German Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander dies aged 103
Margot Friedlander, a German Jew who survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp and became a high-profile witness to Nazi persecution in her final years, has died aged 103.
Her death was announced by the Margot Friedlander Foundation in Berlin on its website.
Details about where she died, as well as the cause of death, were not immediately made public.
She died in the week of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender in the Second World War.
After spending much of her life in the United States, Ms Friedlander returned to live in the German capital in her 80s.
She was honoured with Germany's highest decoration and with a statue at Berlin's City Hall.
'What I do gives me my strength and probably also my energy, because I speak for those who can no longer speak,' Ms Friedlander said at an event at Berlin's Jewish Museum in 2018.
'I would like to say that I don't just speak for the six million Jews who were killed, but for all the people who were killed – innocent people,' she said.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his condolences in a statement, saying she gave Germany reconciliation despite the horrors she went through there in her life.
Mr Steinmeier said the country cannot be grateful enough for her gift.
A report released last month said more than 200,000 Jewish survivors are still alive but 70% of them will be gone within the next 10 years.
Ms Friedlander was born Margot Bendheim on November 5 1921.
Her father, Artur Bendheim, owned a shop in Berlin.
He had fought for Germany and had been decorated in the First World War.
Ms Friedlander recalled that, after the Nazis took power, her father initially said that 'they don't mean us; We're Germans'.
She added that 'we didn't see it until it was too late'.
Ms Friedlander wanted to design clothes and started an apprenticeship as a tailor.
After her parents divorced in 1937, Ms Friedlander, her mother and younger brother went to live with her grandparents.
In 1941, they had to move to a so-called 'Jewish apartment', and Ms Friedlander was forced to work nights at a metal factory.
In January 1943, just as the family was planning to flee Berlin, Ms Friedlander returned home to discover that her brother, Ralph, had been taken away by the Gestapo.
A neighbour told her that her mother had decided to go to the police and 'go with Ralph, wherever that may be'.
She passed on her mother's final message – 'Try to make your life,' which would later become the title of Ms Friedlander's autobiography – along with her handbag.
Ms Friedlander went into hiding, taking off the yellow star that Jews were obliged to wear.
She recalled getting her hair dyed red, reasoning that 'people think Jews don't have red hair'.
She said that 16 people helped keep her under the radar over the next 15 months.
That ended in April 1944 when she was taken in by police after being stopped for an identity check after leaving a bunker following an air raid.
She said she quickly decided to tell the truth and say that she was Jewish.
'The running and hiding was over,' she said.
'I felt separated from the fate of my people. I had felt guilty every day; had I gone with my mother and my brother, I would at least have known what had happened to them.'
Ms Friedlander arrived in June 1944 at the packed Theresienstadt camp.
In the spring of 1945, she recalled later, she saw the arrival of skeletal prisoners who had been forced on to death marches from Auschwitz ahead of that camp's liberation.
'At that moment, we heard of the death camps, and at that moment I understood that I would not see my mother and my brother again,' she said.
Both were killed at the Auschwitz death camp.
Her father had fled in 1939 to Belgium.
He later went to France, where he was interned, before being deported in 1942 to Auschwitz, where he was also killed.
Shortly after the camp's liberation, she married Adolf Friedlander, an acquaintance from Berlin whom she met again at Theresienstadt.
He had a sister in America, and – after months in a camp for displaced persons – they arrived in New York in 1946.
Ms Friedlander stayed away from Germany for 57 years.
She and her husband became US citizens; she worked as a tailor and later ran a travel agency.
Adolf Friedlander died in 1997, aged 87.
Margot returned to Germany for the first time in 2003, when she was received at Berlin's City Hall along with others who had been pushed out by the Nazis.
In 2010, she moved back to the German capital, where she told her story to students and was decorated with, among other things, the country's highest honour, the Order of Merit.
She was made a citizen of honour of Berlin in 2018.
