IAC :: Remember the past, be responsible for the future

Stauffenbergstraße 13/14
10785 Berlin
Germany

fon: ++ 49 (030) 26 39 26 81
Telefax: ++ 49 (030) 26 39 26 83

URI: https://www.auschwitz.info/

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Welcome!

The International Auschwitz Committee is an association of Auschwitz survivors and their organizations. The International Auschwitz Committee unites organizations, foundations and Holocaust survivors from 19 countries. The office of the IAC is located in Berlin. The current president of the IAC is Auschwitz survivor Marian Turski, Warsaw.

 
16.6.2023: Presentation of the model of the sculpture "A Bench for Justin Sonder" at the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin by Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President International Auschwitz Committee, and Rostock sculptor Julia Kausch. Photo: Eva Oertwig /SCHROEWIG/IAK
16.6.2023: Presentation of the model of the sculpture "A Bench for Justin Sonder" at the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin by Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President International Auschwitz Committee, and Rostock sculptor Julia Kausch. Photo: Eva Oertwig /SCHROEWIG/IAK  

23.6.2023

Donation appeal for IAC project: A bench for Justin Sonder

The survivors of the Holocaust are also asking themselves about the level of awareness that their educational and remembrance efforts have actually produced over the past decades. In this respect the Chemnitz Auschwitz survivor, Justin Sonder, spoke on behalf of them all in one of his last accounts of his memories, which he delivered in 2020 under the title ‘What have I achieved?’

A major response to Justin Sonder’s question can be seen in the many initiatives by Holocaust survivors to utilize public space as remembrance space, and not to abandon it to the rantings and hate speech of right-wing extremism.

This too is reason enough for the International Auschwitz Committee remember Justin Sonder in Chemnitz. He was born there into a Jewish family in 1925 and, after his liberation from Auschwitz and other camps, was one of the few German Jews to return directly to his home town: he didn’t want to relinquish Chemnitz to the Nazis and their legacy. And this needs to apply equally after Justin Sonder’s death in 2021. Especially in Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025, which is a recurring focal point of xenophobic, anti-Semitic and extreme far-right incidents.

It is to this city that we are donating a bench, on which Justin Sonder is sitting with his inquiring and caring gaze directed towards the former Jewish junior school and the people who want to sit down next to him and learn something about his life story and the causes of his persecution. The bench and the bronze figure are being financed with donations from many well-wishing private individuals and institutions. The project was first announced together with the city of Chemnitz and Justin Sonder’s daughter in January 2023.

The cost of the sculpture is 70,000 euros. 20,000 euros has already been collected by the International Auschwitz Committee.

We kindly ask you to donate for this important project with a political signal effect.

Donations can be made to the following account:

International Auschwitz Committee
Postbank Berlin
BIC: PBNKDEFF
IBAN: DE29 1001 0010 0575 6861 06
Purpose of payment: Justin Sonder

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Alexei Anatoljewitsch Navalny. Photo: pa/dpa/Alexej Navalny
Alexei Anatoljewitsch Navalny. Photo: pa/dpa/Alexej Navalny 

17.2.2024

Marian Turski on the death of Alexei Navalny

In the tradition of our European civilization - Prometheus was the first to sacrifice himself for the sake of humanity. The recent one is Alexei Navalny.

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Ceremonial opening of the Gerhard Richter Birkenau Pavilion by Mrs. Sabine Moritz-Richter, wife of the artist, and Wolfgang Schmidt, Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs. Photo: Michèle Déodat, IAK Berlin
Ceremonial opening of the Gerhard Richter Birkenau Pavilion by Mrs. Sabine Moritz-Richter, wife of the artist, and Wolfgang Schmidt, Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs. Photo: Michèle Déodat, IAK Berlin 

9.2.2024

Opening of the Gerhard Richter Birkenau Pavilion

A powerful signal against oblivion: In Oswiecim/Auschwitz the Birkenau Paintings by Gerhard Richter are now accessible to the public. The four world-famous works by the artist are being displayed in a pavilion built specifically for this purpose.

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German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Marian Turski looking together at photographs taken by the German military hospital nurse Helmy Spethmann in the Warsaw Ghetto. Photograph: Bundesregierung/Jesco Denzel
German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Marian Turski looking together at photographs taken by the German military hospital nurse Helmy Spethmann in the Warsaw Ghetto. Photograph: Bundesregierung/Jesco Denzel 

27.1.2024

taz interview with Marian Turski about ghetto photos

Marian Turski (98), President of the International Auschwitz Committee, and Chairman of the POLIN Museum Council, appeals to Germans to rescue Holocaust documents.

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Still from the Soviet film on the liberation of Auschwitz, recorded by the film crew of the First Ukrainian Front. Surviving children of Auschwitz stand behind a barbed wire fence wearing adult-size prisoner uniforms. Shown here in this picture: Tomasz Szwarz; Alicja Gruenbaum; Solomon Rozalin; Gita Sztrauss; Wiera Sadler; Marta Wiess; Boro Eksztein; Josef Rozenwaser; Rafael Szlezinger; Gabriel Nejman; Adek Apfelbaum; Hillik (later Harold) Apfelbaum; Mark Berkowitz (a twin); Pesa Balter; Rut Muszkies (later Webber); Miriam Friedman; and the twins Miriam Mozes and Eva Mozes with knitted hats. Author: Alexander Voronzov and others from his group, commissioned by Mikhail Oshurkov, head of the photographic unit of the First Ukrainian Front. Copyright: in the public domain of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, with kind permission from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, via Wikimedia. Colouring: KGS/IAK Berlin
Still from the Soviet film on the liberation of Auschwitz, recorded by the film crew of the First Ukrainian Front. Surviving children of Auschwitz stand behind a barbed wire fence wearing adult-size prisoner uniforms. Shown here in this picture: Tomasz Szwarz; Alicja Gruenbaum; Solomon Rozalin; Gita Sztrauss; Wiera Sadler; Marta Wiess; Boro Eksztein; Josef Rozenwaser; Rafael Szlezinger; Gabriel Nejman; Adek Apfelbaum; Hillik (later Harold) Apfelbaum; Mark Berkowitz (a twin); Pesa Balter; Rut Muszkies (later Webber); Miriam Friedman; and the twins Miriam Mozes and Eva Mozes with knitted hats. Author: Alexander Voronzov and others from his group, commissioned by Mikhail Oshurkov, head of the photographic unit of the First Ukrainian Front. Copyright: in the public domain of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, with kind permission from the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, via Wikimedia. Colouring: KGS/IAK Berlin 

26.1.2024

79th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee made the following statement about tomorrow’s 79th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz:

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19 January 2024: On the Jungfernsteig in Hamburg tens of thousands have demonstrated against right-wing extremism. The rally "Hamburg arise – against far-right extremism and neo-Nazi networks" was initiated by Entrepreneurs without Frontiers, the Northern Evangelical Church and the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). Photograph: ZDF.de
19 January 2024: On the Jungfernsteig in Hamburg tens of thousands have demonstrated against right-wing extremism. The rally "Hamburg arise – against far-right extremism and neo-Nazi networks" was initiated by Entrepreneurs without Frontiers, the Northern Evangelical Church and the German Trade Union Federation (DGB). Photograph: ZDF.de 

20.1.2024

A powerful signal sent out by the citizens and a boost for democracy

Commenting in Berlin on the numerous demonstrations against the far-right in Germany, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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13.1.2024

Invitation to Holocaust Remembrance Day in Wolfsburg on 24 January 2024

The City of Wolfsburg and the International Auschwitz Committee together with all participating organizations invite you to a commemorative event on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust.

