Verleihung des Zivilcourage Preises 2019 bei KSM

Hildesheim, 3. December 2019: Ceremony of Civil Courage award 2019 at KSM

Civil courage cannot be taken for granted. It requires sensibility and the willingness to intervene in threatening situations at its sole responsibility.

Every year, Hildesheim County awards the “Prize for Civil Courage” for the selfless commitment for other people. Also in 2019, the ceremony took place at the KSM Castings Group GmbH in Hildesheim. This is the place where the award is produced.

This year‘s prizewinners are Anna Sidorova and Erna Rennich. Both were present at the headquarters of the KSM Castings Group in Hildesheim and left their handprints as model for the prize that is individually produced for each awardee.

In December 2018, Erna Rennich watched the brutal attack of a man against a young woman. She vigorously shouted at him to stop his attacks immediately. He then pushed her to the ground and escaped. On the very evening, Anna Sidorova was faced with a similar situation. The same offender again attacked the woman. Sidorova yelled at him to stop the attack and made an emergency call. She stayed with the  injured woman until the rescue team arrived.

„Maybe not spectacular, but exactly right“, commended County Commissioner Olaf Levonen the behavior of both citizens of Hildesheim during the ceremony in the training workshop at KSM Castings. Chief Police Officer Uwe lppensen added that Anna Sidorova was of great help because she did not leave alone the victim. In addition, he announced that the offender could be identified.

Immediately after being officially honored, a mold of each hand was produced in the company-own training workshop, casted with aluminum alloy and finally placed on a socket. Thus, the awardees could receive this individual prize after the ceremony. “The own hand symbolizes in a very special way civil courageous acting”, said Enrico Garbelmann, who is responsible for the idea and design of the annual award.

Picture: (from left to right) Manuel Duarte, Head of Works Council at KSM, Rainer Block, Major of Bockenem, County Commissioner Olaf Levonen, Anna Sidorova, Enrico Garbelmann, artist and idea provider, Erna Rennich, Uwe Ippensen, Chief Police Officer of the Police department in Hildesheim, Matthias Kaufmann, CEO KWG, Dr. Zhihua Zhu, CEO KSM, Thomas Buschjohann, Engineering Manager KSM, Christian Pape, Plant Manager KSM. Absence: Jörg Gustke, Head of Industrial Training at KSM.

Background: The KSM Castings Group is a leading producer of automotive lightweight components for chassis, transmissions, engines and e-mobility. Specialized in aluminum and magnesium components, KSM strives for the top position in both technology and quality. As an important supplier to the global automotive industry, the company is already among the top employers. Reliable partnerships, customer orientation and cost effectiveness are essential key points of the company’s strategy. The basis, however, are first-class employees.

KSM operates nine production plants in Germany, Czech Republic, USA and China with a total of approximately 3,500 employees. Among its customers are the major automotive producers and automotive suppliers like Volkswagen, Daimler AG, ZF, Benteler and Bosch. In 2018, the company group achieved a turnover of approximately 539 million EUR.

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