Archive Press 2022

January 2022

29.01.2022

The International Auschwitz Committee is wholeheartedly supporting the proposal to award MEMORIAL the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

Representatives from almost every party in the Estonian parliament have issued a joint press statement nominating the Russian human rights organization MEMORIAL for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

26.01.2022

h Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Speaking in Berlin on the occasion of tomorrow’s 77th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and the International Day in Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

23.01.2022

Raphael Esrail, Auschwitz survivor, French Vice President of the IAC and President of the Union dés déportés d’Auschwitz in Paris, has died.

Auschwitz survivors around the globe are deeply saddened by the passing of Raphael Esrail at the age of 96 in Lannion (Côtes d’Armor) France. At the same time they are profoundly grateful to their friend, fellow sufferer and long-time companion.

06.01.2022

Auschwitz survivor Trude Simonsohn dies at 100 years of age

It is with deepest gratitude and sadness that Auschwitz survivors around the world are bidding farewell to their friend and fellow sufferer Trude Simonsohn who has passed away at the age of 100 years. In a tribute to her, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz...

02.01.2022

Auschwitz survivor Gertrude Pressburger has died at the age of 94

In a tribute to the Auschwitz survivor Gertrude Pressburger, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said in Berlin:

February 2022

27.02.2022

Putin's cynical and treacherous lie to justify his invasion of Ukraine.

Time and again the Russian president Vladimir Putin uses the terms “genocide” and “denazification” in his arguments for the invasion of Ukraine. In this context Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee stated in Berlin:

19.02.2022

Gabriel Bach, deputy state prosecutor in the Eichmann Trial, dies aged 94.

Speaking in Berlin on the death of Gabriel Bach, deputy state prosecutor in the Eichmann Trial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

18.02.2022

100th anniversary of Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Polish Auschwitz survivor and subsequent foreign minister of the Republic of Poland

Tomorrow, 19 February 2022, Auschwitz survivors around the globe will be remembering their Polish fellow prisoner and fellow sufferer Władysław Bartoszewski with utmost respect and gratitude. He was incarcerated in Auschwitz at the age of 18, and tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of his birth....

09.02.2022

Gerhard Richter turns 90

On the occasion of Gerhard Richter’s 90th birthday Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee congratulated the artist as follows:

05.02.2022

Far-right AfD politician Jens Meier wants to return to office as judge

Commenting in Berlin on the imminent return of AfD politician Jens Maier to the office of judge in the Free State of Saxony, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

March 2022

24.03.2022

Marie Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin awards honorary doctorate to IAC President Marian Turski.

The Polish-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Marian Turski, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Senate of the Polish Marie Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin.

22.03.2022

Ukrainian Holocaust survivor Boris Romantschenko (96) killed in Russian shelling of Kharkiv

Ukrainian Holocaust survivor Boris Romantschenko aged 96 was killed when Russian shells hit his flat in an attack on his home town of Kharkiv on Friday. During a stay at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

14.03.2022

Auschwitz survivor Leon Schwarzbaum passes at the age of 101.

On Monday night the Auschwitz survivor Leon Schwarzbaum died in Potsdam at the age of 101. Leon Schwarzbaum was born as the son of a Polish-Jewish family in Hamburg in 1921, but he grew up in the Polish town of Bedzin in Upper Silesia. In 1943, after the dissolution of the ghetto there, the family,...

09.03.2022

Holocaust survivor Inge Deutschkron has died aged 99 years.

Holocaust survivors across the world are bidding farewell to their companion and fellow sufferer Inge Detschkron. They are eternally grateful to her, and they are expressing their heartfelt affection and respect at her passing. During a stay at Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice...

09.03.2022

Administrative Court in Cologne: AfD may and should be under surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

During a visit at the Auschwitz Memorial Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented as follows on the Cologne Administrative Court‘s decision for surveillance of the AfD:

02.03.2022

Damage inflicted on the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, made a statement concerning the damage inflicted on the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial during the bombardment of Kyiv’s neighbouring television tower. He said:

April 2022

28.04.2022

Yom hashoah: Worldwide remembrance of the martyrs and heroes of the Holocaust

Speaking in Berlin on the occasion of today’s Holocaust Remembrance Day Yom Hashoah, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

27.04.2022

Chicago honours Gertrud Kolmar, the German-Jewish poet who was murdered in Auschwitz

It’s a lovely story: For many years, tucked away in the northwest of Chicago, there has been a rather inconspicuous park called Kolmar Park. It is named after the city of Colmar in Alsace, France, near the border with Germany.