Noting that there were few Holocaust survivors still alive, she told an audience that year: 'I would like you to be the witnesses we can't be for much longer.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
The surrendered sword that gave birth to America returns to Virginia
It was the sword that 'represents the birth of America,' Caroline Stanley, Britain's Countess of Derby and a Cornwallis descendant, said at the museum last week. Advertisement Though they cannot be absolutely certain, experts think this was the sword that signified the end of the Revolutionary War, Morando said, a physical object that symbolized victory over British oppression after six years of bloody conflict. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The sword is part of a new museum exhibition, 'Call to Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War,' that celebrates the Army's 250th birthday Saturday and the nation's 250th next year. The exhibition opened June 7 at the museum in Fort Belvoir, Va., about 15 miles south of D.C. It is set to run through June 2027. The British surrender came as the forces of Washington and his French allies trapped the main part of Cornwallis's Army at Yorktown, a village on the York River in southeastern Virginia. The exhibition includes a large collection of muskets, pistols — two of which belonged to Washington — exquisitely etched powder horns, rare uniforms, tattered battle flags, and mannequins clad in period garb that represent actual war participants. Advertisement The latter include a life-size model of Native American soldier Daniel Nimham, of the Wappinger people, who served in the Stockbridge Indian Company. He, his son, Abraham, and 14 other Indians were killed in an ambush by British Loyalists in 1778, the museum says. One of the faded flags is that of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, which included a large contingent of Black soldiers, many of whom were enslaved and agreed to fight in exchange for their freedom. One of them was Cato Varnum, who is shown as a life-size figure wearing the regiment's white uniform and black hat. He joined the regiment at age 16. Another flag, that of the German Ansbach-Bayreuth Regiment in the employ of the British, was the last banner surrendered at Yorktown, Morando said. The white flag bears the image of the Brandenburg red eagle under the Latin motto 'For the Prince and the Country.' More than 2,000 hired German soldiers surrendered with the British, the museum says. Morando has assembled artifacts from institutions around the country, as well as military museums in Britain, France, and Canada. From Britain came the sword, which has been lent by the countess, who said her family has owned it for generations. She watched last week as it was mounted in a museum display case. Morando said that there is no concrete proof that this was the Cornwallis sword presented at the ceremony but that there is 'a lot of supporting evidence.' Advertisement In paintings depicting the surrender, the sword is 'just a simple British officer's sword. And that's what this is. There's nothing fancy. Just a standard English dress sword from that time period.' 'I honestly believe this is Lord Cornwallis's sword,' he said. 'Whether or not it was the sword that was presented, you can make arguments for and against. Looking at the research, looking at the documents, looking at the images, and paintings, you can make a strong argument that this indeed is the surrender sword.' The countess said, 'It's never left the family.' 'It was always in my father's dressing room,' she said in an interview. 'Probably not being looked after in the way that it should have been looked after. It was in a coat stand with … umbrellas and stuff like that.' 'Even though he knew how important it was … it's always been much more of a sentimental item,' she said. The sword, which is on loan for six months, is believed to have been given to Cornwallis in his youth by an uncle who was a general, she said. The sword dates to the 1750s. By 1781, Cornwallis was 42 and a battle-tested leader when he surrendered his army at Yorktown. The ceremony that Friday afternoon took place in front of thousands of soldiers — victors and vanquished. Washington was present. So was the French commander, Rochambeau. Cornwallis was not. He was either too embarrassed or was ill, historian Jerome A. Greene wrote in his 2005 book 'The Guns of Independence: the Siege of Yorktown, 1781.' Although the countess said, Cornwallis and Washington met privately later, the British general's absence at the surrender annoyed the Americans. Advertisement 'We are not to be surprised that the pride of the British officer is humbled,' wrote James Thacher, a doctor in Washington's Army, according to Greene. 'They have always maintained an exalted opinion of their own military prowess [and viewed] the Americans as a contemptible, undisciplined rabble,' Thacher wrote. Cornwallis instead sent one of his subordinates, Gen. Charles O'Hara. As the ceremony began, O'Hara tried to offer the sword to Rochambeau, even though O'Hara knew Washington was the allied commander, Greene recounted. Rochambeau pointed O'Hara to Washington. But when O'Hara tried to surrender the sword to Washington, the latter directed him to one of his subordinates, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. If Cornwallis was sending a subordinate, he would surrender to a subordinate, Greene wrote. Lincoln took the sword, held it for a moment, and gave it back. A few weeks after the surrender, a French soldier wrote his mother: 'I know now that I have been an actor in events which the world and history will never forget.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
