During a visit to the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the death of Gerhard Merz:

"With sadness and deep gratitude, Auschwitz survivors in many countries bid farewell to Gerhard Merz, the chairman of the "Auschwitz Camp Community - Friends of the Auschwitz Community", who was closely associated with them and had become a friend to many of them. For all of them, Gerhard Merz was a highly esteemed and trusted person from Germany. He impressed the survivors with his helpful political analysis as well as his love of literature, dialogue and conversation. They were deeply grateful to him for the encouragement he gave them through his clear language, his empathy and his many different activities. Especially in these days and times, it is not only bitter for them that Gerhard Merz has had to leave us far too soon. We will miss him greatly in our commitment to remembrance and the struggle against the hatred of anti-Semitism."