Venue
Hallenbad-Kultur am Schachtweg
Wolfsburg

Date
Wednesday, 24 January 2024

Registration
Please send your registration by January 15, 2024 by email to
amelie.dahmer(iak)stadt-wolfsburg.de or by telephone on 0157 1047507.

Download Invitation and Programm in German (pdf)

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At the end of last year high-level AfD politicians, business representatives and right-wing extremists met in Potsdam to discuss the ‘remigration’, i.e. the expulsion, of millions of people from Germany. Politicians from the other parties are warning about the increasingly visible ties between the AfD and the extreme right-wing spectrum, and have condemned the meeting. Image: Wikipedia, booking.com, collage: KGS/IAK Berlin
At the end of last year high-level AfD politicians, business representatives and right-wing extremists met in Potsdam to discuss the ‘remigration’, i.e. the expulsion, of millions of people from Germany. Politicians from the other parties are warning about the increasingly visible ties between the AfD and the extreme right-wing spectrum, and have condemned the meeting. Image: Wikipedia, booking.com, collage: KGS/IAK Berlin 

12.1.2024

Holocaust survivors are appalled: right-wing extremist plans re-awaken grim memories.

Commenting in Berlin on the AfD’s participation in the discussion of right-wing extremist expulsion plans, Christoph Heubner, the executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Farmers protest on 8 January 2024 – A gallows with traffic light and federal German flag on nationwide farmers’ campaign day with demonstrations against the federal government’s current agricultural policy. Blockaded Juri-Gagarin-Ring in Erfurt Thüringia, Germany. Photograph: IMAGO/Paul-Philipp Braun
Farmers protest on 8 January 2024 – A gallows with traffic light and federal German flag on nationwide farmers’ campaign day with demonstrations against the federal government’s current agricultural policy. Blockaded Juri-Gagarin-Ring in Erfurt Thüringia, Germany. Photograph: IMAGO/Paul-Philipp Braun  

9.1.2024

Holocaust survivors are shocked at the brutalization of political dialogue and current strategies of extreme right-wing parties in Europe.

Commenting on the brutalization of political dialogue and the current strategies of extreme right-wing parties in Europe, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Petra (l.) and Franz Michalski (r.) during a reading from his book. The Shoah survivor Franz Michalski has died aged 89. Photograph: Jüdische Allgemeine, Maria Ugoljew
Petra (l.) and Franz Michalski (r.) during a reading from his book. The Shoah survivor Franz Michalski has died aged 89. Photograph: Jüdische Allgemeine, Maria Ugoljew 

3.1.2024

Shoah survivor Franz Michalski has died

Franz Michalski died in Berlin just a few days ago. Together with his wife Petra, he was one of those tireless witnesses of the times in Berlin who gave accounts, especially to young people, telling about their memories and experiences in the years of National Socialist persecution, and about the anti-Semitic hatred that repeatedly confronted them and their family.

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According to his family, Dr Wolfgang Schäuble died on Boxing Day evening, 2023. Photograph: Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG
According to his family, Dr Wolfgang Schäuble died on Boxing Day evening, 2023. Photograph: Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG 

27.12.2023

IAC mourns the loss of Wolfgang Schäuble

In Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute to Wolfgang Schäuble as follows:

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From 1957 to 1993 the Dutch domestic security service was located in this red-brick building on President Kennedylaan in Den Haag. It was later demolished. Photograph: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2016/11/veiligheids--en-inlichtingendiensten-speelbal-van-verschillende-belangen, KGS IAK Berlin.
From 1957 to 1993 the Dutch domestic security service was located in this red-brick building on President Kennedylaan in Den Haag. It was later demolished. Photograph: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2016/11/veiligheids--en-inlichtingendiensten-speelbal-van-verschillende-belangen, KGS IAK Berlin. 

25.12.2023

Jewish Auschwitz survivors and the Auschwitz Committee in the Netherlands spied on by the forerunner of today’s Dutch domestic security service.

As late as into the 1980s, the Dutch domestic security service spied on Jewish Auschwitz survivors in the Netherlands, including their involvement in the Dutch Auschwitz Committee which was founded in 1956 and considered a ‘danger to democracy’.

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Witness supporter Ursula Wirth accompanies the witness Józef Kral. Józef Kral was born in 1910 in Wartogłowiec (now Poland). The Gestapo arrested him in Vienna in February 1940, and he was deported to Auschwitz at the end of June 1941. At his hearing as a witness in May 1964, Józef Kral was 54 years old and lived in Kraków, Poland where he worked as an architect. A total of 360 witnesses were heard in the course of the Auschwitz trials. 211 of them were Auschwitz survivors. Photograph: http://www.auschwitz-prozess-frankfurt.de/index.php?id=36
Witness supporter Ursula Wirth accompanies the witness Józef Kral. Józef Kral was born in 1910 in Wartogłowiec (now Poland). The Gestapo arrested him in Vienna in February 1940, and he was deported to Auschwitz at the end of June 1941. At his hearing as a witness in May 1964, Józef Kral was 54 years old and lived in Kraków, Poland where he worked as an architect. A total of 360 witnesses were heard in the course of the Auschwitz trials. 211 of them were Auschwitz survivors. Photograph: www.auschwitz-prozess-frankfurt.de/index.php 

19.12.2023

60 years since the start of the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials on 20 December 1963

Today, Auschwitz survivors around the world are remembering the First Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial which began sixty years ago on 20 December 1963. In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Ceremony for lighting the Hanukkah candles, organised by Chabad Lubawitsch. The ceremony was interrupted by the MP Grzegorz Braun, member of the far-right monarchist party Confederation of the Polish Crown. He put out the candles with a fire extinguisher. Image: Imago/Adam Chelstowski / Forum
Ceremony for lighting the Hanukkah candles, organised by Chabad Lubawitsch. The ceremony was interrupted by the MP Grzegorz Braun, member of the far-right monarchist party Confederation of the Polish Crown. He put out the candles with a fire extinguisher. Image: Imago/Adam Chelstowski / Forum 

