Margot Friedländer, née Bendheim
1921–2025
Margot Friedländer was born Anni Margot Bendheim in Berlin on 5 November 1921. In January 1943 her younger brother Ralph was arrested and her mother Auguste decided to go with him; both were deported to Auschwitz on 29 January 1943 and murdered. Margot evaded arrest, went underground, changed her appearance and was hidden by a succession of helpers until she was arrested in April 1944. On 16 June 1944 she was deported from Berlin to Theresienstadt under her birth name, Bendheim, and survived; in June 1945 she married Adolf Friedländer, a fellow Berliner she had met again in the camp. The couple emigrated to New York in 1946. In 2010 she returned to Berlin, regained German citizenship and spoke widely to young people about her experiences until her death in Berlin on 9 May 2025, at the age of 103.
Survived.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Stille Helden – biography Margot Friedländer Born 5 Nov 1921 in Berlin; brother and mother deported and murdered; went underground; arrested April 1944; deported to Theresienstadt 16 Jun 1944; survived; married Adolf Friedländer; emigrated 1946; returned 2010
- Wikipedia (de) – Margot Friedländer Birth name Anni Margot Bendheim, 5 Nov 1921; mother and brother deported 29 Jan 1943 with the 27th Osttransport to Auschwitz; emigration to New York 1946; return to Berlin 2010 and citizenship; death 9 May 2025 in Berlin
- Yad Vashem blog – The Story of Margot Friedländer Mother's decision to go with her son; hiding by helpers; deportation to Theresienstadt June 1944; marriage June 1945; death at 103 in Berlin
- Bundesarchiv – Deportationschronologie (German Reich) Berlin → Theresienstadt transport of 28 people on 16 Jun 1944
- statistik-des-holocaust.de – 99th–117th Theresienstadttransport 16 Jun 1944 = 107th Theresienstadttransport, code I/113 (basis for inferred transport)
- Stolpersteine in Berlin – Margot Bendheim Stolperstein at Skalitzer Str. 32 (Kreuzberg); born 5 Nov 1921 in Berlin; forced labour at the Deuta-Werke; deported with the '107. Alterstransport' on 16 Jun 1944 as no. 1 on the list; survived
