German Chancellor Angela Merkel honored Mannheimer Saturday for his efforts to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.

Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Twitter that Merkel is mourning his death and that "we owe him gratitude."

Mannheimer spent two years being held in different death camps, including Auschwitz. Most of his family was murdered during the Holocaust.

After the end of the Third Reich, Mannheimer dedicated his life to talking about the horrors he experienced. He also became the head of the community of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp.

German news agency dpa reports that Mannheimer died Friday at a Munich hospital. No cause of death was given.