Foreign Rights Catalogue - ANTHEA

Foreign Rights Guide August 2012 – January 2013
Sascha Buzmann: SHOCK FROZEN
How I survived 86 days being held captive by my tormentor
True Story/ Memoir
304 pages
978-3-431-03864-4
Hardcover
September 2012
"I finally have the strength to tell my story.” Sascha Buzmann
Sascha can already see the light shining through the living room window of his parents’ house. On this winter
afternoon, as he walks towards his home, as he has done so many times before, it is already dark outside.
He is waving the bag with his roller skates in his right hand, when he is suddenly grabbed from behind in a
headlock – at first he thinks that one of his older siblings is just teasing him, playing ambush. Even before his
mind can process a conscious thought, his sense of smell sounds the alarm. His siblings smell differently.
Whoever is holding him in his grip stinks rotten.
During this cold winter night, a man, who is a complete stranger to him, drags him for hours on end over dirt
tracks and fields with grass to an abandoned plot of land with a trailer.
There is no bathroom, no running water; at night, the rats climb into the trailer. It does not take long for
Sascha to reek as badly as his abductor. This is what will make him feel ineffably embarrassed and ashamed
upon his rescue. However, until this moment comes, the little boy will have to live through things, which are
far worse.
On January 10, 1986, nine-year-old Sascha Buzmann was abducted and forced to spend 86 days and nights
at the complete mercy of his severely emotionally disturbed and socially maladjusted captor. From January
10 to April 5, the child remained defenseless and under the complete control of his abductor. The boy was
already assumed dead when he could be freed due to a mere coincidence. Ever since, he has maintained his
silence with the exception of a Spiegel interview in early 2011. But now Sascha Buzmann is telling his story
for the very first time. How does one cope with the psychological trauma and the stigmatization of being a
victim?
“The Buzmann case is unique in the criminal history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Never before, and
never after, has a boy been held captive by his kidnapper for such an extended period of time. Sascha had
disappeared without a trace; there was no indication that he was still alive. By the time he was finally rescued,
the authorities and his family had almost lost all hope.” Der Spiegel
English summary available
Sascha Buzmann is 34 years old. Exactly as old as Adam G. was when he abducted him shattering big parts
of the boy’s future. For the past 25 years, Sascha has been forced to deal with a life that is compromised by
his traumatic past. And by now, he has learned to keep his demons at bay. In order to give himself and his
future a chance, he has now decided to finally break his silence and tell his story.
Bastei Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG - Foreign Rights Department - Schanzenstraße 6-20 - 51063 Köln - Germany
Tel: +49 (0)2 21| 82 00 -27 04 or 27 00 - Fax: +49 (0)2 21| 82 00 17 04 Christian Stüwe (christian.stuewe@luebbe.de)
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