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10.01.2023

Invitation to the commemoration evening of Felix Kolmer, the man who made us all better.

 
 
Prof. Felix Kolmer, Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee. Born in Prague in 1922, Prof. Felix Kolmer died in Prague on Aug. 5, 2022. Image: memoryofnations.eu, IAC Berlin

Prof. Felix Kolmer, Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee. Born in Prague in 1922, Prof. Felix Kolmer died in Prague on Aug. 5, 2022. Image: memoryofnations.eu, IAC Berlin

 

 

 

The Embassy of the Czech Republic, Berlin and the International Auschwitz Committee cordially invite you to the commemoration evening of Prof. Felix Kolmer.

Prof. Felix Kolmer was a Czech Holocaust survivor, Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee and an acoustic expert, at the same time the voice of German-Czech understanding and as a convinced scout a loyal friend of all who want to improve the world.

The commemoration evening will take place on

Wednesday, January 25, 2023 at 6 p.m.

Venue:
Cinema Hall of the Czech Embassy,
Wilhelmstr. 44,
10117 Berlin.

Welcome, introduction and closing remarks:

Tomáš Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Berlin.

Memories of Felix Kolmer - greeting and short reading:

Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee.

Reminiscences and memories:

Marta Malá, Holocaust Fund, Auschwitz Committee of the Czech Republic

Michaela Rozov, Auschwitz Committee of the Czech Republic and editor of the book about Felix Kolmer.

Christina Rösch: Memories of a friend and teacher.

Afterwards:

Conclusion with a glass of wine

We would be pleased about your coming and ask you to RSVP by January 23, 2023 at: veranstaltungen_berlin(iak)embassy.mzv.cz

We would like to inform you that the cinema hall is currently not very heated due to technical and energy saving reasons. Please dress warmly.

***
Prof. Felix Kolmer died in his 100th year on August 5, 2022 at the Hagibor Jewish Home for the Aged in Prague. The Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee had been deported to Theresienstadt in 1941 and to Auschwitz in 1944, experienced his liberation at the age of 23 in a subcamp of the Groß-Rosen concentration camp. After the war, Felix Kolmer studied physics and later taught as a world-renowned acoustician at the Technical University of Prague.

Commenting on Felix Kolmer's death in Prague on August 5, 2022, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, emphasized in Berlin:

"Felix Kolmer had decided very soon after his liberation from the camps never to let his life be poisoned by hatred, although he had lost his mother and other relatives in Theresienstadt and other camps. For many years, Felix Kolmer sought to talk to young people in Germany and other European countries as a contemporary witness and did not shy away from discussions with right-wing extremists. His commitment to reconciliation between Czechs and Germans found expression in his many years of involvement in the German-Czech Future Fund.

Until the last months of his life, Felix Kolmer was one of the most important and credible bridge builders in the conversation between Czechs and Germans. His advocacy of compensation for all survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps and the forced laborers also remains unforgotten by many of his fellow Germans. As chairman of the Cologne-based counseling center for victims of Nazi persecution, he stood up for many years for the interests of people who had suffered the same fate as he. Felix Kolmer was a recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saxon Order of Merit and other high honors.

Auschwitz survivors bid farewell with great sadness to their fellow sufferer and companion Felix Kolmer, a great contemporary witness and humanitarian. They will never forget how Felix Kolmer, with his quiet and persistent kindness, succeeded in bringing people together and letting them share the memories and experiences of all Holocaust survivors. Deeply influenced by his lifelong roots in the Scout movement, Felix Kolmer was a motivator and networker even into his old age, always setting people in motion on their way to each other.

Felix Kolmer will be bitterly missed in our current struggles in light of the development of anti-Semitism and far-right hatred."