The overlooked Army division that held off the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge during World War II is often associated with the 101st Airborne Division's heroic stand at Bastogne in Belgium. But it was the 28th Infantry Division's tenacious defense at the start of the battle that delayed the Germans long enough to allow the 101st to move into Bastogne. Nicknamed the 'Bloody Bucket' by the Germans for the red keystone patches its soldiers wore on their uniforms, the 28th Infantry Division had just suffered about 5,700 casualties during the grueling battle of the Hürtgen Forest. During the start of the Battle of the Bulge, 28th Division soldiers were outnumbered 10-to-1 by Germans in some areas. Almost immediately, the German advance shattered their lines and communications, leaving the soldiers of the 28th to fight in squad and platoon-sized elements, on their own — arguably more perilous conditions than faced by others who were able to keep their lines together as the Germans came on. Still, they put up a dogged resistance that bought other Army units valuable time. Eventually, their lines broke and the division withdrew West. By the time it was pulled off the front lines in December 1944, only about 200 soldiers remained in the division. 'The Germans basically bypassed many of them and cut them off. Because they had to fight in so many little pieces and parts to the point of being broken down into squad- and platoon-sized elements, that story is a lot harder to tell, it's a lot harder to document as compared to an entire division defending a city like Bastogne,' said Peter G. Knight, director of Historical Studies at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. In honor of the Army's 250th birthday on Saturday, this is the story of the 28th Infantry Division's bravery during the Battle of the Bulge, which has largely been lost to history. 'The 28th Division was incredibly important in delaying the German timetable,' Knight told Task & Purpose. 'If they had not made their delaying action, if they had simply cut tail and tried to retreat instead of fighting them as they did so, then the 101st wouldn't have been able to reach Bastogne.' When the Germans launched their offensive on Dec. 16, 1944, they planned to cross the Meuse River within the first 72 hours of the attack as part of their effort to capture the port of Antwerp in Belgium, thus splitting Allied forces, Knight told Task & Purpose. But the soldiers in the 28th Infantry Division were able to delay the Germans for about three days by holding their ground and trying to inflict as much damage on the overwhelming enemy as possible, Knight said. At the start of the battle, the 28th Infantry Division had already lost about 36% of its total strength from the fighting in the Hürtgen Forest, he said. Nearly all the casualties came from infantry regiments, and the division had lost many of its enlisted leaders and combat-experienced officers. 'And so, these units were newly reconstituted to about 80% strength when the Germans launched their offensive,' Knight said. 'And those units were three regiments that had to cover a 25-mile line of territory along the Luxembourg border with Germany overlooking the Our River. That's nearly four times the doctrinal allowance for a division's coverage.' The soldiers in the division were spread thin because the Allies had not expected the Germans to attack through the Ardennes Forrest, Knight explained. From the very start of the Battle of the Bulge, soldiers with the 28th Infantry Division were plunged into brutal fighting, he said. Pfc. Alexander Hadden of the 112th Infantry Regiment — the division's northernmost unit — later described the German attack on his position in his book Not Me: The World War II Memoir of a Reluctant Rifleman. 'At 0:600 hours, the Germans had struck his outpost, and they knocked it out and stormed the first and third platoon CPs [command posts],' Knight said. 