KUCHARSKI, Heinz. Hamburg 22.7.1919 — Markranstädt, Kr. Leipzig 8.10.2000. German Ethnologist of South Asia. Son of engineer Walter K. After school in Hamburg from 1938 studies of philosophy, ethnology and Oriental languages. He was Communist and was imprisoned by Gestapo in 1943, in April 1945 narrowly escaped execution through the advance of British and fled to the Red Army. But he has also been accused for betraying his comrades to Gestapo. From 1945 living in Leipzig. Dipl.Ethn. In the 1980s Director of Indienabteilung of Museum für Völkerkunde in Leipzig. Interested in Indian art, ethnology, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Publications: Indische Bronzen: Aus dem Museum für Völkerkunde in Leipzig und der Sammlung des Verfassers. 36 p. Die Schatzkammer 17. Lp. 1965.
– San Francisco: asiatische Kunst in den Museen und Sammlungen von San Francisco und der Bay Area. 41+168 p. 212 ill. Lp. 1977.
– Articles and reviews, edited books.
Sources: Adressbuch 1981, 1988; Th. Götze, “Regenbogen: Buddhismus in der DDR”, ZdF 31, 2012, 133-147; *J. Simkin on wartime in spartacus-educational.com with photos; German Wikipedia (concentrating on war time).