A square in front of Berlin's State Parliament now honours the memory of Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who passed away almost exactly one year ago. The commemorative plaque was ceremonially unveiled on Thursday in the presence of Parliamentary President Cornelia Seibeld (CDU) and Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU).
Friedländer's legacy will now be "visible every day", Seibeld declared. She described the naming as a "permanent reminder", noting that the parliament serves as the "heart of democracy".
Friedländer was among the most respected and publicly active witnesses to Nazi persecution of Jews. The honorary citizen of Berlin died on 9 May last year at the age of 103 in the capital city where she was born in 1921. During World War II, she survived deportation to a concentration camp. Her mother and brother were murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz.
After the war, Friedländer initially lived in the United States for several decades. Only after her husband's death in the late 1990s did she begin to confront her painful history of persecution. In 2010, at the age of 88, she returned to her birthplace of Berlin to work as a witness to history and educate others. Among her many activities, she visited schools to share her experiences.
For her work, she received the Federal Order of Merit. The Margot Friedländer Foundation, which she established, continues her educational mission following her death. The decision to name the previously unnamed square in front of the House of Representatives was made just under six months ago. However, it was intended to become official only on the occasion of Friedländer's first anniversary of death.
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