Hannelore Brenner, Berlin, author of the book, exhibition and theatre-play „The Girls from Room 28“, first published in 2004 by Droemer Publishing House, Munich. With the publication of the complete authentic Theresienstadt diary of Helga Pollak-Kinsky in 2014 under the title “Mein Theresienstädter Tagebuch 1943-1944” (My Terezin Diary) she started Edition Room 28 and with it a series of further publications. They are part of “Room 28 Projects”, a project developed in alliance with Holocaust survivors of Theresienstadt ghetto (Room 28, Girls’ Home) and Auschwitz-Birkenau. “Room 28 Projects” is a cultural and educational project and a project of remembrance. www.room28projects.com
Further publications followed, also the brochures that present the Room 28 Educational Project along with teaching material (German, English, Czech editions). www.room28education.net

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Hannelore Brenner, born in Schwäbisch Gmünd in 1951, studied philosophy, German literature and theatre. In 1976 she worked for the author and Shakespeare translator Hans Rothe who lived in Florence/Italy and had fled Germany in 1934. After his death she prepared the literary estate on behalf of his son for transfer to the German Literature Archives in Marbach.
In 1979, she moved to West Berlin, continued her studies and worked for the theatre-agency Gustav Kiepenheuer Bühnenvertrieb. In 1984 she became collaborator of the American author Peter Wyden. She researched in particular for the books „Wall. The Inside Story of Devided Berlin“ and „Stella. One woman’s Evil, Betrayal and Survival in Hitler’s Germany”, Wyden’s personal account of the Jewish collaborator Stella Goldschlag, who was his school-mate in the last year in Berlin before he fled Nazi-Germany with his parents.

In 1989 Hannelore Brenner wrote her first radio-feature about the Polish poet and dramatist Tadeusz Rozewicz “Ich ein Mensch in diesem Krieg geschlagen” (SFB). In 1994, she produced the radio-feature „Hans Rothe. Chronik eines Andersdenken. Hans Rothe for his 100th birthday.” (Deutschlandfunk) followed by „Schule des Journalismus. Der amerikanische Autor und Journalist Peter Wyden“. (WDR). Hans Rothe and Peter Wyden are the decisive personalities for Brenner’s professional career.

In the course of Brenner’s research for the radio-documentary „Brundibár and the Children of Theresienstadt“ (1997 for SFB, WDR and RB) she met survivors of the Theresienstadt ghetto and allied herself with a special group, the „Girls of Room 28“, for a joint project of remembrance. This marked the beginning of a new path for her.

In 2004, Droemer Verlag published her book „Die Mädchen von Zimmer 28“. The English edition “The Girls of Room 28” followed in 2009 by Schocken Books, New York. The exhibition “The Girls of Room 28” came to life in 2004. It was shown since then in about 60 + places in Germany followed by a Czech, a French and an English version. From 2005 onwards, under the trademarked name „Room 28 Projects“, Brenner organized events with eyewitnesses, was invited to readings and other performances and events and inspired other to realize school and theatre projects. The name “Room 28 Projects” encompasses both Brenner’s publications, projects and its managements.

Since 2008, she has been running the Berlin NPO association „Room 28“ together with music-publisher Frank Harders-Wuthenow. It is a small circle that supports the mission: to keep the legacy of the „Girls of Room 28“ alive and to pass it on to young and coming generations. www.room28.net