12.12.2023

Anti-Semitic attack by Polish Sejm MP Grzegorz Braun

Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, made a clear statement condemning today’s anti-Semitic attack by MP Grzegorz Braun in the Polish parliament during a Hanukkah celebration:

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Dairy billionaire Theo Müller owns, among other things, brands such as Müllermilch, Landliebe and Weihenstephan. For the first time, he now confirms a meeting with AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel. Image: imago images/Robert Michael
Dairy billionaire Theo Müller owns, among other things, brands such as Müllermilch, Landliebe and Weihenstephan. For the first time, he now confirms a meeting with AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel. Image: imago images/Robert Michael 

5.12.2023

IAC criticises indifferent wait-and-see attitude towards the AfD by large sections of the German business community

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the current debate about the indifferent wait-and-see attitude towards the AfD by large sections of the German business community:

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28 November 2023: Presentation of the Charlotte Petersen Medal 2023 in Dillenburg. Left to right: Professor Sascha Feuchert (speaker), Michael Lotz, Mayor of Dillenburg, Christophh Heubner, author and Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Achim Wendel, Dillenburg city councillor. Photograph: Christine Bahl
28 November 2023: Presentation of the Charlotte Petersen Medal 2023 in Dillenburg. Left to right: Professor Sascha Feuchert (speaker), Michael Lotz, Mayor of Dillenburg, Christophh Heubner, author and Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Achim Wendel, Dillenburg city councillor. Photograph: Christine Bahl 

28.11.2023

Christoph Heubner is awarded Charlotte Petersen Medal 2023

On 28 November 2023, Christoph Heubner, author and Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee was awarded the Charlotte Petersen Medal 2023 by the town of Dillenburg and the Society for Christian-Jewish Co-operation in Dillenburg. He received the award for his long-standing commitment to combatting anti-Semitism and right-wing radicalism, as well as for preserving the memories of the Holocaust survivors.

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21 November 2023: This morning state-wide raids took place in Bavaria against people who are spreading hate speech and threats against Jews online. Police searched the homes of 17 suspects. Image: BR24
21 November 2023: This morning state-wide raids took place in Bavaria against people who are spreading hate speech and threats against Jews online. Police searched the homes of 17 suspects. Image: BR24 

21.11.2023

Bavarian criminal investigation office launches police raids against anti-Semitic hate speech and threats targeting Jews online

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on today’s police raids initiated by Bavaria’s criminal investigation office and directed against anti-Semitic hate speech and incitement to violence on the internet:

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National Socialist boycott targeting Jewish businesses in Germany. Members of the SA put up posters on the widow of a Jewish shop in Berlin. The slogan: “Germans, fight back, don’t buy from Jews!” Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14468 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons
National Socialist boycott targeting Jewish businesses in Germany. Members of the SA put up posters on the widow of a Jewish shop in Berlin. The slogan: “Germans, fight back, don’t buy from Jews!” Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14468 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons 

8.11.2023

Statement marking the 85th anniversary of the nationwide November Pogrom launched by the Nazis on 9 November 1938

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, made a statement in remembrance of the upcoming 85th anniversary of the November Pogrom, which started on the night of 9 November 1938. He said:

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Cologne, November 2023. The International Auschwitz Committee (IAC) awards the Statue of Remembrance, depicting the inverted B, to the artist Gerhard Richter in his studio in Cologne. Michèle Déodat (the artist who was inspired to design the statue), Marian Turski (President of the IAC), Gerhard Richter (artist), Christoph Heubner (Executive Vice President of the IAC). Photograph: Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG
Cologne, November 2023. The International Auschwitz Committee (IAC) awards the Statue of Remembrance, depicting the inverted B, to the artist Gerhard Richter in his studio in Cologne. Michèle Déodat (the artist who was inspired to design the statue), Marian Turski (President of the IAC), Gerhard Richter (artist), Christoph Heubner (Executive Vice President of the IAC). Photograph: Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG 

6.11.2023

Gerhard Richter is honoured with the International Auschwitz Committee’s Gift of Remembrance Award

Berlin/Cologne. The International Auschwitz Committee (IAC) has honoured the Gerhard Richter as ‘artist, German, and as citizen’ by awarding him a statue of the inverted B in his studio in Cologne.

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The Anne Frank Day Care Centre in Tangerhütte, Saxony-Anhalt. Image: KGS/IAK Berlin
The Anne Frank Day Care Centre in Tangerhütte, Saxony-Anhalt. Image: KGS/IAK Berlin 

5.11.2023

Open letter on the planned renaming of the Anne Frank Day Care Centre in Tangerhütte, Saxony-Anhalt.

While visiting Magdeburg as the recipient of the Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Presentation of the Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize 2023 awarded to Christoph Heubner (Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee - IAC) in the Johanniskirche church, Magdeburg, on 4 November 2023. Left to right: Superintendent Stephan Hoenen, prize winner Christoph Heubner, his spouse Michèle Déodat, Martin Kreyssig (Lothar Kreyssig’s grandson) Photograph: IAK /Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG News & Images
Presentation of the Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize 2023 awarded to Christoph Heubner (Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee - IAC) in the Johanniskirche church, Magdeburg, on 4 November 2023. Left to right: Superintendent Stephan Hoenen, prize winner Christoph Heubner, his spouse Michèle Déodat, Martin Kreyssig (Lothar Kreyssig’s grandson) Photograph: IAK /Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG News & Images 

5.11.2023

Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize for Christoph Heubner.

This year’s Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize was awarded to the historian and writer Christoph Heubner in the Johanniskirche church, Magdeburg.

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Kurt Julius Goldstein, Jew, German, communist, Auschwitz survivor and honorary president of the International Auschwitz Committee, Berlin. Image: IAK Archiv 2004
Kurt Julius Goldstein, Jew, German, communist, Auschwitz survivor and honorary president of the International Auschwitz Committee, Berlin. Image: IAK Archiv 2004 

3.11.2023

Street naming for Kurt Goldstein postponed by Dortmund-Scharnhorst district authority

A few days ago, following the intervention of an AfD representative and the petition of a CDU representative, the local assembly in Dortmund-Scharnhorst decided to postpone the planned naming of a street after Kurt Goldstein who was born in 1914 in Scharnhorst, was a resistance fighter against fascism and the Nazi regime, and honorary president of the International Auschwitz Committee. The reason behind the decision was to carry out an investigation into Goldstein’s political and personal life, and especially his life in the GDR.

