Moshe Kessler was born in Berehove in 1930. He was separated from his family at the age of 13 and experienced the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. The recently published book »The Boy from Block 66« by biographer Dr Limor Regev tells his story. Based on Moshe Kessler’s memories and using photographs, drawings and other documents, she tells of the fate of a Jewish family during the Holocaust from an individual perspective, starting in the years before the Second World War in Hungary and ending in the present day.

Dr Limor Regev will attend the event in the Audimax on 17 April and introduce her book. The publication also sheds light on the story of the more than 1,000 children interned in Buchenwald in what was known as the »Kinderblock« (»children’s block«). Their rescue was organised by the political underground, led by the Czech prisoner Antonín Kalina (1902–1990). Following the lecture by Dr Limor Regev (in English), there will be an opportunity to speak with Moshe Kessler (in German).

Moshe Kessler already visited the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in 2022. As a living witness, sharing his story and his experiences with young people is an undertaking so close to his heart that he is now making the arduous journey from Israel for the second time. All students and other interested parties are warmly invited to come and speak with one of the few Buchenwald survivors still alive today and his author.

Admission to the event is free. We ask that this guest be accorded special respect; additional security measures must be observed as required. The event will be partly in English and partly in German.

Book presentation and discussion with Moshe Kessler and Dr Limor Regev
17 April 2023
6 p.m.
Audimax of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Steubenstraße 6, 99423 Weimar

In case of questions, feel free to contact Marina Glaser, Office of the President (036 43 / 58 11 16; marina.glaser[at]uni-weimar.de) or Max Merkel, Event Coordination (036 43 / 58 11 75; maximilian.merkel[at]uni-weimar.de).

The event will mark Buchenwald commemoration day. We would like to draw your attention to the following other related events and exhibitions:

16 April 2023, 3 p.m.
Commemoration of the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp
Former roll call square at Buchenwald Memorial

Until 29 April 2023
»Rosa Winkel« travelling exhibition
University Library, Steubenstraße 6, 99423 Weimar
Free admission, accessible during library opening hours

Exhibition on the persecuted homosexuals in Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps: a project of the Chair of History in Media and Public Spheres of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena together with students and in collaboration with the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation

Until 24 April 2023
Exhibition »60 Jahre ›Nackt unter Wölfen‹ – Zwischen Mythos, internationaler Filmgeschichte und regionaler Erinnerungskultur« [»60 years of ›Naked among Wolves‹ – Between myth, international film history and regional culture of remembrance«]
University Library, Steubenstraße 6, 99423 Weimar
Free admission, accessible during library opening hours

Exhibition developed by the Department of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Erfurt in collaboration with students