From BZ/dpa
Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer expressed her disappointment about the effects of the Gaza war in Berlin.
When asked how she feels if Jewish institutions in Berlin become targets of attacks again, the 101-year-old told broadcaster rbb88.8: “I am disappointed that so many have become infected and are rebelling. […] You try to erase what was. This is incredibly disappointing for us.”
As a contemporary witness, she received hundreds of thanks from students. “You listen to me and write to me: ‘You can rely on us!’ And then this happens. It’s disappointing.”
Friedländer called for humanity: “We are all equal – there is no Christian, Muslim or Jewish blood. There is only human blood. You all have the same thing. (…) Be human!”
Margot Friedländer was born in Berlin in 1921. In 1944 she was deported by the National Socialists to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. After her liberation, she lived in the USA for 64 years before returning to Berlin at the age of 88. As a contemporary witness, she strives to shed light on the crimes of the Nazi era and promotes tolerance and respect.
Friedländer recently founded a foundation to promote freedom and democracy. “We can no longer change what happened, but it must never happen again,” she said at its presentation in Berlin in September 2023.