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Bitterfeld-Wolfen Town Hall. Image: mdr.de, IAK Berlin, KGS
Bitterfeld-Wolfen Town Hall. Image: mdr.de, IAK Berlin, KGS 

7.10.2023

Auschwitz Committee commends commitment to democracy in Bitterfeld-Wolfen

Commenting in Berlin on tomorrow’s run-off election for the mayor of Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Saxony-Anhalt, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Hamas launches massive attack on Israel. Image: Adobe Express, SCHROEWIG News & Images, KGS
Hamas launches massive attack on Israel. Image: Adobe Express, SCHROEWIG News & Images, KGS 

7.10.2023

Hamas launches massive attack on Israel

In response to the massive attack by the Palestinian military group Hamas on Israel, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said in Berlin:

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Jewish refugees aboard a Danish fishing boat in 1943. Photograph: imago / United Archives International
Jewish refugees aboard a Danish fishing boat in 1943. Photograph: imago / United Archives International 

4.10.2023

80th anniversary of the rescue operations for Danish-Jewish families

80th anniversary of the unique rescue operations to save the vast majority of Denmark’s Jewish families from deportation to German concentration and extermination camps.

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In the election for mayor in Nordhausen none of the six candidates has won the necessary 50-per cent of the votes. That is why there will be a run-off election between Jörg Prophet, AfD, and the current independent officeholder Kai Buchmann on 24 September. Image: mdr.de
In the election for mayor in Nordhausen none of the six candidates has won the necessary 50-per cent of the votes. That is why there will be a run-off election between Jörg Prophet, AfD, and the current independent officeholder Kai Buchmann on 24 September. Image: mdr.de 

18.9.2023

CDU election successes with the AfD in Thuringia unmask the ‘firewall’ as an empty hypocritical phrase.

Commenting on the political situation in Thuringia and the upcoming run-off election for the office of mayor in Nordhausen, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Greeting message from Mariam Turski, Auschwitz survivor and president of the International Auschwitz Committee on the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah. Image: Adobe Stock, Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG, KGS/IAK Berlin
Greeting message from Mariam Turski, Auschwitz survivor and president of the International Auschwitz Committee on the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah. Image: Adobe Stock, Eva Oertwig/SCHROEWIG, KGS/IAK Berlin 

14.9.2023

IAC President Marian Turski sends wishes for the Jewish New Year

My Dear Friends,

This year it is not easy for me to say the words of the traditional - known for centuries- Jewish New Year’s wishes : Shana Tovah U´metuka! It means: have a good and sweet new year! The most important thing I do wish to all of us  is:
Peace! To our Nations, to Europe, to the World! The soonest - to Ukraine !

Your Marian Turski

Auschwitz-Survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee

To message ...

 
Eva Fahidi, Hungarian-Jewish Auschwitz survivor. Photograph: imago/ZUMA Press
Eva Fahidi, Hungarian-Jewish Auschwitz survivor. Photograph: imago/ZUMA Press 

11.9.2023

The Hungarian-Jewish Auschwitz survivor Eva Fahidi died this morning in Budapest aged 97.

It is with deep sadness, profound gratitude and greatest respect that Auschwitz survivors around the world are now bidding farewell to their fellow sufferer, friend and long-time companion, Eva Fahidi, who died today in Budapest at the age of 97.

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Born in Bonn and murdered in Berlin-Plötzensee on 7 September 1943: the pianist Karlrobert Kreiten performing in 1941. Photograph: Avi/Gilbert von Studnitz, KGS/IAK Berlin
Born in Bonn and murdered in Berlin-Plötzensee on 7 September 1943: the pianist Karlrobert Kreiten performing in 1941. Photograph: Avi/Gilbert von Studnitz, KGS/IAK Berlin 

6.9.2023

Remembering the pianist Karlrobert Kreiten who was murdered in Berlin-Plötzensee on 7 September 1943

He was 27 years old and was highly recognised as one of the greatest German talents when he was murdered by hanging from a meat hook, 80 years ago, on 7 September 1943 in Berlin-Plötzensee: the pianist Karlrobert Kreiten.

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On 24 September 2023 Christoph Heubner will be presenting the Polish translation of his book Durch die Knochen bis ins Herz at the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim. The book is being published by the renowned Jewish publisher austeria wydawnictwo in Kraków under the title W samo serce. Image: KGS/IAK Berlin
On 24 September 2023 Christoph Heubner will be presenting the Polish translation of his book Durch die Knochen bis ins Herz at the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim. The book is being published by the renowned Jewish publisher austeria wydawnictwo in Kraków under the title W samo serce. Image: KGS/IAK Berlin 

6.9.2023

Invitation to the book presentation of W samo serce by Christoph Heubner on 24 September 2023

On 24 September Christoph Heubner will be presenting the Polish translation of his book Durch die Knochen bis ins Herz at the International Youth Meeting Center (IMYC) in Oswiecim. The book is being published in Kraków by the renowned Jewish publisher austeria wydawnictwo under the title W samo serce.

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Jacqueline and Jacques Bialek. Jacqueline is 22, her brother Jacques is 17 when they are murdered in Auschwitz. Image: Yad Vashem, KGS-IAK Berlin
Jacqueline and Jacques Bialek. Jacqueline is 22, her brother Jacques is 17 when they are murdered in Auschwitz. Image: Yad Vashem, KGS-IAK Berlin 

4.9.2023

Remembering the Jews taken from the French Département de La Sarthe on Transport 59 to Auschwitz.

On 2 September 1943, at 10 am, a train carrying 1,000 Jews leaves Bobigny Station. More than half of the deportees are French citizens. Leutnant Wannenmacher is responsible for supervising the train.

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Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s deputy premier, economics minister, federal and Bavarian chairman of the right-wing populist Free Voters party (die Freien Wähler), is under pressure: Accusations surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet have emerged just a few weeks before the state election. Photograph: IMAGO/Panama Pictures
Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s deputy premier, economics minister, federal and Bavarian chairman of the right-wing populist Free Voters party (die Freien Wähler), is under pressure: Accusations surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet have emerged just a few weeks before the state election. Photograph: IMAGO/Panama Pictures 

3.9.2023

Aiwanger is causing significant political havoc and divisions in society

While in Oswiecim Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on developments in the anti-Semitic scandal surrounding the Bavarian politician and vice premier Hubert Aiwanger and his explanation strategy:

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31.8.2023

Developments in the anti-Semitic scandal surrounding Hubert Aiwanger in Bavaria

Speaking during a stay in Oswiecim, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on developments in the anti-Semitic scandal surrounding Hubert Aiwanger:

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27.8.2023

Anti-Semitic Aiwanger leaflet: IAC demands clarification and consequences.

