Jena, 01.04.2026. The moving memories of Holocaust survivor Robert Jehoshua Büchler are now available in German. His book “Kindheit im Schatten des Grauens” will be presented on April 9th during a public reading at the Jenaer Rathausdiele.
- What: Reading and book presentation “Kindheit im Schatten des Grauens”
- Who: Memories of Robert Jehoshua Büchler
- When: Thursday, April 9, 2026, 6:00 PM
- Where: Rathausdiele, Markt 1, Jena
From Family Book to Contemporary Witness Document
Robert Jehoshua Büchler originally wrote his memoirs in the 1980s. He first recorded his experiences of persecution by the National Socialists as a Hebrew family book to preserve what he had experienced for his children. Now, the work has been translated under the title “Kindheit im Schatten des Grauens” and made accessible to a broad, German-speaking public.
Survivor of the Death March
Büchler is closely linked to the recent history of the region, as he was one of the survivors of the death march in the spring of 1945, which also passed through the Jenaer city area. The reading in the Rathausdiele offers citizens the opportunity to engage with this dark chapter of history and learn about the author’s personal experiences firsthand.
Background: The Death Marches of 1945
In April 1945, shortly before the end of the Second World War, the SS evacuated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar in view of the approaching Allied troops. Tens of thousands of weakened prisoners were driven on so-called death marches towards the south and east. One of these routes led directly through Jena and adjacent areas such as the Mühltal in April 1945.
Many of the completely exhausted prisoners died of exhaustion on these marches or were shot by the guards when they could no longer continue. Memorial plaques and steles along the historical routes in the Jenaer city area today commemorate the victims of these crimes. Processing and keeping the memory alive through publications by contemporary witnesses like Robert Jehoshua Büchler are a central part of the culture of remembrance in Thüringen.
Source:
Memories of Robert Jehoshua Büchler
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