Newsletter 05/2026

This year’s commemorative ceremony focused on shared and lived responsibility for the present and the future. Particularly moving was the participation of four survivors of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. Among them was Leon Weintraub, who delivered this year’s welcome remarks. Although visiting the memorial site remains emotionally difficult for him, it is deeply important to him to take part in the ceremony. Through his words, he commemorated those who can no longer speak for themselves and honored the people who were murdered here. At the very beginning of his speech, he warned against attacks on the fundamental principles of democracy and emphasized the importance of actively standing up against them.

Representing the relatives of former prisoners, Małgorzata Nieśpiałowska spoke about the story of her father, Tadeusz Nieśpiałowski - a Polish resistance fighter imprisoned in the Flossenbürg concentration camp. In her powerful speech, she reflected on the lasting impact of persecution on her family and stressed the importance of carrying forward the experiences of survivors. In closing, she recalled the “Eleventh Commandment” of Auschwitz survivor Marian Turski: “Do not be indifferent.”

Other contributions came from Jörg Skriebeleit (Director of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial), Karl Freller (Director of the Bavarian Memorial Foundation), Joachim Herrmann (Bavarian Minister of State of the Interior, for Sports and Integration), Silke Launert (Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space) and Xavier Ros (Director of Labor Affairs and Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG).

The latter, Xavier Ros, stressed the importance of businesses and organizations critically engaging with their history and contributing as societal actors, while also bringing an international point of view as a Spaniard/Basque working in Germany. Since 2016, AUDI has funded a position in our education department and is enabling all interested apprentices to take an educational trip to the memorial.

Save the date: The commemorative ceremony marking the 82^nd anniversary of the liberation of the Flossenbürg concentration camp will take place on Sunday, April 18, 2027.

During this year’s liberation anniversary weekend, history became tangible: a relative of Michael Smuss handed over his prisoner number and his Displaced Persons identification card to the Flossenbürg Memorial.

Two small objects - yet they tell a story of persecution, liberation, and life after 1945.

Michael Smuss was transferred from the Plaszów concentration camp to the Flossenbürg concentration camp on August 4, 1944. In April 1945, he was liberated by American troops during a death march near Stamsried.

Such donations are important to our work. They preserve names, biographies, and experiences. They make clear: There was a human being behind every number.

We thank the relative of Michael Smuss for entrusting these objects to the Memorial.