Commenting in Berlin on the development of the anti-Semitic affair surrounding Hubert Aiwanger and the reactions of his party colleagues, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

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Remembering Zofia Posmysz, Auschwitz survivor and author, who died one year ago just a few weeks before her 100th birthday in a hospice belonging to the city of Oswiecim/Auschwitz. Photograph: Pawelsawicki, Zofia Posmysz, excerpt by KGS / IAK Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0
Remembering Zofia Posmysz, Auschwitz survivor and author, who died one year ago just a few weeks before her 100th birthday in a hospice belonging to the city of Oswiecim/Auschwitz. Photograph: Pawelsawicki, Zofia Posmysz, excerpt by KGS / IAK Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 

22.8.2023

Remembering the author Zofia Posmysz on the 100th anniversary of her birthday

It is with great sadness and gratitude that Auschwitz survivors will be commemorating the life of the author Zofia Posmysz tomorrow, on 23 August. Their friend and fellow sufferer was born 100 years ago in Kraków. She died last year on 8 August 2022, just a few weeks before her 100th birthday in a hospice belonging to the Polish city of Oswiecim/Auschwitz.

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The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). The Cologne Administrative Court confirmed the designation of the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the youth organisation Young Alternative for Germany (JA) as an object under observation (suspicious case). Photograph:xC.xHardtx/xFuturexImage, KGS/IAK Berlin
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). The Cologne Administrative Court confirmed the designation of the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the youth organisation Young Alternative for Germany (JA) as an object under observation (suspicious case). Photograph:xC.xHardtx/xFuturexImage, KGS/IAK Berlin 

4.8.2023

IAC warns about growing influence of the AfD and thanks the president of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for standing up against right-wing extremist threats.

Commenting in Berlin on the political development of the AfD and the statements by Thomas Haldenwang, the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Memorial in Berlin to the Sinti and Roma of Europe who were murdered under National Socialism. Photograph: imago images/Christian Spicker
Memorial in Berlin to the Sinti and Roma of Europe who were murdered under National Socialism. Photograph: imago images/Christian Spicker 

2.8.2023

European Holocaust Memorial Day in remembrance of the persecution and murder of Sinti and Roma in the German concentration and extermination camps.

Today, Holocaust survivors around the globe are marking the European Holocaust Memorial Day in remembrance of the persecution and murder of Sinti and Roma in the German concentration and extermination camps. In Berlin Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee paid tribute as follows:

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Rachel Abadie, née Habib, was born in 1910 in Marseille, France, and lived there before World War II. Rachel was murdered during the Shoah. Image: Yad Vashem.
Rachel Abadie, née Habib, was born in 1910 in Marseille, France, and lived there before World War II. Rachel was murdered during the Shoah. Image: Yad Vashem. 

30.7.2023

Commemoration of Transport No. 58 from Drancy to Auschwitz

In Paris tomorrow, July 31, Holocaust survivors will commemorate Transport No. 58, which left the camp of Drancy near Paris 80 years ago - on July 31, 1943 - in the direction of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

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CDU leader Friedrich Merz supports the firewall against the AfD – except at local political level. Photograph: IMAGO/dts Nachrichtenagentur
CDU leader Friedrich Merz supports the firewall against the AfD – except at local political level. Photograph: IMAGO/dts Nachrichtenagentur 

23.7.2023

Nobody intends to tear down a wall.

Commenting on today’s statements by CDU leader Friedrich Merz on collaborating with the AfD at local political level, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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In Oswiecim/Auschwitz construction has started on a unique artistic ensemble that focuses on the events of the Holocaust and is designed by the artist Gerhard Richter. Image: Gerhard Richter / IAK Berlin
In Oswiecim/Auschwitz construction has started on a unique artistic ensemble that focuses on the events of the Holocaust and is designed by the artist Gerhard Richter. Image: Gerhard Richter / IAK Berlin 

12.7.2023

Construction starts on the exhibition hall ‘Gerhard Richter: Birkenau’. An impressive art project close to Auschwitz as a warning to never forget.

Construction has started on the Gerhard Richter Exhibition Hall in Oswiecim, Poland. The building, designed by the artist himself, is being developed in the grounds, and in co-operation with, the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim/Auschwitz.

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The Italian delegates to the International Committees of the former Nazi concentration camps felt it necessary to openly express their dissatisfaction with what is happening in the heart of Europe in a declaration. The statement summarizes their concerns about the future of Europe. Image: IAK Berlin
The Italian delegates to the International Committees of the former Nazi concentration camps felt it necessary to openly express their dissatisfaction with what is happening in the heart of Europe in a declaration. The statement summarizes their concerns about the future of Europe. Image: IAK Berlin 

11.7.2023

Statement of the Italian delegates of the International Committees of Former Nazi Concentration Camps.

The testimonies that the second and third generation delegates collected from the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps do not only contain the memory of their deportation and the recollection of the places where they so tragically suffered. They are also a pressing and ardent call to renounce all wars and to work towards a future marked by humanism and solidarity among peoples.

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Sea Watch 2 on its 13th search and rescue mission off the Libyan coast. Around 160 refugees on an overcrowded inflatable boat, 21 October 2016. Photograph: Imago/Christian Ditsch
Sea Watch 2 on its 13th search and rescue mission off the Libyan coast. Around 160 refugees on an overcrowded inflatable boat, 21 October 2016. Photograph: Imago/Christian Ditsch 

20.6.2023

Auschwitz survivors appeal to Europe on World Refugee Day: Remember the tragedies at sea and open your eyes and your hearts!

Today, on World Refugee Day, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said while at the Auschwitz Memorial:

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Christoph Heubner, IAC Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee. Photo: IAC Berlin
Christoph Heubner, IAC Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee. Photo: IAC Berlin 

13.6.2023

Invitation to IAC press conference on 16 June 2023, 11 am, German Resistance Memorial Center, Stauffenbergstr.13, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten

The survivors of the Holocaust are not alone in feeling alarmed and disturbed by the drastic rise in support shown in current surveys for the AfD and their extreme right-wing slogans. Time and again in German cities there are violent attacks directed against ‘foreigners’, and anti-Semitic sentiments are now widespread within mainstream society. Throughout the country there is a sense of helplessness as to how the democratic parties should confront this dramatic development in society.

