Speaking in Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee congratulated Albrecht Weinberg on his100th birthday:

"Auschwitz survivors all over the world are sending their congratulations to the German-Jewish Auschwitz survivor Albrecht Weinberg on his one hundredth birthday on 7 March.

For all Holocaust survivors, every new year of life is seen as a year of remembrance and triumph over the systematic anti-Semitic extermination programmes to which they and their Jewish families were subjected during the Nazi years in Germany.

The survivors thank Albrecht Weinberg for sharing his memories and experiences with many young people and encouraging them to protect democracy. However, the survivors also share his fears and concerns that right-wing extremist positions are being accepted as normal by more and more people in Germany, and that they are becoming a part of everyday political life. They have therefore respectfully taken note of his decision to return the Federal Cross of Merit.

But Albrecht Weinberg is not giving up on democracy in Germany. He is determined to help preserve and strengthen it by maintaining his stance and commitment. For this very reason, the survivors are grateful for the warmth and recognition Albrecht Weinberg is receiving on his birthday from people in Germany and in his East Frisian homeland."