The Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York Ales Pospisil, Consul General

The Czech Center New York Premysl Pela, Director

and The June Bateman Gallery cordially invite you to the

Book Launch of the Monograph Fortress: Stone Star Terezin with photographs by Petra Ruzickova

Tuesday, May 6, 6-8 pm at June Bateman Gallery, 560 Broadway (at Prince St.), NYC

Part of a series of events entitled Terezin, a Symbol of the Second World War, to commemorate the end of the war and the suffering of its victims.

Petra Ruzickova's Fortress: Stone Star Terezin (published by KANT) is a book of almost 80 color photographs of contemporary Terezin. The monograph includes introductory text written by Czech Senate Chairman Petr Pithart, an essay by Arnost Lustig in which he remembers the time he spent in the Terezin ghetto during WWII, and a text by poet Jan Suk. The series of photographs, titled after the layout of the Terezin fortress, was inspired by its ghosts, but also by the poetic character of the abandoned, crumbling, and slowly disappearing world of the fortress. It was built as a Baroque fortification which, with few exceptions, was not used for its original purpose. During WWII it became a prison and the seat of Nazis overseeing the concentration camp in the nearby town. Petra Ruzickova (b. 1963) has worked as photojournalist in Western Europe. Among her best known photographs are a series entitled Crystal Belvedere, for which she received the Czech Press Photo Award in the category of art photography in 2000, and photos for Arnost Lustig's book Answers, which were awarded the Best Czech Book Illustration Award.