102-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Featured on the Cover of Vogue Germany (Photos)

Margot Friedländer, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor, is the cover star for the July/August edition of Vogue Germany.

Born in Berlin in 1921, Friedländer’s family faced tragedy during World War II.

Her mother and brother were arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and later murdered at Auschwitz. Before their arrest, her mother left a message for 21-year-old Margot: “Try to make your life.”

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

In her interview with Vogue Germany, she expressed gratitude for surviving and fulfilling her mother’s wish to build a life.

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

Margot met her husband, Adolf, in the concentration camp, and they married after liberation. They emigrated to the US in 1946, living in New York for over six decades. After her husband died in 2010, she returned to Berlin.

Kerstin Weng, head of editorial content at Vogue, stated that the issue’s theme is love, featuring favorite pieces and people.

Friedländer wrote the word “love” on the cover, along with her signature. Weng described Margot as a positive person who, despite her hardships, remains open-minded and advocates for remembering the past and fostering humanity.

At 102, Margot continues to engage with younger generations, demonstrating that dialogue and understanding are still possible.