Français
Español
English
Portuguese
Weinberg was concerned about how future generations would remember the Holocaust once survivors were no longer alive to testify firsthand about Nazi crimes.
By Shula Rosen
Albrecht Weinberg, a Holocaust survivor who endured imprisonment in the Auschwitz, Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps and survived three death marches during World War II, has died at the age of 101, authorities in Germany’s Leer district announced Tuesday.
Weinberg, who lost most of his family in the Holocaust, was born March 7, 1925, in the town of Lauterbach in northwest Germany.
After spending decades in New York, he returned to his East Frisian homeland 14 years ago and became known for speaking publicly about his experiences under Nazi rule.
Local officials in the Leer district confirmed his death several weeks after the premiere of the film about his life, “It’s Always on My Mind.”
Over the years, Weinberg addressed high school students and other audiences about the atrocities he witnessed and experienced during the Holocaust.
Mayor Claus-Peter Horst said Weinberg remained deeply committed to preserving the memory of the Nazi era and warning against historical amnesia.
“Since returning from New York to his East Frisian home 14 years ago, Albrecht recounted tirelessly and with incredible energy his terrible experiences during the Nazi era and warned again and again against forgetting,” Horst said.
In 2017, Weinberg received the Order of Merit of Germany. Last year, however, he returned the award in protest over a parliamentary vote calling for the deportation of many migrants at Germany’s borders.
Despite decades having passed since the war, Weinberg said the trauma of his experiences remained with him throughout his life.
“I sleep with it, I wake up with it, I sweat, I have nightmares; that is my present,” he said last year.
Weinberg also expressed concern about how future generations would remember the Holocaust once survivors were no longer alive to testify firsthand about Nazi crimes.
“When my generation is not in this world anymore, when we disappear from the world, then the next generation can only read it out of the book,” he said.
Do You Love Israel? Make a Donation - Show Your Support!
Donate to vital charities that help protect Israeli citizens and inspire millions around the world to support Israel too!
Now more than ever, Israel needs your help to fight and win the war -- including on the battlefield of public opinion.
Antisemitism, anti-Israel bias and boycotts are out of control. Israel's enemies are inciting terror and violence against innocent Israelis and Jews around the world. Help us fight back!
