Japan, Hong Kong, Germany. Andrei Iwanowitsch, one of the last Buchenwald survivors, is seeing the world for the first time. In April and May 2026 he toured Germany for his 100th birthday. NZZ, Süddeutsche and Die ZEIT came along. In September he stood on stage at the Feine Sahne Fischfilet festival in Jarmen. More than 750,000 people have watched it.
Around 2,500 of them students in cinemas and classrooms, plus adults in cinemas, theatres and memorials, and school classes via livestream.
A sequence of six press clippings on Andrei Moiseenko's 100th birthday: DIE ZEIT, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Thüringer Allgemeine, ZEIT ONLINE, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Tagesspiegel. Every piece appears with a quote and a link in the press list further down this page.
The Jarmen pictures are by cinematographer Max v. Matthiessen, stills from the footage of the new film and Hannes' phone. The photos of the 2026 tour of Germany in Gera, Berlin, Leipzig and Weimar were taken by the wonderful Christian Rothe. Click an image for the lightbox.
Jarmen · Main stage
Gravel pit · Monchi, Andrei, Hannes
Peene · Andrei at the helm
Peene · On board with Monchi
Jarmen · Breakfast
Film night · On the beach
Film night · Screen by the lake
Film night · Audience
Jarmen · The path to the lake
Film night · Under the tent
Jarmen · Arrival
Peene · Boat trip
Baltic Sea · The ferry
Jarmen · Dusk by the lake
Babylon · Outside the cinema
Babylon · Foyer
Babylon · Exhibition
Babylon · Welcome
Babylon · Auditorium
Babylon · Andrei
Babylon · Before the screen
Babylon · Reception
Babylon · Afterglow
DNT · Backstage
DNT · Set-up
DNT · Just before curtain
DNT · Prologue
DNT · Volny Choir
DNT · Welcome address
DNT · On the sofa
DNT · Film preview
DNT · Andrei arrives
DNT · Sofa talk
DNT · Sofa talk II
DNT · Thees Uhlmann
DNT · Thees Uhlmann II
DNT · Choir finale
DNT · Happy Birthday
DNT · Confetti
DNT · Feine Sahne
DNT · Feine Sahne II
DNT · Andrei dances
DNT · Reception
DNT · Encounter
DNT · Evening
Westflügel · Arriving
Westflügel · Warm-up
Westflügel · Stage
Westflügel · Andrei sings
Westflügel · Accordion
Westflügel · Audience
Westflügel · Rockabilly
Westflügel · Andrei dances
Westflügel · A hundred
Gera · Arrival
Gera · Introduction
Gera · Andrei speaks
Gera · Audience
Gera · Film
Gera · In conversation
Gera · AfterwardsPhotos: Christian Rothe (tour) · Max v. Matthiessen and stills from the footage (Jarmen)
From the local paper in the Ore Mountains to ZEIT im Osten, and in September the papers of Western Pomerania. Click through to the original. German-language coverage.
"It would be very dangerous if what I went through were to happen again."
Andrei Iwanowitsch Moiseenko is 100 years old and survived the Buchenwald concentration camp. During his visit to Germany he stood on stage at a punk concert and spoke to schoolchildren.
“The most emotional moment came from the 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Andrej Iwanowitsch Moiseenko.”
Lead story on the festival Friday: the talk with Monchi at the gravel pit and the performance in the evening, two weeks before the state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
“Wasted in Jarmen has never had a guest like Andrej Moiseenko.”
Portrait ahead of the show: how the encounter in Weimar turned into the invitation to Western Pomerania, Andrei’s path from Leipzig via Buchenwald to Wansleben, and why a hundred-year-old from Minsk listens to punk rock.
Andrei Iwanowitsch Moiseenko stood on stage at the "Wasted in Jarmen" festival and spoke to schoolchildren. TV segment, aired at 10 pm on NDR.
Andrei Iwanowitsch Moiseenko survived forced labor and concentration camp imprisonment in Germany. He shared his experiences with students in Gützkow.
Festival wrap-up with Andrei’s appearance as its own paragraph: “Two weeks before the state election, the 100-year-old Holocaust witness Andrej Iwanowitsch Moiseenko appeared at the festival in Jarmen.”
“The most emotional moment of 2026 for him was probably the encounter with a hundred-year-old, Andrej Iwanowitsch Moiseenko from Minsk, one of the last survivors of Buchenwald.”
Festival wrap-up that describes Monchi’s encounter with Andrei as the moment of the year.
“Moissejenko is one of the last living witnesses. An era ends with him – and a screen for our projections is lost.”
A feature on three weeks of touring: from cognac in a Weimar hotel lobby to the ceremony at Buchenwald and the rock concert on the eve of the 100th birthday at Leipzig's Westflügel. A reflection on what bearing witness can still achieve today – and where it reaches its limits.
