Holocaust Survivor Margot Friedländer Passes Away at 103, Leaving a Legacy of Tolerance

Margot Friedländer, a Holocaust survivor who devoted her later years to Holocaust education and remembrance in Germany, has died in Berlin at 103. After decades in New York, she returned to share her experiences and promote tolerance, touching the lives of many.

Margot Friedländer, a Holocaust survivor who spent more than 60 years living in New York City before she returned to Germany in 2010, passed away at the age of 103 in Berlin. Her death on Friday was confirmed by the Margot Friedländer Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting democracy and tolerance.

Friedländer's story is one of resilience and advocacy. For decades, she refrained from discussing her harrowing past until the death of her husband, Eddie, in 1997. After returning to her homeland, she embarked on a mission to educate others about the Holocaust and the importance of tolerance. "It helps me to talk about what happened," she stated during a UNICEF Club event in 2023. Through her storytelling, she inspired young Germans and emphasized the importance of listening to the experiences of survivors.

Friedländer and her husband were wed in a displaced persons camp after WWII, and once settled in New York, they rarely spoke about their traumatic experiences. Eddie was resistant to confronting the memories of the country that took their families. However, after his passing, Margot found the courage to confront her past and began documenting her childhood memories during a memoir-writing class at the 92nd Street Y.

As a prominent advocate for Holocaust remembrance, Friedländer's work culminated in her appearance on the cover of German Vogue in the previous year, exemplifying her status as a celebrated figure among younger generations in Germany. Her legacy of promoting awareness and tolerance through personal narrative will live on through her foundation and the countless individuals she inspired.