100-year-old survivor opens the commemoration ceremony at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial - 81 years after liberation

Munich/Flossenbürg – 22 April 2026. 81 years after the liberation of Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, the Bavarian Memorial Foundation and the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial will mark this anniversary from 24 to 26 April 2026 with a central commemorative ceremony and a varied supporting programme. The central commemorative ceremony will take place on Sunday, 26 April 2026. Four survivors will be in attendance; around 500 guests from politics, diplomacy and society, as well as relatives of former prisoners from all over the world, are expected.

Central commemorative ceremony on 26 April 2026

The central commemorative ceremony on 26 April 2026, starting at 2.00 pm, will form the highlight of the event. Dr Leon Weintraub, a survivor of the Flossenbürg concentration camp who turned 100 this year, will open the event with a keynote address. Following this, Karl Freller (Director of the Bavarian Memorial Foundation) and Prof. Dr Jörg Skriebeleit (Director of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial) will welcome the attendees. Speakers are expected to include Dr Silke Launert (Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space), Joachim Herrmann (Bavarian Minister of State for the Interior, Sport and Integration), Xavier Ros (Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG) and Malgorzata Krzempek-Niespialowski (a second-generation survivor). Following the ceremony in the main tent, a wreath-laying ceremony will take place in the “Valley of Death”.

“We are once again expecting a large international audience, including many descendants of former prisoners from all over the world. This year, the focus will be on the numerous subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp,” says Prof. Dr Jörg Skriebeleit.

Four survivors of the Flossenbürg concentration camp and its subcamps have registered to attend the 81st anniversary of the liberation: Josef Salomonovic, Shelomo Selinger, HRH Prince Max of Bavaria and Dr Leon Weintraub.

The event will be livestreamed in German (with additional sign language) and English. The link will be available on 26 April at https://www.gedenkstaette-flossenbuerg.de/en/visit/events/commemoration-2026

A varied supporting programme

In addition to the central commemoration ceremony, the ‘Meeting Hub tent’ will be open from 24 April as a space for discussion and information for descendants of former prisoners and anyone interested in exploring the history of the site. The full programme for 24–26 April can be found here:  https://www.gedenkstaette-flossenbuerg.de/de/besuch/veranstaltungen/gedenkfeier-2026

Historical background

The Flossenbürg concentration camp was liberated by US troops on 23 April 1945. Upon their arrival, members of the 90th US Infantry Division of the 3rd US Army found around 1,500 seriously ill and weakened prisoners still in the camp. A few days before the Americans arrived, the SS had forced around 15,000 prisoners from the main Flossenbürg camp onto so-called death marches heading south. In total, the SS imprisoned around 100,000 people in the Flossenbürg concentration camp between 1938 and 1945. At least 30,000 of them lost their lives.