“The curiosity about life that fades in others with age only grows in him.”
A portrait for the 100th birthday: a trip to Tokyo at 99, a passport renewed for another quarter century, 15 events in April, an entry in Leipzig's Golden Book, punk rock on the eve, a matinee at the DNT. On the friendship with Hannes Farlock and Andrei's message to young people.
A report from the birthday matinee at the DNT: Andrei's wish for live punk rock comes true, with a prominent surprise guest. A memorable afternoon in Weimar.
“I love you, life” — Andrei sings it himself, accompanied on the piano.
A report from the ceremony at the DNT: hundreds of guests, a Belarusian choir, surprise guests Thees Uhlmann (Tomte) and members of Feine Sahne Fischfilet. Memorial foundation director Christian Wagner highlights Andrei's zest for life despite all he has endured.
“No one should do anything to another that causes them pain. If we hold to that, life will be good for everyone.”
A life's reckoning at one hundred: daily bike rides, a trip to Asia at 98, still an active witness – and the conviction that his survival was chance. “My guardian angel protects me to this day.”
“I can bear witness to it.” – Andrei Moiseenko on the atrocities of the SS at Buchenwald
A wire portrait at one hundred: a life story from a Ukrainian village through HASAG, Buchenwald and Wansleben to Minsk. It describes a centenarian without bitterness, with a dacha and a large garden – and a wish for a choir and punk rock at the DNT.
A preview of the Saxony leg: more than 2,300 students in Dresden have signed up to meet the witness. Stops in Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz, Annaberg-Buchholz, Hoyerswerda, Bautzen. It notes that “Ja, Andrei Iwanowitsch” is becoming freely available on YouTube for the first time.
A portrait with a Leipzig focus: forced labour at HASAG, the “foreigners' prison” on Riebeckstraße, Buchenwald, Wansleben. A preview of the three Leipzig screenings, the mayor's reception and the Golden Book entry.
A report from Annaberg-Buchholz: around 140 young people in conversation with Andrei. Travelling with him: Beatrice Pätzold and Hendrik Hillebrecht. It notes the undiminished presence of the centenarian.
A feature from the Gera event on 14 April at Mieze Südlich. From the quarantine camp and the quarry to the low-flying air raid on the day of liberation – and Andrei's message to young people to treat one another with respect.
“Of the 99-year-old Belarusian Andrei Iwanowitsch Moiseenko, Weimer says he is ‘a wonderful man with a great and generous heart.’”
A report from the 81st anniversary of liberation at Buchenwald: for the first time in decades no survivor's speech, a controversy around culture minister Weimer, a cancelled keffiyeh rally. Andrei at the centre as a survivor in attendance.
A report from the ceremony on 12 April. Hape Kerkeling as keynote speaker. “Two former inmates were at least present but did not take the floor: 98-year-old Alojzy Maciak from Poland and 99-year-old Andrei Moiseenko from Belarus.”
A school report on the talk with upper-year students on 17 April – one of the Berlin tour dates between the Babylon film night and the Saxony leg.
An audio piece on the tour and the milestone birthday.
Accompanying the exhibition: an invitation to the witness talk with Andrei on 14 April and a screening of “Ja, Andrei Iwanowitsch”. Opening address: Nicole Schönherr-Trenkmann; introduction: Rike Schreiber.
“Talking to one another is the right way to reconcile and find peace in this world.”
A school talk with the upper years on 24 April: after the 2018 film, Andrei tells his life story, from HASAG in Leipzig through Buchenwald to Wansleben. At the end there are seeds for the hobby gardener and, of course, a selfie.
A tribute for the 100th birthday: taken to Germany for forced labour at just 15 and made to work at Buchenwald. To this day Andrei keeps memory alive through school visits and encourages young people to take responsibility.
The German National Theatre honours its honorary citizen with a birthday matinee in the main house: film excerpts, a panel talk with Knut Elstermann and the Volny Choir.
A biographical portrait on the memorial's liberation portal: taken for forced labour at 15, gruelling work in the quarry, liberation on 14 April 1945. It names the film “Ja, Andrei Iwanowitsch” by Hannes Farlock.
Andrei Iwanowitsch Moiseenko was born on 1 May 1926 in north-eastern Ukraine. At the age of 15 he was taken as a forced labourer to HASAG in Leipzig, deported to Buchenwald in April 1944 and later to the Wansleben subcamp. He survived – and for almost sixty years said nothing about what he had seen.
Only in his late seventies did he begin to speak. Today he lives in Minsk, Belarus, rides his bike every day, keeps a dacha and travels the world. In spring 2026 he toured Germany for three weeks – from Buchenwald to the birthday matinee on 1 May at the German National Theatre in Weimar.
The tour is over, and so is Jarmen. The work continues, the second film is in the making. For press enquiries, school talks, screenings, production or funding: just write.
hannes@awiiwwa.de