May 2022

09.05.2022

8 and 9 May: Days of remembrance marking the end of World War II

On this 9 May 2022, Auschwitz survivors across the globe are commemorating all of the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian soldiers of the Red Army who liberated them from Auschwitz and led them back into life.

03.05.2022

Prof. Felix Kolmer, Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee turns 100

Today, it is the 100th birthday of the Czech Jewish survivor of Auschwitz and Czech Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Prof. Felix Kolmer, who is marking his 100th anniversary in the Jewish retirement home Hagibor in Prague.

June 2022

21.06.2022

The most recent anti-Semitic manifestations at documenta fifteen

During a stay at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the latest developments in the anti-Semitism debate surrounding documenta 15:

15.06.2022

Judgement of the Federal Court on the depiction of the so-called Jews’ sow in Wittenberg

During a stay at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on today’s Federal Court judgement concerning the anti-Jewish relief known as the "Wittenberger Judensau":

15.06.2022

Judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court on the statement by Federal Chancellor Merkel on the election of the Minister-President in the Free State of Thuringia in 2020

Commenting on today’s judgement by the Federal Constitutional Court on the statement by former Federal Chancellor Merkel on the election of the Minister-President in Thuringia with votes from the CDU, the FDP and the AfD, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz...

11.06.2022

The quiet return of the former MP, Mario Lehmann, to the police force of Saxony-Anhalt

Commenting in Berlin on the return of the former AfD politician and regional state MP to the police service in Saxony-Anhalt, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

01.06.2022

AfD politician Mario Lehmann returns to police force

Repeated demands are being made to remove right-wing extremist officers from the police force. In Saxony-Anhalt a self-confirmed far-right extremist and despiser of the republic has returned to the police service. Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee...

July 2022

29.07.2022

Position of the International Auschwitz Committee on the current situation of documenta fifteen

Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the current situation at documenta fifteen, and specifically criticized the unwillingness of the exhibition organizers to take a stand on anti-Semitic manifestations within the exhibition:

27.07.2022

New appointment of the advisory body International Auschwitz Council by the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on 26 July 2022

Since the year 2000 the appointment of the International Auschwitz Council has been the responsibility of the Polish prime minister. The council’s 25 members are appointed by the prime minister as experts on the process of coming to terms with the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The council...

26.07.2022

On the racist statements by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Băile Tușnad, Romania

Commenting on the recent statements by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Fidesz summer academy in Băile Tușnad, Romania, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

21.07.2022

Attack on Buchenwald Memorial

During a visit to France, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, made a statement on the targeted attack on the Buchenwald concentration camp Memorial. The attack included the vandalizing of trees dedicated to children murdered in the camp:

16.07.2022

80th anniversary of the mass roundup in occupied Paris on 16 and 17 July 1942

On this day, Auschwitz survivors around the world are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the massive, brutal roundups in occupied Paris on 16 and 17 July 1942, in which Germans and French police arrested more than 13,000 Jews and incarcerated them for days in deplorable conditions in the...

09.07.2022

Taking the bull by the horns: Discussion about documenta’s unprecedented blunder

Trainees stage performance against anti-Semitism at the Kunsthaus Göttingen.

August 2022

22.08.2022

Remembering the pogroms in Lichtenhagen in August 1992

While in Werdau/Zwickau, Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the pogroms in Lichtenhagen in August 1992 and on this year’s remembrance ceremony as follows:

18.08.2022

Anne Frank’s Diary is pulled from shelves of school libraries in a school district of Fort Worth, Texas

Together with the respective school boards, ultra-conservative parents in the USA are continuing their school-cleansing campaigns against supposedly indecent literature in school and class libraries.

16.08.2022

Palestinian President Abbas feeds anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic aggressions with Holocaust comparison.

