The Federal President Joachim Gauck has awarded the Federal Cross of Merit to the French artist Michèle Déodat who has been living in Berlin for many years.

The award is for her services in caring for survivors of the Holocaust and her dedicated work in the International Auschwitz Committee. The steel sculpture, the “Gift of Remembrance” depicting the letter “B”, which currently stands on Berlin’s Wittenbergplatz was also based on an initiative by Michèle Déodat. The sculpture echoes the “B” in the inscription above the main gate to Auschwitz concentration camp that prisoners were forced to make. The deliberately inverted “B” is a lasting reminder of the Auschwitz prisoners’ will to resist and to live.

The award will be presented to Michèle Déodat on Thursday 19 May 2016 by the Secretary of State for Cultural Affairs Tim Renner. The laudatory speech will be given by the Czech survivor of Auschwitz, Professor Felix Kolmer.