Book presentation
In cooperation with the Documentation and Memorial Center in the former remand prison of the State Security Rostock, the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Max Samuel House invites you to the
book presentation
Admission: Free (donations are welcome)
Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6.30 pm
Alexander Walther: The Shoa and the GDR
What role did Jewish survivors in the GDR play in the cultural confrontation with the Shoah and National Socialism? How could Jewish experiences of persecution and anti-fascist convictions be negotiated and articulated in the face of state-enforced anti-fascism?
In his book presentation, historian Alexander Walther explores these questions. Based on estates and ego documents as well as works by Arnold Zweig and Heinz Knobloch, among others, he shows the options for action and motivations of Jewish and, in some cases, non-Jewish actors. In doing so, he examines the tension between stubborn action and sometimes painful concessions to the state.
Alexander Walther studied history and English for the teaching profession at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. He was a research assistant at the universities of Jena and Erfurt and received his doctorate in Jena in 2023 with a thesis on the memory of the Shoah in the GDR. Since 2023, he has been a research assistant in the project "Tacheles. Year of Jewish Culture in Saxony 2026" at the State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz.
