Ruth Heilbronn was born in Lahnstein, a
town on the Rhine River. Her father, Hugo,
a cattle dealer, lost his license because of
Germany’s antisemitic laws. Realizing that
he could not support his family, Hugo
immigrated to the U.S. in October 1938, just
weeks before the November 9-10 Pogrom of
1938, or Kristallnacht. During the first night
of Kristallnacht, the Nazis broke into Ruth’s
home terrorizing her and her mother, Else.
The storm troopers, who wanted to arrest Hugo, ransacked and searched
their apartment thinking that Hugo was hiding. His crime—he was a
Jew. Fortunately, Hugo had already arrived safely in America. From
America, Hugo sent visas for Ruth and Else who arrived in New York
Harbor on April 5, 1939, one day before Ruth’s fourth birthday.
“The little refugee girl,” a good, albeit talkative, student, completed her
education, graduating from Olney High School and Temple University
in Philadelphia. Ruth, who had always loved children, became an
elementary school teacher in Central Jersey and even in retirement is
involved in an intergenerational sociology class.
Ruth’s story of coming to the U.S.—not knowing the language, living in
a foster home for a time, realizing that her relatives had been murdered
in the Holocaust and yet coping and ultimately thriving—is motivational
for readers of all ages but especially for children displaced by catastrophe
and adjusting to new lives in the U.S., for them a foreign country
Susan Geld—On Her Family..................................................
Affliction Provides Strength.....................................................
Introduction............................................................................
Chapter One: Generations.....................................................
Chapter Two: Emigration.......................................................
Chapter Three: Loss of Family...............................................
Chapter Four: The Little Refugee Girl...................................
Chapter Five: War Years..........................................................
Chapter Six: A New Home and a Sister..................................
Chapter Seven: Working Papers.............................................
Chapter Eight: German-American Jews.................................
Chapter Nine: Temple University..........................................
Chapter Ten: Dating ..............................................................
Chapter Eleven: Marriage.......................................................
Chapter Twelve: Motherhood.................................................
Chapter Thirteen: Moving to New Jersey...............................
Chapter Fourteen: East Brunswick.........................................
Chapter Fifteen: Teaching ......................................................
Chapter Sixteen: Return to Europe 1971...............................
Chapter Seventeen: Trip to Israel 1972..................................
Chapter Eighteen: Retirement................................................
Chapter Nineteen: Our Family...............................................
Chapter Twenty: Epilogue.......................................................
Message for Students...............................................................
Fate of the Heilbronn Family in Europe..................................
Fate of the Wertheim Family in Europe...................................
Timeline..................................................................................
Acknowledgments...................................................................
Works Cited............................................................................
Endnotes.................................................................................
Maps.......................................................................................
Documents.............................................................................
Photographs............................................................................
Ruth Heilbronn was born in Lahnstein, a
town on the Rhine River. Her father, Hugo,
a cattle dealer, lost his license because of
Germany’s antisemitic laws. Realizing that
he could not support his family, Hugo
immigrated to the U.S. in October 1938, just
weeks before the November 9-10 Pogrom of
1938, or Kristallnacht. During the first night
of Kristallnacht, the Nazis broke into Ruth’s
home terrorizing her and her mother, Else.
The storm troopers, who wanted to arrest Hugo, ransacked and searched
their apartment thinking that Hugo was hiding. His crime—he was a
Jew. Fortunately, Hugo had already arrived safely in America. From
America, Hugo sent visas for Ruth and Else who arrived in New York
Harbor on April 5, 1939, one day before Ruth’s fourth birthday.
“The little refugee girl,” a good, albeit talkative, student, completed her
education, graduating from Olney High School and Temple University
in Philadelphia. Ruth, who had always loved children, became an
elementary school teacher in Central Jersey and even in retirement is
involved in an intergenerational sociology class.
Ruth’s story of coming to the U.S.—not knowing the language, living in
a foster home for a time, realizing that her relatives had been murdered
in the Holocaust and yet coping and ultimately thriving—is motivational
for readers of all ages but especially for children displaced by catastrophe
and adjusting to new lives in the U.S., for them a foreign country.