On the award of the prestigious international Balzan Prize to the historian and Holocaust survivor Saul Friedländer, Christoph Heubner, executive vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee said in Berlin:

"Survivors of the Holocaust congratulate their friend and longtime companion Saul Friedländer on the award of this year’s international Balzan Prize for his work in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Marked by the loss of his parents in the Nazi murder camps and his memories of the deadly years of persecution that he experienced as a child and young person, Saul Friedländer became one of the most powerfully eloquent and astute champions of remembrance and research into the Holocaust. In his works he gave names to people who were murdered in the camps and prevented them from being forgotten. Time and again he spoke out in order to warn future generations to prevent repetitions of the hatred and the inhumanity of anti-Semitism, and to encourage them to stand up for democracy. The survivors of the Holocaust are deeply grateful to Saul Friedländer for his research and his life’s work, and together with him are delighted by this award."

The Balzan Prize was founded in 1957 and is named after the Italian journalist Eugenio Balzan. The awards are made to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences and culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the brotherhood of man. The four prizes are highly acclaimed and highly endowed. The foundation is based in Milan.