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Election survey results from 1 June 2023 - Infratest dimap for ARD. Image: @Wahlen_DE
Election survey results from 1 June 2023 - Infratest dimap for ARD. Image: @Wahlen_DE 

5.6.2023

On the AfD gaining strength in Germany and the result of the election for mayor in Schwerin

In Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the growing strength of the AfD in Germany and the associated developments at local level:

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13 June 2019, Kassel, memorial service at St Martin’s Church for the murdered District President Dr Walter Lübcke. The Minister President of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, pays tribute to the murdered representative. Image: imago images/Hartenfelser
13 June 2019, Kassel, memorial service at St Martin’s Church for the murdered District President Dr Walter Lübcke. The Minister President of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, pays tribute to the murdered representative. Image: imago images/Hartenfelser 

2.6.2023

4 years since the murder of Walter Lübcke on 2 June 2019

On the fourth anniversary of the murder of Walter Lübcke on 2 June 2019, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said in Berlin:

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Thomas Buergenthal, Holocaust survivor, retired judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Professor at the George Washington University Law School, delivers keynote address at the United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York on 31 January 2018. United Nations. Photograph: imago images/Wang Ying/Photoshot
Thomas Buergenthal, Holocaust survivor, retired judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Professor at the George Washington University Law School, delivers keynote address at the United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York on 31 January 2018. United Nations. Photograph: imago images/Wang Ying/Photoshot 

31.5.2023

Auschwitz survivor Thomas Buergenthal dies aged 89

It is with profound sorrow, heartfelt appreciation and the greatest respect that Auschwitz survivors throughout the world are bidding farewell to Thomas Buergenthal who survived Auschwitz as one of the few remaining Jewish children. In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute as follows:

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11 May 1960: After agents from the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had captured Eichmann in a suburb of Buenos Aires, they swiftly took him to a hidden location. During his interrogation Eichmann admitted to his true identity and signed a document in which he agreed to stand trial in Israel. Eleven days later he was secretly flown to Israel in an EI AI aircraft. Photoraph: yadvashem.org
11 May 1960: After agents from the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had captured Eichmann in a suburb of Buenos Aires, they swiftly took him to a hidden location. During his interrogation Eichmann admitted to his true identity and signed a document in which he agreed to stand trial in Israel. Eleven days later he was secretly flown to Israel in an EI AI aircraft. Photoraph: yadvashem.org 

12.5.2023

Capture and abduction of Adolf Eichmann 63 years ago on 11 and 12 May 1960

While at the Auschwitz Memorial Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented as follows on the present-day significance of Adolf Eichmann’s capture and abduction 63 years ago on 11 and 12 May 1960:

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10 May 1933: At a mass event at Opernplatz (Bebelplatz) in Berlin, German students from the city’s universities publicly burn ‘un-German’ books and writings that they have confiscated. Photograph: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14597 / Georg Pahl /CC-BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia
10 May 1933: At a mass event at Opernplatz (Bebelplatz) in Berlin, German students from the city’s universities publicly burn ‘un-German’ books and writings that they have confiscated. Photograph: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14597 / Georg Pahl /CC-BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia 

10.5.2023

90th anniversary of Nazi book burning ritual launched on 10 May 1933

While at the Auschwitz Memorial, and speaking on the 90th anniversary of the Nazi book burning ritual launched on 10 May 1933, Christoph Heubner, author and Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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9 May, at 16 minutes past midnight: signing of the Act of Surrender by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of Armed Forces High Command, General-Admiral von Friedeburg, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff representing the air force (Luftwaffe). Signatories on the Allied side were Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, and three representatives of the American, British and French Allied Forces. This marked the official end of World War II.in Europe. Photograph: Imago/Leemage
9 May, at 16 minutes past midnight: signing of the Act of Surrender by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of Armed Forces High Command, General-Admiral von Friedeburg, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff representing the air force (Luftwaffe). Signatories on the Allied side were Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, and three representatives of the American, British and French Allied Forces. This marked the official end of World War II.in Europe. Photograph: Imago/Leemage 

8.5.2023

As a new war in Europe rages, the world remembers the end of World War II on 8 and 9 May 1945

Speaking while at the Auschwitz Memorial on today’s Remembrance Day marking the end of World War II, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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Picture credits: Drawing by witness Jerzy Fójcik, according to his own testimony a car mechanic at the "Sonderkommando Kulmhof" until May 1943, IPN Warsaw (Sign. GK_165_271_3_0004) - Berlin-Neukölln, 1954: Entrance gate to the factory premises of Gaubschat Fahrzeugwerke GmbH, which had produced superstructures for gas vans during the war, Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum, Berlin
Picture credits: Drawing by witness Jerzy Fójcik, according to his own testimony a car mechanic at the "Sonderkommando Kulmhof" until May 1943, IPN Warsaw (Sign. GK_165_271_3_0004) - Berlin-Neukölln, 1954: Entrance gate to the factory premises of Gaubschat Fahrzeugwerke GmbH, which had produced superstructures for gas vans during the war, Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum, Berlin 

8.5.2023

INVITATION to the lecture SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF MURDER - THE "GASWAGEN": 1939 - 1945, LECTURE IN ENGLISH on 11.5.2023 6 pm.

The Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and Tiergarten4Association invite you to a lecture in English:

THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING OF MURDER – THE NAZI GAS VANS: 1939 – 1945

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28 April 2023: At the Leipzig Book Fair IAC Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner reads from his new book ‘Als Wir die Maikäfer waren’ (When we were the Maybugs). Image: Michèle Déodat
28 April 2023: At the Leipzig Book Fair IAC Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner reads from his new book ‘Als Wir die Maikäfer waren’ (When we were the Maybugs). Image: Michèle Déodat 

28.4.2023

IAC Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner reads at the Leipzig Book Fair

There was lively interest today when IAC Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner read from his new book ‘Als Wir die Maikäfer waren’ (When we were the Maybugs). It is the final volume in his trilogy of Auschwitz stories published by the Steidl Verlag. And this is the first time that the IAC has been represented at the Leipzig Book Fair:

27 to 30 April, Hall 4 Stand A 303.

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Neuruppin District Court. On 28 June 2022 the district court in Neuruppin sentenced Josef Schütz to 5 years imprisonment for aiding and abetting murder and attempted murder. Image: Website of the District Court Neuruppin
Neuruppin District Court. On 28 June 2022 the district court in Neuruppin sentenced Josef Schütz to 5 years imprisonment for aiding and abetting murder and attempted murder. Image: Website of the District Court Neuruppin 

27.4.2023

Former concentration camp guard Josef Schütz dies aged 102 before final decision on prison sentence

Whilst at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the death of the former SS guard Joseph Schütz as follows:

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Roger Waters during the "This Is Not a Drill" tour. Chicago U.S. Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
Roger Waters during the "This Is Not a Drill" tour. Chicago U.S. Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire 

25.4.2023

Antisemitism accusations: Administrative court allows Roger Waters performance in Frankfurt

Not only Jewish survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps are once again deeply saddened, horrified and increasingly disillusioned by the Frankfurt Administrative Court decision on the upcoming performance by British singer Roger Waters at the Frankfurter Festhalle.