Commenting in Berlin on today’s statements and Holocaust comparison by Palestinian President Abbas during a press conference with Federal Chancellor Scholz, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

08.08.2022

Zofia Posmysz, prominent Polish author and Auschwitz survivor has died at the age of 98.

Auschwitz survivors around the globe are bidding farewell with sadness, heartfelt gratitude and great esteem, from their friend, fellow sufferer, companion and renowned writer Zofia Posmysz, who died today aged 98 in the Hospice of Oswiecim.

05.08.2022

Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee Professor Felix Kolmer dies aged 100

Professor Felix Kolmer, the Czech-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and Czech Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, passed away this morning at the Hagibor retirement home in Prague aged 100.

September 2022

26.09.2022

IAC response to the election result in Italy

Speaking at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the result of the Italian election and the foreseeable victory of the Fratelli d’Italia party (FDI) and other far-right parties:

25.09.2022

At the end of documenta fifteen all that remains is a pile of rubble

Speaking at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the end of documenta fifteen as follows:

20.09.2022

Open Letter from Volkswagen trainees to the Iranian president in response to his playing down of the Holocaust.

In a joint project with the International Auschwitz Committee fourteen Volkswagen trainees from Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden are working together to preserve and maintain the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.

11.09.2022

Auschwitz survivors send a message to King Charles III

In January 2017, the International Auschwitz Committee presented Charles, Prince of Wales, with its Statue of Remembrance at St James’s Palace in London. The statue depicts the inverted letter B which the prisoners deliberately turned upside down in a demonstration of courage and defiance when they...

07.09.2022

16th General Assembly of the International Auschwitz Committee in Oswiecim/Auschwitz

Today, in Oswiecim Poland, the General Assembly of the International Auschwitz Committee ended. It takes place every five years. This year it was attended by Auschwitz survivors, relatives and descendants of the camp survivors, and representatives from Auschwitz foundations in 11 different...

October 2022

21.10.2022

Auschwitz survivor Zilli Schmidt has died at the age of 98.

Zilli Schmidt, who died today aged 98, was one of the last witnesses of the genocide against the Sinti and Roma. Speaking in Berlin, Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute to Zilli as follows:

17.10.2022

International Auschwitz Committee congratulates President Van der Bellen on his re-election

Letter from Marian Turski and Christoph Heubner to the President of the Republic of Austria.

11.10.2022

Outrage at behaviour of AfD politician from Thuringia at the Holocaust Memorial

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the behaviour of the AfD politician Holger Winterstein at the Holocaust Memorial saying:

07.10.2022

Nobel Peace Prize 2022 awarded to Belarussian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.

Commenting on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

November 2022

29.11.2022

Current developments surrounding Twitter and the network service’s owner Elon Musk.

Holocaust survivors are deeply concerned as they follow the current developments surrounding the social network service Twitter.

12.11.2022

Remembering the world-renowned writer and Auschwitz survivor Tadeusz Borowski who was born 100 years ago on 12 November 1922.

To this day, his two collections of stories: Here in Our Auschwitz and Other Stories, and This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, both published in Poland in 1946, remain particularly disturbing and moving accounts of the horrors in Auschwitz for readers of classic world literature.

December 2022

20.12.2022

Stutthof Trial: Accessory to murder of more than 11,000 people

In Itzehoe, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented as follows on the upcoming verdict in the Stutthof Trial against Irmgard F., the former secretary to the camp commandant, who is facing the charge of being an accessory to the murder of more...

10.12.2022

The political consequences of the raid against the far-right milieu on 7 December 2022

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the political consequences of the raid against the far-right (Reichsbürger) milieu as follows:

07.12.2022

Raid targeting right-wing extremists in Germany

Commenting on today’s raid by security forces, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said in Berlin:

Archive Press 2023

January 2023

25.01.2023

Republic of Lithuania honours Marian Turski with the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits to Lithuania

Marian Turski, Auschwitz survivor, President of the International Auschwitz Committee, long-standing head of the historical section of POLITYKA and Chairman of the International Museum Council at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, was awarded the Cross of Officer of the Order for...

