Ruthe Zogut
Name at birth
Ruthe Hellner
Date of birth
11/30/1923
Where did you grow up?
Berlin, Germany
Name of father, occupation
David Hellner,
Owned a Deli that sold wine, liquor and pastry
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, Ruthe and her sister Judy
Who survived the Holocaust?
Parents, Ruthe and sister Judy survived
Ruthe was born in Berlin, in 1923 to Polish parents who were living in Berlin.
Her parents had Polish passports but they never became German citizens.
Although she saw Nazis in uniforms, Ruthe said she lived in a dream world during the difficult times of the late thirties. She attended Jewish school.
Samuel Lifshitz lived across the street from them and was able to make all the appropriate arrangements for her family to leave Berlin. In December, 1937, he arranged to have her father go to Italy. Shortly thereafter, the Nazis came to their home and told them to leave both their home and store. Ruthe, her mother and sister were allowed to take their furniture to a rented apartment nearby.
In May of 1938, Mr. Lifshitz told her mother there was room for one additional fourteen-year-old to be transported to America, via a boat to New York. Her family and extended relatives took her to the train on May 3rd. When she arrived in New York, the Jewish Federation gave Ruthe money and a sizeable allowance: $1.00 per week and $150 for clothing.
Ruthe’s social worker took her to Bay City, Michigan for a weekend, where she stayed with a family named Harrison. They invited her to stay permanently and refused to take any money from the Jewish Federation.
They were parents to her.
In 1938-1941, she wrote her parents from Detroit, where she had moved. She discovered that her parents were both in Italy and her sister was in Scotland.
Both parents had been sent to a concentration camp by Mussolini.
Although FDR did nothing for the Jews, according to Ruthe, he finally decided to bring one thousand of them to a camp in Oswego, New York. Her parents were fortunate to be in that group. They stayed in the camp from August, 1944 through January, 1946.
President Truman decided to take all 982 Jews into the U.S. through Canada. It was discovered at that time, that Ruthe’s father had a spot on his lung, so he was refused citizenship. Ruthe became an American citizen at the age of twenty-one.
At this time, Ruthe became engaged to Saul Zogut and she, Saul and her future in-laws went to Oswego to meet her parents. They lived in barracks there, which her mother had decorated with an Oriental rug she had brought with her from Europe. Their mess hall served kosher food.
Ruthe’s hairdresser had introduced her to her brother and they got engaged four months later. He and his family were born in Detroit.
Ruthe and Saul have two daughters, (see NOTE) Jacqueline and Diane and her sister now lives in Buffalo, NY.
Her parents had Polish passports but they never became German citizens.
Although she saw Nazis in uniforms, Ruthe said she lived in a dream world during the difficult times of the late thirties. She attended Jewish school.
Samuel Lifshitz lived across the street from them and was able to make all the appropriate arrangements for her family to leave Berlin. In December, 1937, he arranged to have her father go to Italy. Shortly thereafter, the Nazis came to their home and told them to leave both their home and store. Ruthe, her mother and sister were allowed to take their furniture to a rented apartment nearby.
In May of 1938, Mr. Lifshitz told her mother there was room for one additional fourteen-year-old to be transported to America, via a boat to New York. Her family and extended relatives took her to the train on May 3rd. When she arrived in New York, the Jewish Federation gave Ruthe money and a sizeable allowance: $1.00 per week and $150 for clothing.
Ruthe’s social worker took her to Bay City, Michigan for a weekend, where she stayed with a family named Harrison. They invited her to stay permanently and refused to take any money from the Jewish Federation.
They were parents to her.
In 1938-1941, she wrote her parents from Detroit, where she had moved. She discovered that her parents were both in Italy and her sister was in Scotland.
Both parents had been sent to a concentration camp by Mussolini.
Although FDR did nothing for the Jews, according to Ruthe, he finally decided to bring one thousand of them to a camp in Oswego, New York. Her parents were fortunate to be in that group. They stayed in the camp from August, 1944 through January, 1946.
President Truman decided to take all 982 Jews into the U.S. through Canada. It was discovered at that time, that Ruthe’s father had a spot on his lung, so he was refused citizenship. Ruthe became an American citizen at the age of twenty-one.
At this time, Ruthe became engaged to Saul Zogut and she, Saul and her future in-laws went to Oswego to meet her parents. They lived in barracks there, which her mother had decorated with an Oriental rug she had brought with her from Europe. Their mess hall served kosher food.
Ruthe’s hairdresser had introduced her to her brother and they got engaged four months later. He and his family were born in Detroit.
Ruthe and Saul have two daughters, (see NOTE) Jacqueline and Diane and her sister now lives in Buffalo, NY.
When did you come to the United States?
Arrived in the United States in May of 1938, parents came to Oswego, New York in August of 1944
Where did you settle?
Ruthe first lived with a family in Bay City and then came to Detroit
Spouse
Sol Zogut
Children
Two daughters - Jacqueline and Diane.
Interviewer:
Zekelman Holocaust Center, Dorothy Medalie
Interview date:
06/02/1999
To learn more about this survivor, please visit:
The Zekelman Holocaust Center Oral History Collection
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