In March, Gertrud Weiss, Honorary Board member of Post-Polio Health International, received the German Award of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) from Federal President Johannes Rau for her service to polio survivors.
The Bundesverdienstkreuz is the sole state award of merit given by the Federal Republic of Germany.
Gertrud was very active in the Bundesverband Polio e.V in its early development and wrote two books and numerous articles about the late effects of polio to help spread the word in Germany. Regrettably, Gertrud died in April, 2004, just prior to her 84th birthday.