Ruth Korn Friedmann
Ruth Korn (née Freidmann) was Born in Bad Neustadt a.S. in 1925.
The Friedmann Family lived in the center of the city, in a three story house in Mark Platz. They lived on the first two floors and a Christian family lived on the top floor. Her father owned a shoe store for forty years.
Ruth was the youngest of three sisters. Before she was born the eldest son of her parents, Helmut Friedmann, died of Poliomyelitis at the age of Seven.
He is buried in the cemetery, as is her uncle, Sigfried Klein.
As a child Ruth attended the town's Jewish school where she studied in a class of children from multiple age groups - a reality created due to the small size of the Jewish community. She remembers the school fondly and especially remembers the teacher Israel Wahler as being an important figure for the children and the community.
Ruth describes the synagogue as an outstanding building with decorations that remind her of the murals at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Her Family was religious and her father would go to synagogue every Shabbat. She remembers that after the prayers on Saturday morning all the men from the congregation would come to their house for a religious lesson. Her mother would volunteer to wash the bodies of the dead, before burial, an act that is considered to be a most important value in Jewish tradition. She does not remember a Rabbi in the community.
Ruth has difficult memories from the time period that the Nazis came in to power and the Jews began to live under multiple restrictions. She remembers that the Christian house keepers who worked in their home, who even knew how to pray with the children their bedtime Jewish prayers, were no longer allowed to work for them. Her sisters had both studied music with local teachers, but when it was time for Ruth to learn she was not longer permitted to. She remembers riding on her bicycle through the town and rocks been thrown at her by children.
The Friedmann Family lived in the center of the city, in a three story house in Mark Platz. They lived on the first two floors and a Christian family lived on the top floor. Her father owned a shoe store for forty years.
Ruth was the youngest of three sisters. Before she was born the eldest son of her parents, Helmut Friedmann, died of Poliomyelitis at the age of Seven.
He is buried in the cemetery, as is her uncle, Sigfried Klein.
As a child Ruth attended the town's Jewish school where she studied in a class of children from multiple age groups - a reality created due to the small size of the Jewish community. She remembers the school fondly and especially remembers the teacher Israel Wahler as being an important figure for the children and the community.
Ruth describes the synagogue as an outstanding building with decorations that remind her of the murals at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Her Family was religious and her father would go to synagogue every Shabbat. She remembers that after the prayers on Saturday morning all the men from the congregation would come to their house for a religious lesson. Her mother would volunteer to wash the bodies of the dead, before burial, an act that is considered to be a most important value in Jewish tradition. She does not remember a Rabbi in the community.
Ruth has difficult memories from the time period that the Nazis came in to power and the Jews began to live under multiple restrictions. She remembers that the Christian house keepers who worked in their home, who even knew how to pray with the children their bedtime Jewish prayers, were no longer allowed to work for them. Her sisters had both studied music with local teachers, but when it was time for Ruth to learn she was not longer permitted to. She remembers riding on her bicycle through the town and rocks been thrown at her by children.
Ruth Friedmann Report card 1939
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One of her most difficult memories is from Kristallnacht. From fear of the mob her mom hid her under a bed and covered her with blankets. Her mother had wanted to leave already in 1933, but Ruth's Father insisted on staying because he had loved the life in Bad Neustadt and did not want to leave his store and their home. As the status of the Jews deteriorated the family decided to migrate. Her older sisters left, one to Palestine and the other to England. Ruth and her parents followed in December 1939, managing to get permits to migrate to Palestine with the help of her uncle who was already in Jerusalem. Ruth was 14 at the time.
She remembers that they were not allowed to take many items and that they had to pay for every piece of clothing in their suitcase. Ruth's Aunt Rosa Klein and her son were deported from Bad Neustadt in 1942 and never returned.
She remembers that they were not allowed to take many items and that they had to pay for every piece of clothing in their suitcase. Ruth's Aunt Rosa Klein and her son were deported from Bad Neustadt in 1942 and never returned.
In the picture above is the report card given to Ruth by the teacher Yisrael Wahler when she left Bad Neustadt in the middle of the school year in 1939.
The Friedmann family settled in Jerusalem, they had been wealthy in Germany but given that they left everything behind and given the economic difficulties in Palestine, during the first years after their arrival they suffered from extreme poverty. Ruth married and was trained as a nurse, for many years she worked as a Nurse at the dental School in the Hadassah hospital Jerusalem.
The Friedmann family settled in Jerusalem, they had been wealthy in Germany but given that they left everything behind and given the economic difficulties in Palestine, during the first years after their arrival they suffered from extreme poverty. Ruth married and was trained as a nurse, for many years she worked as a Nurse at the dental School in the Hadassah hospital Jerusalem.
Ruth Friedmann id card
Scenes from childhood
