Professor Yehuda Bauer, Israel was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by His Majesty King Harald the Fifth during his recent visit to Oslo in connection with the meeting of the Holocaust Task Force (ITF) under Norwegian chairmanship. Professor Bauer is Honorary Chair of the Task Force for Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) and is one of the founders of ITF. The Order of Merit was presented by the Chancellor of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, Mr. Øystein Braathen. The award ceremony took place at the Norwegian Government’s Guest House in Oslo on 24 June.
The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit was founded by the late king Olav the Fifth and was awarded to professor Yehuda Bauer for his particularly meritorious services to mankind.
In his speech, Mr. Braathen said that His Majesty the King had awarded the order to professor Yehuda Bauer in acknowledgement of his humanitarian work related to racism, Anti-Semitism and genocide and had appointed him Commander of the Order of Merit.
The former speaker of the Norwegian parliament, Mr. Jo Benkow and the Norwegian Chair of the Holocaust Task Force, Ambassador Tom Vraalsen, representatives of the 27 member countries of the ITF and representatives of the Jewish community in Norway were present at the ceremony.