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Marian Turski, Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, during his speech delivered in Warsaw on 19 April 2023 at the state ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Image: Spiegel Online
Marian Turski, Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, during his speech delivered in Warsaw on 19 April 2023 at the state ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Image: Spiegel Online 

21.4.2023

Marian Turski's speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Speech delivered on 19 April 2023 in Warsaw by Marian Turski, Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, at the state ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

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The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: a photograph from the report by Jürgen Stroop to Heinrich Himmler from May 1943. Report title: The Jewish Quarter of Warsaw Is No More! Original photo caption: Forcibly pulled out of bunkers. Suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ─ captured Jews are led by German Waffen-SS troops to the assembly point for deportation. Photograph: IMAGO/Reinhard Schultz
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: a photograph from the report by Jürgen Stroop to Heinrich Himmler from May 1943. Report title: The Jewish Quarter of Warsaw Is No More! Original photo caption: Forcibly pulled out of bunkers. Suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ─ captured Jews are led by German Waffen-SS troops to the assembly point for deportation. Photograph: IMAGO/Reinhard Schultz 

18.4.2023

80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on 19 April 1943

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the presidents of Poland, Israel and Germany, Duda, Herzog and Steinmeier, will attend the state ceremony in Warsaw together. They will meet there with Marian Turski, the Polish-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, as well as Stanislaw Zalewski, Polish survivor of Auschwitz and further survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps.

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The March of the Living (Hebrew מצעד החיים Mitzad HaChajim) is a walk of remembrance from Auschwitz I concentration camp to Birkenau extermination camp. Since it was founded in 1988, more than 300,000 participants from 50 countries have taken part on Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day – in memory of all the victims of the Holocaust and walked together along the 3-km-long path from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Image: facebook.com/MOTLorg
The March of the Living (Hebrew מצעד החיים Mitzad HaChajim) is a walk of remembrance from Auschwitz I concentration camp to Birkenau extermination camp. Since it was founded in 1988, more than 300,000 participants from 50 countries have taken part on Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day – in memory of all the victims of the Holocaust and walked together along the 3-km-long path from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Image: facebook.com/MOTLorg 

16.4.2023

35th anniversary of the March of the Living on 18 April in Oswiecim/Auschwitz with trainees from Emden, Wolfsburg and Osnabrück.

Since 1988 more than 300,000, mostly Jewish, young people from around the world have taken part in the March of the Living, walking in a column along the three-kilometre-long path from Auschwitz I concentration camp to Birkenau extermination camp. This walk of remembrance is dedicated to the memory of those murdered in Auschwitz, and in honour of the survivors.

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The last surviving chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials has died. Benjamin Ferencz was 103 years old. imago/ZUMA Press
The last surviving chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials has died. Benjamin Ferencz was 103 years old. imago/ZUMA Press 

9.4.2023

Benjamin Ferencz, chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen Trial and subsequent Nuremberg Trials, has died

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute to Benjamin Ferencz who has died at the age of 103:

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The International Auschwitz Committee will present itself at the Leipzig Book Fair from April 27 to April 30, 2023 in Hall 4, Stand A 303. Image: Leipzig Book Fair
The International Auschwitz Committee will present itself at the Leipzig Book Fair from April 27 to April 30, 2023 in Hall 4, Stand A 303. Image: Leipzig Book Fair 

24.3.2023

The International Auschwitz Committee will present itself for the first time at the Leipzig Book Fair from 27 to 30 April 2023 in Hall 4, Stand A 303.

For the first time ever, the International Auschwitz Committee will be taking part in the Leipzig Book Fair. It will be presenting books and brochures from its work which focus on the memories, feelings and experiences of Holocaust survivors told after their liberation and also reflecting their later ‘second ‘lives’.

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The International Auschwitz Committee is urging Twitter and Elon Musk to take decisive steps against the alarming increases in anti-Semitic tweets since its takeover in October 2022 and to strictly adhere to EU laws. Image: IMAGO/NurPhoto
The International Auschwitz Committee is urging Twitter and Elon Musk to take decisive steps against the alarming increases in anti-Semitic tweets since its takeover in October 2022 and to strictly adhere to EU laws. Image: IMAGO/NurPhoto 

23.3.2023

International Auschwitz Committee urges Elon Musk to rid Twitter of anti-Semitic smears and hatred.

Whilst at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on press reports about the massive increase in anti-Semitic contents on Twitter following its takeover by Elon Musk:

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Governor of Lower Austria and ÖVP leader Johanna Mikl-Leitner with Udo Landbauer, head of the far-right FPÖ of Lower Austria and heavily criticized for an anti-Semitic songbook published by his fraternity. They are negotiating for a coalition. Image: ORF.at
Governor of Lower Austria and ÖVP leader Johanna Mikl-Leitner with Udo Landbauer, head of the far-right FPÖ of Lower Austria and heavily criticized for an anti-Semitic songbook published by his fraternity. They are negotiating for a coalition. Image: ORF.at 

18.3.2023

International Auschwitz Committee horrified that ÖVP is making the far right socially acceptable

Following the state election in Lower Austria, the country’s geographically largest state, a coalition is currently emerging between the ÖVP and an FPÖ in which has accommodated leading representatives of far-right and anti-Semitic attitudes for many years.

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Jewish Cemetery, Kraków: Henri Goldberg, who survived the Holocaust by hiding in Belgium as a child, stands in front of the grave of Maria Orwid. She was one of the first psychologists in Europe to work with traumatized children and young people who had survived the Holocaust. Image: Hannah Lessing/IAC Vienna
Jewish Cemetery, Kraków: Henri Goldberg, who survived the Holocaust by hiding in Belgium as a child, stands in front of the grave of Maria Orwid. She was one of the first psychologists in Europe to work with traumatized children and young people who had survived the Holocaust. Image: Hannah Lessing/IAC Vienna 

12.3.2023

80th Memorial Day in remembrance of Kraków Ghetto liquidation

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the final liquidation of Kraków Ghetto, on 13 March 1943, and the deportation of the last remaining Jewish prisoners to Plaszow and Auschwitz concentration camps, the Presidium of the International Auschwitz Committee gathered for a meeting in Kraków.

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VW trainees involved in conservation work at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. Image: Karl Lehmann / IAC Berlin
VW trainees involved in conservation work at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. Image: Karl Lehmann / IAC Berlin 

3.3.2023

International Auschwitz Committee and Volkswagen AG renew project work with trainees at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.

