Today is the birthday of artist Gerhard Richter. Speaking in Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee, congratulated the artist as follows:

“Today, on his birthday, Auschwitz survivors all over the world are conveying their profound gratitude to the artist Gerhard Richter for his creative work. They are grateful for the attention and recognition he has always given to them, to their memories and their experiences. They are particularly grateful to Gerhard Richter for donating an edition of his cycle “Birkenau” as well as for the artist's design of the exhibition building in which the cycle is displayed in Oswiecim/Auschwitz and which was opened a year ago today next to the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim. The survivors find it especially touching to see the sensitivity and curiosity with which young people react in this special place to the exhibition hall, to Gerhard Richter's pictures, and the story about their development.”