BERLIN – Noted German Holocaust survivor Albrecht Weinberg, who devoted much of the end of his life to educating younger generations about the Nazis’ crimes, died on May 12 at the age of 101.
Mr Weinberg’s friend and housemate, Ms Gerda Daenekas, told AFP that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of May 12.
Born into a Jewish family in northwestern Germany, Mr Weinberg and his two siblings were sent to Auschwitz in what was Nazi-occupied Poland when he was 18.
All three survived but his parents were among more than 40 members of his family who perished in the Holocaust.
Mr Weinberg saw the end of the war in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, in a condition he described as “more dead than alive”.
After World War II, he emigrated to the US with his sister and for decades did not want to speak about Germany or the horrors of the camps.
In 1985, Mr Weinberg initially refused an invitation to visit from the town of Leer where he grew up.
However, he changed his mind about visiting Germany when a teacher sent him a photo of students at a Jewish school in the area.
He eventually moved back to Germany permanently when he was already well into his 80s and became active in remembrance work, particularly with young people.
He also published a memoir about his experiences.
Mr Weinberg attracted nationwide attention in 2025 when he returned his Federal Cross of Merit, Germany’s highest honour, in protest against centre-right MPs passing a motion on immigration policy with support from the far-right AfD party.
Mr Weinberg told AFP at the time that his experiences under the Nazis had been “dangerous and horrible for me”.
He spoke of his fears “that it’s happening again, that I have to pack my bags and go to another country that would take me in”.
In a statement, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to Mr Weinberg’s “tireless work for freedom and democracy”.
He said Mr Weinberg’s decision to return his award was “painful, but in doing so he gave all of us the task of committing ourselves with all our strength to our democracy”. AFP