26.01.2023

78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, issued an emphatic statement marking the 78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on 27 January:

30.01.2023

90 years since so-called seizure of power by National Socialists in Germany

While in Chemnitz, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, gave a statement on the 90th anniversary of the so-called seizure of power by the National Socialists in Germany:

February 2023

06.02.2023

Ten years of AfD: Increasingly radical

Commenting in Berlin on the 10-year existence of the AfD as a far right extremist party in Germany, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee stressed:

13.02.2023

IAC calls for change in Germany’s remembrance culture

These days mark the 90th anniversary of the time when the Nazis took over power in Germany on 30 January 1933 and then promptly destroyed the foundations of democracy in civil society in the following few weeks of February and March 1933.

15.02.2023

Prevent upcoming appearance of QAnon propagandist Friedemann Mack in Falkensee town hall!

Commenting in Berlin on the upcoming appearance of QAnon propagandist Friedemann Mack in Falkensee town hall, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee stressed:

21.02.2023

Steven Spielberg receives Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival

Speaking in Berlin on today’s Berlinale award of the Honorary Golden Bear for Steven Spielberg, Christoph Heubner, Excutive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

March 2023

03.03.2023

International Auschwitz Committee and Volkswagen AG renew project work with trainees at Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.

The International Auschwitz Committee and Volkswagen AG have started working together again. They are holding a preparatory seminar in Hanover as the conservation project with trainees at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial gets underway again following the interruption caused by the Covid pandemic.

12.03.2023

80th Memorial Day in remembrance of Kraków Ghetto liquidation

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the final liquidation of Kraków Ghetto, on 13 March 1943, and the deportation of the last remaining Jewish prisoners to Plaszow and Auschwitz concentration camps, the Presidium of the International Auschwitz Committee gathered for a meeting in Kraków.

18.03.2023

International Auschwitz Committee horrified that ÖVP is making the far right socially acceptable

Following the state election in Lower Austria, the country’s geographically largest state, a coalition is currently emerging between the ÖVP and an FPÖ in which has accommodated leading representatives of far-right and anti-Semitic attitudes for many years.

23.03.2023

International Auschwitz Committee urges Elon Musk to rid Twitter of anti-Semitic smears and hatred.

Whilst at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on press reports about the massive increase in anti-Semitic contents on Twitter following its takeover by Elon Musk:

24.03.2023

The International Auschwitz Committee will present itself for the first time at the Leipzig Book Fair from 27 to 30 April 2023 in Hall 4, Stand A 303.

For the first time ever, the International Auschwitz Committee will be taking part in the Leipzig Book Fair. It will be presenting books and brochures from its work which focus on the memories, feelings and experiences of Holocaust survivors told after their liberation and also reflecting their...

April 2023

09.04.2023

Benjamin Ferencz, chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen Trial and subsequent Nuremberg Trials, has died

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute to Benjamin Ferencz who has died at the age of 103:

16.04.2023

35th anniversary of the March of the Living on 18 April in Oswiecim/Auschwitz with trainees from Emden, Wolfsburg and Osnabrück.

Since 1988 more than 300,000, mostly Jewish, young people from around the world have taken part in the March of the Living, walking in a column along the three-kilometre-long path from Auschwitz I concentration camp to Birkenau extermination camp. This walk of remembrance is dedicated to the memory...

18.04.2023

80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on 19 April 1943

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the presidents of Poland, Israel and Germany, Duda, Herzog and Steinmeier, will attend the state ceremony in Warsaw together. They will meet there with Marian Turski, the Polish-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and President of the International...

21.04.2023

Marian Turski's speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Speech delivered on 19 April 2023 in Warsaw by Marian Turski, Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, at the state ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

25.04.2023

Antisemitism accusations: Administrative court allows Roger Waters performance in Frankfurt

Not only Jewish survivors of the German concentration and extermination camps are once again deeply saddened, horrified and increasingly disillusioned by the Frankfurt Administrative Court decision on the upcoming performance by British singer Roger Waters at the Frankfurter Festhalle.

