The highly acclaimed author of  “Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered,” Ruth Kluger, will share her insights into and remembrances of the Holocaust at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19 at the Theater Arts Arena on Montgomery College’s Rockville Campus.
 
“Still Alive” has been hailed as a literary classic that changed the way Germans consider the Holocaust. The German language edition of “Still Alive” was published in 1992, soon appeared on best seller lists, and has won numerous awards, including Germany’s coveted Thomas Mann Prize and the French Prix Memoire de la Shoah.  

The book has been translated into a half-dozen languages. The English version contains significant revisions the author made in the process of translation, plus a new epilogue. The translation was released last November and quickly named one of 2001’s 10 best by the Washington Post. It was given to First Lady Laura Bush as a Christmas gift by one of her family members.

Dr. Kluger’s Montgomery College event is presented by the College’s Paul Peck Humanities Institute.  Institute founder and Director, Myrna Goldenberg, Ph.D., said, “We’re excited to bring a person of Ruth Kluger’s stature to the Washington area.  Her appearance is a rewarding indicator of how our Montgomery College Holocaust Commemoration has grown and matured over the years.”

The appearance befits Dr. Kluger’s role as an educator.  She was the first woman to chair the German Department at Princeton University, subsequently taught at the University of California, Irvine, and has been a frequent visiting scholar and instructor in Germany

On the Feb. 19 program, Dr. Kluger will be interviewed by Joan Ringelheim, Ph.D, Director, Oral History, of the American Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.  U.S. Representative Connie Morella of Maryland, a former Montgomery College professor, will make introductory remarks. Tentative plans call for the program to be taped for later airing on the C-SPAN cable network. 

This event begins the Montgomery College Holocaust Commemoration, which will include an exhibit by local artist Marilyn Banner. The art works, under the title ”Still With Us,” were inspired by Banner’s visits to Prague and Terezin. The exhibit will be on display from Feb. 18 through April 5 in Room 212 of the Rockville Campus’ Macklin Tower.  

A “Freedom Seder” also is planned for the commemoration, which winds up April 2 with musicologist Claudia Stevens performing her own musical drama creation, “A Table Before Me.” 

For more information, call 240-567-7417.  

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