“Women of Ravensbrück: Portraits of Courage” focuses on the experiences of women during the Holocaust. Ravensbrück was the largest of the Nazi concentration camps for women, located roughly 50 miles north of Berlin. It opened in May 1939 for an estimated 3,000 people, but 132,000 women and children from 23 nations passed through its gates. Many women were starved, beaten, raped and murdered, and some were subjected to medical experiments. Roughly 92,000 women died at the camp.

Julia Terwilliger (1947-1998), a Florida artist, dedicated her life to preserving the memory of these women. She collected photographs and visited Ravensbrück, eventually compiling the information into seven large wooden panels with mixed media and photo transfer images. Terwilliger died before finishing her project, but a friend, Florida Holocaust Museum curator Rochelle G. Saidel, has completed the exhibition, which uses text, photographs and artifacts to illustrate the broad spectrum of women imprisoned in the camp and their experiences. Sonia Stern, a survivor of Ravensbrück who resides in Houston today, speaks at the opening reception.

Holocaust Museum Houston, Josef & Edith Mincberg Gallery, 5401 Caroline St.; reception Aug. 7, 7 p.m., exhibition through Nov. 9; Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun. noon-5 p.m.; free. (713-942-8000 or www.hmh.org)

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