28.04.2023

Former concentration camp guard Josef Schütz dies aged 102 before final decision on prison sentence

Whilst at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the death of the former SS guard Joseph Schütz as follows:

May 2023

08.05.2023

As a new war in Europe rages, the world remembers the end of World War II on 8 and 9 May 1945

Speaking while at the Auschwitz Memorial on today’s Remembrance Day marking the end of World War II, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

10.05.2023

90th anniversary of Nazi book burning ritual launched on 10 May 1933

While at the Auschwitz Memorial, and speaking on the 90th anniversary of the Nazi book burning ritual launched on 10 May 1933, Christoph Heubner, author and Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

12.05.2023

Capture and abduction of Adolf Eichmann 63 years ago on 11 and 12 May 1960

While at the Auschwitz Memorial Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented as follows on the present-day significance of Adolf Eichmann’s capture and abduction 63 years ago on 11 and 12 May 1960:

31.05.2023

Auschwitz survivor Thomas Buergenthal dies aged 89

It is with profound sorrow, heartfelt appreciation and the greatest respect that Auschwitz survivors throughout the world are bidding farewell to Thomas Buergenthal who survived Auschwitz as one of the few remaining Jewish children. In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the...

June 2023

02.06.2023

4 years since the murder of Walter Lübcke on 2 June 2019

On the fourth anniversary of the murder of Walter Lübcke on 2 June 2019, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said in Berlin:

05.06.2023

On the AfD gaining strength in Germany and the result of the election for mayor in Schwerin

In Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on the growing strength of the AfD in Germany and the associated developments at local level:

13.06.2023

Invitation to IAC press conference on 16 June 2023, 11 am, German Resistance Memorial Center, Stauffenbergstr.13, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten

The survivors of the Holocaust are not alone in feeling alarmed and disturbed by the drastic rise in support shown in current surveys for the AfD and their extreme right-wing slogans. Time and again in German cities there are violent attacks directed against ‘foreigners’, and anti-Semitic...

20.06.2023

Auschwitz survivors appeal to Europe on World Refugee Day: Remember the tragedies at sea and open your eyes and your hearts!

Today, on World Refugee Day, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said while at the Auschwitz Memorial:

July 2023

12.07.2023

Construction starts on the exhibition hall ‘Gerhard Richter: Birkenau’. An impressive art project close to Auschwitz as a warning to never forget.

Construction has started on the Gerhard Richter Exhibition Hall in Oswiecim, Poland. The building, designed by the artist himself, is being developed in the grounds, and in co-operation with, the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim/Auschwitz.

23.07.2023

Nobody intends to tear down a wall.

Commenting on today’s statements by CDU leader Friedrich Merz on collaborating with the AfD at local political level, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

August 2023

02.08.2023

European Holocaust Memorial Day in remembrance of the persecution and murder of Sinti and Roma in the German concentration and extermination camps.

Today, Holocaust survivors around the globe are marking the European Holocaust Memorial Day in remembrance of the persecution and murder of Sinti and Roma in the German concentration and extermination camps. In Berlin Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz...

04.08.2023

IAC warns about growing influence of the AfD and thanks the president of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for standing up against right-wing extremist threats.

Commenting in Berlin on the political development of the AfD and the statements by Thomas Haldenwang, the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

22.08.2023

Remembering the author Zofia Posmysz on the 100th anniversary of her birthday

It is with great sadness and gratitude that Auschwitz survivors will be commemorating the life of the author Zofia Posmysz tomorrow, on 23 August. Their friend and fellow sufferer was born 100 years ago in Kraków. She died last year on 8 August 2022, just a few weeks before her 100th birthday in a...

27.08.2023

Anti-Semitic Aiwanger leaflet: IAC demands clarification and consequences.

Commenting in Berlin on the development of the anti-Semitic affair surrounding Hubert Aiwanger and the reactions of his party colleagues, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said:

31.08.2023

Developments in the anti-Semitic scandal surrounding Hubert Aiwanger in Bavaria

Speaking during a stay in Oswiecim, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on developments in the anti-Semitic scandal surrounding Hubert Aiwanger:

September 2023

03.09.2023

Aiwanger is causing significant political havoc and divisions in society

While in Oswiecim Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on developments in the anti-Semitic scandal surrounding the Bavarian politician and vice premier Hubert Aiwanger and his explanation strategy:

11.09.2023

The Hungarian-Jewish Auschwitz survivor Eva Fahidi died this morning in Budapest aged 97.