'Hadden wrote that his company commander was killed in the first few minutes of the fighting, and in the ensuing battles – some of it hand-to-hand – the Germans lost 150 men with 73 captured. Meanwhile, Baker Company, his company, had lost 95 men killed, captured, or missing.' Separately, soldiers in the 109th Infantry Regiment expended 280,000 small arms rounds, 5,000 mortar rounds, 3,000 grenades, and 300 bazooka rounds in just three days of fighting, Knight said. For the most part, 28th Infantry soldiers fought as squads or platoons to trade space for time, Knight said. For example, Sgt. J.J. Kuhn, of the division's 110th Infantry Regiment, called in fire and directed machine guns in Marnach, Luxembourg, for two days until his position was overrun by a German Tiger tank, Knight said. Lt. Col. James Rosborough, commander of the 107th Field Artillery Battalion, was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for organizing a counterattack to reach an encircled gun group near Hoscheid, Luxembourg. 'Encountering intense small arms fire, he then fired his submachine gun and directed effective fire of two tanks in eliminating the hostile resistance,' his award citation reads. 'Reaching the battery position, he led a vicious assault upon the numerically superior enemy force, which resulted in 150 Germans killed and 40 prisoners captured.' With the help of the 10th Armored Division, the soldiers in the 28th Infantry Division put up a tenacious defense at Wiltz, Belgium on Dec. 19, that bought enough time for the 101st Airborne Division to move into Bastogne, Knight said. They actually cobbled together units – their own divisional band among other supply units in the area – actually put up a bit of a defense in conjunction with the armored force,' Knight said. 'That last bit of delay bought just enough time, because the 101st arrived in Bastogne on the 19th.' One reason why the 28th Infantry Division was so successful at delaying the attack on Bastogne was that the German tanks could only travel by roads, and that's where the division placed its strongpoints, he said. On Dec. 20, the division was withdrawn from Bastogne to France shortly before the Germans completely encircled the town, Knight said. Over the course of the first few days of fighting, the 28th Infantry Division lost its cohesion, Knight said. It began the battle with close to 16,000 soldiers, but it was reduced to about 200 soldiers when it was pulled off the front lines, with many of its soldiers joining adjacent units. Eventually, both the 112th Infantry Regiment and 109th Field Artillery received a Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award for combat valor a unit can receive. Both were also cited by the Belgian army for their heroism during the Battle of the Bulge, Knight said. The entire 28th Infantry Division received the Croix de Guerre from Luxembourg. 'These were company strong points, and the Germans basically bypassed many of them and cut them off. Because they had to fight in so many little pieces and parts to the point of being broken down into squad- and platoon-sized elements, that story is a lot harder to tell, it's a lot harder to document as compared to an entire division defending a city like Bastogne.' A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops The Navy's new recruiting commercial puts the 'dirt wars' in the past
Miami Herald
9 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Tree cutting reveals forgotten WWII bunker in Poland — but a mystery lingers
In a forest of southern Poland, a team of workers chopped down trees and hauled away bushes to clear a path for a new road. Their efforts revealed a forgotten World War II bunker, previously overlooked by archaeologists — but questions linger. Ahead of highway construction, archaeologists surveyed a stretch of land near Tomaszów Lubelski using light detection and ranging scans. They identified several trenches and other buried earthworks but nothing above ground, the Lublin Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments said in a June 12 Facebook post. With the archaeology survey done, workers began cutting down trees in the forest and soon uncovered a forgotten Soviet bunker from WWII hidden in the overgrown bushes, officials said. Photos show the ruined stone structure, which sat on a hilltop and likely allowed soldiers to observe and attack a nearby road. Originally, the bunker had a square shape, measuring about 18 feet on each side. Based on historical sources, officials identified the structure as a single-room anti-tank bunker, likely armed with an anti-tank gun and occupied by four people. The structure was part of a larger Soviet fortification system, known as the Molotov Line, built in 1939 to 1940 along the border of Nazi-controlled land. The newfound bunker was partially destroyed, likely blown up from the inside either by retreating Soviet soldiers in 1941 or by Polish soldiers after WWII, officials said. The mystery of what exactly happened there lingers. Photos show what remains of the 85-year-old bunker near Tomaszów Lubelski, including its side walls, front face and gun port. Tomaszów Lubelski is a town in southern Poland, near the border with Ukraine and a roughly 185-mile drive southeast from Warsaw. Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from the Lublin Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments.
