Shoah | Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer dies

Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer has died. She died on Friday at the age of 103, the Margot Friedländer Foundation in Berlin announced. "With her death, Germany loses an important voice in contemporary history," the foundation stated. She made a public appearance in Berlin on Wednesday of this week. "Her last public words at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war on May 7, 2025, in Berlin City Hall were: 'For you. Be human. That is what I ask you to do: Be human!'" the statement continued.

Friedländer, who came from a Jewish family and was persecuted by the Nazis, returned to Germany in old age after six decades as an emigrant in New York. Since then, she has tirelessly campaigned against forgetting. She regularly told her story in schools.

»One of the strongest voices«

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated: "The news of Margot Friedländer's death fills me with deep sadness. She gave our country reconciliation – despite everything the Germans did to her as a young person. We cannot be grateful enough for this gift." At Platform X, Chancellor Friedrich Merz called Friedländer "one of the strongest voices of our time: for peaceful coexistence, against anti-Semitism and forgetting." Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) also praised Friedländer's commitment to preventing forgetting.

Grand Cross of Merit was intended for her

On Friday, Friedländer was supposed to receive the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at a public ceremony. However, the ceremony was canceled. Friedländer also did not participate in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation from fascism on Thursday. Friedländer had already received numerous honors in recent years.

Family murdered in Auschwitz

Margot Friedländer was born into a Jewish family in 1921. Her mother and brother were deported from Berlin and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Thanks to the help of many people, she was initially able to go into hiding, but was then captured and deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. She survived, as did her future husband, with whom she eventually immigrated to the United States.

Friedländer's immediate family survived the Holocaust. Nevertheless, at almost 88, after the death of her husband, she returned to her hometown, Berlin. She returned to the country of the perpetrators and yet said: "Hate is foreign to me." At 96, she became an honorary citizen of Berlin. In 2023, she founded the Margot Friedländer Foundation.

Reminder and obligation

Friedländer's legacy is both a warning and an obligation, declared Federal President Steinmeier. This is especially true at a time when democracy is being challenged and anti-Semitism is once again blatant. It remains "our responsibility never to let the Jewish community in our country down again." He himself had the good fortune to meet Friedländer often, the Federal President continued.

"A society without them is hard to imagine"

The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, said Friedländer made humanity her central concern. "She was not only a warning voice of our time, but also possessed the gift of always seeing the best in those around her. I can hardly imagine a society without her." The World Jewish Congress also paid tribute to Friedländer. President Ronald Lauder declared in New York that Friedländer was a "woman of unshakable moral courage" and a voice of remembrance for generations. dpa/nd