Springer's son, Axel Springer Jr. (1941-1980), was the photographer and journalist "Sven Simon", and was for a period chief editor of "Welt am Sonntag". In 1980, at the age of 38, he took his own life. He is perhaps best remembered for his iconic picture of Willi Brandt kneeling on 7 December 1970 before the memorial to Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw.