Who is Margot Friedlander, 102-yr-old Holocaust survivor featured on Vogue Germany’s cover?

Vogue Germany hasn’t put a model or actor on the cover this month.

Instead, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor made the front page of the renowned fashion magazine.

Margot Friedländer, a centenarian, is one of the world’s oldest survivors of the Holocaust.

Friedländer, who has made it her life’s work to tell people about what she experienced, told Vogue Germany, “I am grateful. Grateful that I made it. For being able to fulfill my mother’s wish. That I have made my life.”

But who is Margot Friedländer? What is her story?

Let’s take a closer look

Margot Friedländer was born into a Jewish family in Berlin in 1921.

Friedländer said her family, like so many others, faced persecution.

As the Nazis took power, her life turned into a living nightmare.

According to the Berlin’s Jewish Museum website, Friedländer lived with her mother and younger brother Ralph after her parents separated.

They had plans to flee Germany, but in 1943, Ralph was arrested by the Gestapo – the Nazi’s secret police.

Their mother, who dared stand up to the Gestapo, was deported to Auschwitz alongside Ralph.

Before leaving, she left Friedländer a poignant message: “Try to make your life.”

After her family’s arrest, Friedländer, then 21, had no choice but to go into hiding.

However, Friedländer was betrayed and captured.

She was then sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia – where she remained till 1944.

Though Friedländer survived the Holocaust, her mother and brother were murdered at Auschwitz.

They were among the six million Jewish lives snuffed out by the genocide.

‘Carrying my story onward’

After the liberation, Margot decided to marry Adolf Friedländer, whom she met in Theresienstadt.

The pair soon emigrated to New York City where they began rebuilding their life.

According to Vogue Germany, Adolf worked in a Jewish cultural center, while Margot initially worked as a seamstress. She later got a job in a travel agency.

The Friedländers lived a quiet life.

It was only after her husband’s death in 1997 that Friedländer began writing about her experiences during the Holocaust.

Her story ultimately caught the attention of a filmmaker, who made a documentary about her and brought her over to Germany.

The trip — which Friedländer had once sworn never to make — changed her life.

She moved back permanently in 2010, at age 89, and quickly became a local celebrity, as reported in a profile by the Forward.

Since then, she has made several appearances where she tells her story.

Friedländer has increasingly became a prominent figure in a country haunted by its history.

She has spoken in Germany’s Parliament, at schools, and is a regular guest at Holocaust memorial events across the world.

Her autobiography, “Try to Make Your Life,” has touched countless readers, shedding light on her incredible journey of survival and resilience.

Grateful for the opportunity to pass on her message, the 102-old-year told Vogue Germany, “You will carry my story onward. That this never comes to happen again.”

Friedländer has also been awarded the prestigious Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin.

‘Be Human’

Vogue Germany put Friedländer on its cover at a time when Germany is experiencing civic unrest and economic strife.

The far-right party AfD, known for its anti-immigration stance, is also seeing its popularity surge.

Asked about what she thinks about a spike in anti-Semitic incidents and the rise of the far-right across the world, Friedländer said, “I am appalled. Don’t look at what separates you. Look at what unites you. Be human. Be reasonable.”

Kerstin Weng, the head of editorial content at Vogue Germany, said, _"_We have chosen love as the theme for this issue."

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,” Weng further said.

“At 102, she seeks to engage with the younger generation and proves that dialogue is still possible,” Weng added.

With input from agencies