102-year-old Holocaust survivor is Vogue cover star
'Don’t look at what separates you. Look at what unites you', says Margot Friedländer, whose entire family was murdered at Auschwitz
An inspiring 102-year-old Holocaust survivor has followed in the footsteps of Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss by gracing the cover of fashion bible Vogue magazine.
Margot Friedländer, born Anni Margot Bendheim in Berlin in 1921, has dedicated her life to Holocaust education through the charitable foundation established in her name. Her entire family was murdered at Auschwitz.
She has been chosen as the cover star of German Vogue’s July/August issue.
Following the war, Margot married her friend Adolf Friedländer and moved to New York. She returned to Berlin at the age of 88, following her husband’s death in 1997.
Reflecting on her cover interview with Margot, journalist Miriam Amro said: “She still remembers exactly how it all started. That’s why she wants to speak. On behalf of the victims who can no longer speak.”
She also writes “Margot’s mother voluntarily surrendered to the Nazis when her younger brother was taken away, leaving Margot behind. In 1943, when she was 21, she had to go into hiding and live underground. Germans helped her, but probably not always without expectations of her. She doesn’t talk about what exactly Margot Friedländer had to endure and put up with.
“She had her nose operated on because she looked “too Jewish”, dyed her hair red and put a necklace with a cross around her neck, just to “Aryanize” herself as much as possible. Despite this, she was discovered by Jewish “captors” in 1944, who betrayed her to the SS and deported her to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.”
The interviewer asks: “Can a person who has experienced all this, who has experienced so much betrayal and disappointment, feel something like happiness?” Margot responds: “Happiness. It is so great. Satisfied, yes. I am satisfied. What more can I ask for from life?”
In 2022, Margot Friedländer received an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin’s department of history and cultural studies for her services as a contemporary witness. Her biography, “Try to make your life” is in its 17th edition.
From this year, Margot’s foundation will be awarding the Margot Friedländer Prize, honouring young people and adults for exemplary commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, racism, exclusion and xenophobia, as well as for freedom and democracy.
To read the full article in Vogue Germany, click here.
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