Kibbutz Buchenwald: How Survivors Wrote Their Way to a New Beginning

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Join Siegal Lifelong Learning for a remote lecture with Lilach Naishtat, PhD, Ruth Meltzer Fellow, Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, and Senior Lecturer, Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel

After liberation from Buchenwald in April 1945, 16 Jewish survivors made an extraordinary choice: they would build a kibbutz in Israel. Calling themselves Kibbutz Buchenwald, they kept a collective diary between 1945-1948 while training for this journey.

This presentation explores how writing became a tool for healing. These survivors used words to process trauma, rebuild identity, and envision their future. Their journal entries reveal how they transformed pain into purpose, founding Kibbutz Netzer Sereni, which still stands today. Their story offers insights into how communities respond to catastrophe through collective storytelling—a practice witnessed again as Israeli kibbutzim documented experiences following October 7th.

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