102-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Margot Friedländer Graces Vogue Germany Cover

 Margot Friedländer, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor whose family perished at Auschwitz during World War II, is the cover star for the July/August edition of Vogue Germany.

Born Margot Bendheim in Berlin in 1921, Friedländer spent the early years of the war with her mother and younger brother Ralph after her parents separated. They had planned to flee Germany, but in 1943, her brother was arrested by the Gestapo. Her mother confronted the Gestapo, resulting in their deportation to Auschwitz, where both were murdered.

Before being taken to Auschwitz, her mother left a message for then 21-year-old Friedländer: "Try to make your life."

Friedländer went into hiding but was eventually betrayed and sent to Theresienstadt camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1944.

In her Vogue Germany interview, Friedländer expressed her gratitude for surviving and fulfilling her mother's wish to make a life for herself. She said, "I am grateful. Grateful that I made it. For being able to fulfill my mother’s wish. That I have made my life."

Vogue Germany conducted four meetings with Friedländer in 2024, and the cover photos were taken in April at the Botanical Garden in Berlin.

Friedländer met her future husband, Adolf, in the concentration camp, and they married shortly after liberation. The couple emigrated to the US in 1946, living in New York for over six decades. In 2010, following her husband’s death at age 88, Friedländer returned to Berlin.

Kerstin Weng, head of editorial content at Vogue, explained that the issue's theme is love, featuring "favorite pieces, favorite people." The cover of the collector’s issue includes the word "love" written by Friedländer, along with her signature.

Weng praised Friedländer, stating, "The most positive person I know is on this issue’s cover: Margot Friedländer. To many, she is known as a Holocaust survivor. But she not only survived the Nazis, she also overcame betrayal and loss. She would have all reason to be bitter, but remains open-minded and refuses to take sides. She stands up against forgetting and for humanity and togetherness. At 102, she seeks to engage with the younger generation and proves that dialogue is still possible.