Award winner 2025 (Special Prize)

Margot Friedländer

Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer was honored with a special prize from the International Peace of Westphalia Prize in April 2025. Born in Berlin in 1921, Friedländer lost her family during the Nazi era – while she was able to hide there for a long time. In 1944, she was betrayed, arrested, and deported to a concentration camp. There she survived until liberation by the Allies. After the war, she emigrated to the USA but returned permanently to Germany in 2010 to speak about her experiences as a contemporary witness.

Margot Friedländer was tirelessly committed to remembrance work, especially with young people. In numerous readings and discussions, she shared her life story and called for people to take responsibility for the past and to fight against anti-Semitism, racism, and marginalization.

Exactly five weeks after being honored at the Westphalian Peace Conference in Münster, Margot Friedländer died in Berlin. The chairman of the WWL, Dr. Reinhard Zinkann, paid tribute to the deceased: "Her ever-shining eyes and the open smile she shared with us at every encounter expressed what she demanded of us: to be human. It was a special honor for us to be honored by Margot Friedländer in Münster. We will remember her message, 'There is no Christian, Muslim, or Jewish blood; there is only human blood,' and understand it as our mission."