Life of German Filmmaker and Hitler Confidant
Leni Riefenstahl will be Subject of Talk
(Mahwah) - Steven Bach, author of Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl (Knopf, 2007), will speak at Ramapo College of New Jersey Friday, October 26 at 11:30 a.m. in the H-Wing Auditorium (H-129). The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information or to reserve a seat, please call 201.684.7409.
Bach's talk will deconstruct Riefenstahl's claims of being an apolitical artist who knew nothing of the Holocaust and was not complicit in any crimes of the Nazi regime. Relying on new sources, he will reveal Riefenstahl's unbridled enthusiasm for Hitler and the cultivation of his henchmen who facilitated her career. The author will highlight Riefenstahl's role as an eyewitness to wartime atrocities against Jews and her use of slave labor in the form of concentration camp Gypsies destined for Auschwitz. Bach also will draw attention to Riefenstahl's post-war attempts to sell footage to Hollywood under an alias and her ongoing failure to take responsibility for her actions or to express remorse for the crimes of the Nazi regime.
Steven Bach is the author of two previous biographies, Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend and Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart. Previously an executive at United Artists, he now teaches at Bennington College and in the graduate film program at Columbia University.
The talk will be sponsored by Ramapo College's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the History Club and Communication Arts Major with the support of the Office of Student Affairs Platinum Series.