The International Auschwitz Committee and Volkswagen AG have started working together again. They are holding a preparatory seminar in Hanover as the conservation project with trainees at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial gets underway again following the interruption caused by the Covid pandemic.

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21 February 2023: The Berlinale awards Steven Spielberg the Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement. Image: SCHROEWIG, Collage KGS/IAC Berlin
21 February 2023: The Berlinale awards Steven Spielberg the Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement. Image: SCHROEWIG, Collage KGS/IAC Berlin 

21.2.2023

Steven Spielberg receives Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival

Speaking in Berlin on today’s Berlinale award of the Honorary Golden Bear for Steven Spielberg, Christoph Heubner, Excutive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

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The successful historical drama series of the Greek channel ERT, "The Bracelet of Fire", recalls the fate of the Jews of Thessaloniki". It is based on the book of the same name by Béatrice Saias-Magrizou. Image: ERT, Collage: KGS/IAC Berlin
The successful historical drama series of the Greek channel ERT, "The Bracelet of Fire", recalls the fate of the Jews of Thessaloniki". It is based on the book of the same name by Béatrice Saias-Magrizou. Image: ERT, Collage: KGS/IAC Berlin 

20.2.2023

TV series about a family in the Holocaust moves millions

"The Bracelet of Fire" tells the shocking story about Jewish people as it has never been told in Greece.

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Prevent upcoming appearance of QAnon propagandist Friedemann Mack in Falkensee town hall in Brandenburg. Image: imago/Steinach, Collage: KGS/IAK Berlin
Prevent upcoming appearance of QAnon propagandist Friedemann Mack in Falkensee town hall in Brandenburg. Image: imago/Steinach, Collage: KGS/IAK Berlin 

15.2.2023

Prevent upcoming appearance of QAnon propagandist Friedemann Mack in Falkensee town hall!

Commenting in Berlin on the upcoming appearance of QAnon propagandist Friedemann Mack in Falkensee town hall, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee stressed:

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Potsdam Germany, 21 March 1933. Handshake at official meeting of Chancellor Adolf Hitler and President Paul Ludwig von Hindenburg at the opening ceremony of the Reichstag held in the Garrison Church in Potsdam. Image: imago images/Leemage
Potsdam Germany, 21 March 1933. Handshake at official meeting of Chancellor Adolf Hitler and President Paul Ludwig von Hindenburg at the opening ceremony of the Reichstag held in the Garrison Church in Potsdam. Image: imago images/Leemage 

13.2.2023

IAC calls for change in Germany’s remembrance culture

These days mark the 90th anniversary of the time when the Nazis took over power in Germany on 30 January 1933 and then promptly destroyed the foundations of democracy in civil society in the following few weeks of February and March 1933.

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Demonstration against the AfD on 15 May 2021 in Siegen/Germany. Image: IMAGO / Rene Traut
Demonstration against the AfD on 15 May 2021 in Siegen/Germany. Image: IMAGO / Rene Traut 

6.2.2023

Ten years of AfD: Increasingly radical

Commenting in Berlin on the 10-year existence of the AfD as a far right extremist party in Germany, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee stressed:

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Der Angriff - Das deutsche Abendblatt, Berlin 30 Jan.1933: National Socialistt seizure of power in Germany. Image: Mabit1, evening edition of Der Angriff, CC BY-SA 4.0
Der Angriff - Das deutsche Abendblatt, Berlin 30 Jan.1933: National Socialistt seizure of power in Germany. Image: Mabit1, evening edition of Der Angriff, CC BY-SA 4.0 

30.1.2023

90 years since so-called seizure of power by National Socialists in Germany

While in Chemnitz, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, gave a statement on the 90th anniversary of the so-called seizure of power by the National Socialists in Germany:

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Surviving Jewish children in Auschwitz with nurses. The photograph was taken by a Soviet photographer while making a film about the liberation of the camp. Image: IMAGO / Reinhard Schultz, Collage: KGS / IAC Berlin 
Surviving Jewish children in Auschwitz with nurses. The photograph was taken by a Soviet photographer while making a film about the liberation of the camp. Image: IMAGO / Reinhard Schultz, Collage: KGS / IAC Berlin  

26.1.2023

78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, issued an emphatic statement marking the 78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on 27 January:

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23 January 2023, in Warsaw the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda (left), awards Marian Turski the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. Image: Leszech Zych / Polityka
23 January 2023, in Warsaw the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda (left), awards Marian Turski the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. Image: Leszech Zych / Polityka 

25.1.2023

78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Marian Turski, Auschwitz survivor, President of the International Auschwitz Committee, long-standing head of the historical section of POLITYKA and Chairman of the International Museum Council at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, was awarded the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania on 23 January.

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The Kaunas Ghetto Orchestra with Alexander Stupel (front row left) certainly surrounded by his siblings Bori Stupel and Sonia Abramson. Ca. 1941-1944. Photo: © Shoah Memorial via UNESCO
The Kaunas Ghetto Orchestra with Alexander Stupel (front row left) certainly surrounded by his siblings Bori Stupel and Sonia Abramson. Ca. 1941-1944. Photo: © Shoah Memorial via UNESCO 

14.1.2023

UNESCO Invitation to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

The invitation includes the following events:

Commemoration Ceremony
on January 26, 2023,

Exhibition "There was a time... Jewish Family Photographs before 1939"
January 17 - February 10, 2023,


Worldwide screening of Ari Folman's "Where is Anne Frank!" by UNESCO field offices.

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Prof. Felix Kolmer, Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee. Born in Prague in 1922, Prof. Felix Kolmer died in Prague on Aug. 5, 2022. Image: memoryofnations.eu, IAC Berlin  
Prof. Felix Kolmer, Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee. Born in Prague in 1922, Prof. Felix Kolmer died in Prague on Aug. 5, 2022. Image: memoryofnations.eu, IAC Berlin  

10.1.2023

Invitation to the commemoration evening of Felix Kolmer, the man who made us all better.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic, Berlin and the International Auschwitz Committee cordially invite you to the commemoration evening of Prof. Felix Kolmer.

The commemoration evening will take place on

Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 6 p.m.

Venue:
Cinema Hall of the Czech Embassy,
Wilhelmstr. 44,
10117 Berlin.

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Invitation to the LIVE-STREAM of the commemoration ceremony on 22.1.2023. Image: Lukasz Giza
Invitation to the LIVE-STREAM of the commemoration ceremony on 22.1.2023. Image: Lukasz Giza 

10.1.2023

Invitation to online-event: Matinee in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

The commemoration event will take place on:

Sunday, January 22, 2023
11:00 a.m.

To the live stream of the commemoration ceremony on Jan. 22, 2023.

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