Alfred Büchler papers

The Alfred Büchler papers consist of biographical materials, correspondence, and police and Buchenwald Kommandantur certificates documenting the Büchler family of Gleiwitz; Heinrich Büchler’s incarceration in Buchenwald; Alfred Büchler’s freedom to emigrate; Alfred, Steffi, and Henry Büchler’s efforts in England to communicate with their parents, Jacques and Käthe Büchler, in Gleiwitz; and Jacques Büchler’s death at Auschwitz. Alfred Buechler was born Alfred Büchler in 1925 in Gleiwitz, Germany (now Gliwice, Poland) to wine merchant Jacques Büchler and Käthe Büchler (née Brauer). His brother and sister were Heinrich (Henry) and Steffi Büchler. Jacques was arrested during Kristallnacht and imprisoned at Buchenwald, and Henry was sent to Buchenwald two days later. Henry joined Steffi in England after his release in December, and Alfred was reunited with his siblings via Kindertransport in June 1939. He found work in a kitchen in Ipswich and became a kosher caterer. Henry became an engineer. Jacques Büchler was imprisoned in Gleiwitz in 1941 and transferred to Auschwitz where he perished in 1942. Käthe Büchler also perished during the Holocaust.