsen”, and he is currently in the process of writing his second book. Since breaking his silence he has been on a mission of remembrance and now speaks about his experiences to Leaving Certificate students in schools all over Ireland.

This is the inaugural year of the VoxPro Diplomat Global Achievement Award which seeks to recognise someone that has made an exceptional and outstanding contribution to life. Dan Kiely, CEO Voxpro said, "VoxPro is delighted to sponsor this unique award which accepts nominations from all the international countries with a diplomatic presence in Ireland. Tomi Reichental’s story is a story of the past but it is also an inspirational story for our times. Tomi’s very powerful story has focused our hearts and minds on a man who has lived through a very real and life changing experience.”

Announcing the award recipient Linda Kiely, Founder and Director, Voxpro said “In acknowledging this great man with his 55 years of Irishness, we see a man who took the courageous step in speaking out. He has said publicly - “I must speak out. I owed it to the victims that their memory is not forgotten.””

The VoxPro Diplomat Global Achievement Award 2014 citation reads:
For his endurance of the loss of family at Bergen Belsen concentration camp, for his survival of the horror of the Holocaust;

For his silent heroism and his unstinting passion in the search for truth and reconciliation;
For his untiring commitment to furthering mutual understanding, as evidenced by this commitment to promoting a powerful message of tolerance, respect for difference and the rejection of all forms of racism and discrimination;

The recipient of The Voxpro Diplomat Global Achievement Award 2014 is Tomi Reichental.

ENDS

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