August 11th, 2011

Noach Flug has died

It is with great sadness that the International Auschwitz Committee has to make the following announcement: the President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Noach Flug, has died at the age of 86 in Jerusalem following a short, serious illness. Noach Flug was born in 1925 in Lodz. Together with his Jewish family, the young Noach was forced to move to the Lodz ghetto by the German Nazis and was later deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. He was liberated at the age of 20 on 6 May 1945 at Ebensee concentration camp in Austria. He weighed 32 kilos. After his liberation, Noach Flug studied economics in Warsaw. In 1958 he emigrated with his family to Jerusalem. He was an active member of the State of Israel's diplomatic service until his retirement.

In 2002 Noach Flug was elected President of the International Auschwitz Committee by the survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. He dedicated his tireless work, also as President of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, above all to the remembrance of the murdered victims and to the living conditions of the survivors: he did not view the financial compensation for all of the survivors of slave labour as primarily a matter of money; in Noch Flug's eyes, it was a mission resulting from the dignity and the vulnerability of the affected people as well as their deep wish for justice.

Together with his Polish and French friends, Noach Flug worked hard for the preservation and the future educational work of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. In his eyes, the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim/Auschwitz, which was built from many donations and financial support from the German Federal Government, provided the most significant evidence of German foreign policy's ability to remember and its future viability.

Noach Flug was never hounded by his past. His character was shaped by friendliness and human kindness: transforming the darkness of history to strengthen democracy, to combat anti-Semitism and racism, and to promote tolerance amongst people – this was the source of his strength and inspiration. Together with his wife Dorotha, who also survived Auschwitz, he spoke with young people throughout the world. And they told them about their experiences, without aggression or bitterness.

In 2006, Germany's Federal President, Horst Köhler, awarded Noach Flug the Grand Federal Order of Merit: his close relations with German institutions and German friends were always important to him and a constant source of pleasure. The world has grown darker and emptier without Noach Flug.

Noach Flug will be laid to rest this afternoon in Jerusalem. In due course, the International Auschwitz Committee will be holding a memorial ceremony for Nocah Flug in Berlin.

Christoph Heubner
Executive Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee

For more details please phone : ++49 172 393 22 62

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