It is with deep sadness, profound gratitude and greatest respect that Auschwitz survivors around the world are now bidding farewell to their fellow sufferer, friend and long-time companion, Eva Fahidi, who died today in Budapest at the age of 97.

18.09.2023

CDU election successes with the AfD in Thuringia unmask the ‘firewall’ as an empty hypocritical phrase.

Commenting on the political situation in Thuringia and the upcoming run-off election for the office of mayor in Nordhausen, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

October 2023

04.10.2023

80th anniversary of the rescue operations for Danish-Jewish families

80th anniversary of the unique rescue operations to save the vast majority of Denmark’s Jewish families from deportation to German concentration and extermination camps.

07.10.2023

Hamas launches massive attack on Israel

In response to the massive attack by the Palestinian military group Hamas on Israel, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said in Berlin:

07.10.2023

Auschwitz Committee commends commitment to democracy in Bitterfeld-Wolfen

Commenting in Berlin on tomorrow’s run-off election for the mayor of Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Saxony-Anhalt, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

November 2023

03.11.2023

Street naming for Kurt Goldstein postponed by Dortmund-Scharnhorst district authority

A few days ago, following the intervention of an AfD representative and the petition of a CDU representative, the local assembly in Dortmund-Scharnhorst decided to postpone the planned naming of a street after Kurt Goldstein who was born in 1914 in Scharnhorst, was a resistance fighter against...

05.11.2023

Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize for Christoph Heubner.

This year’s Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize was awarded to the historian and writer Christoph Heubner in the Johanniskirche church, Magdeburg.

05.11.2023

Open letter on the planned renaming of the Anne Frank Day Care Centre in Tangerhütte, Saxony-Anhalt.

While visiting Magdeburg as the recipient of the Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

06.11.2023

Gerhard Richter is honoured with the International Auschwitz Committee’s Gift of Remembrance Award

Berlin/Cologne. The International Auschwitz Committee (IAC) has honoured the Gerhard Richter as ‘artist, German, and as citizen’ by awarding him a statue of the inverted B in his studio in Cologne.

08.11.2023

Statement marking the 85th anniversary of the nationwide November Pogrom launched by the Nazis on 9 November 1938

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, made a statement in remembrance of the upcoming 85th anniversary of the November Pogrom, which started on the night of 9 November 1938. He said:

21.11.2023

Bavarian criminal investigation office launches police raids against anti-Semitic hate speech and threats targeting Jews online

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee commented on today’s police raids initiated by Bavaria’s criminal investigation office and directed against anti-Semitic hate speech and incitement to violence on the internet:

28.11.2023

Christoph Heubner is awarded Charlotte Petersen Medal 2023

On 28 November 2023, Christoph Heubner, author and Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee was awarded the Charlotte Petersen Medal 2023 by the town of Dillenburg and the Society for Christian-Jewish Co-operation in Dillenburg. He received the award for his long-standing...

December 2023

05.12.2023

IAC criticises indifferent wait-and-see attitude towards the AfD by large sections of the German business community

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the current debate about the indifferent wait-and-see attitude towards the AfD by large sections of the German business community:

12.12.2023

Anti-Semitic attack by Polish Sejm MP Grzegorz Braun

Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, made a clear statement condemning today’s anti-Semitic attack by MP Grzegorz Braun in the Polish parliament during a Hanukkah celebration:

19.12.2023

60 years since the start of the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials on 20 December 1963

Today, Auschwitz survivors around the world are remembering the First Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial which began sixty years ago on 20 December 1963. In Berlin Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

25.12.2023

Jewish Auschwitz survivors and the Auschwitz Committee in the Netherlands spied on by the forerunner of today’s Dutch domestic security service.

As late as into the 1980s, the Dutch domestic security service spied on Jewish Auschwitz survivors in the Netherlands, including their involvement in the Dutch Auschwitz Committee which was founded in 1956 and considered a ‘danger to democracy’.

27.12.2023

IAC mourns the loss of Wolfgang Schäuble

In Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute to Wolfgang Schäuble as follows: