Nothing Could Stop Her. The Courageous Life of Ruth Gruber by Rona Arato

Ruth Gruber was born in 1911, to David and Gussie Gruber who had immigrated from Russia. Her father owned a liquor store and their family of five children lived above the store which was located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.  The Grubers were Jewish and in their village, people spoke Yiddish. They celebrated Jewish holidays, but on Saturdays - the Sabbath, Ruth's parents kept their store open. 

In public school, Ruth's "first grade teacher was a young Black woman who taught a class of Jewish, Irish, Polish, and Black girls." Her teacher encouraged Ruth's parents to care and support her because she was sure she was going to be a writer.

Ruth's family moved into a German neighborhood in 1921 where she and her sisters and brothers made good friends. But meanwhile, in Germany, Adolf Hitler was on the rise. 

Ruth was an exceptional student: she entered high school at the age of twelve and New York University at the age of fifteen. While majoring in German, Ruth had many interesting opportunities to explore the world outside of Brooklyn and to enter a summer program at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. In this intensive German program, Ruth did everything in German.

After completing her studies, Ruth won a fellowship with the University of Wisconsin's German department for the full tuition for the year-long master's program in German. She hitchhiked to Wisconsin and initially lived in a dorm named German House. Experiencing anti-Semitism from both the woman in charge of the dorm and the head of the German department, Ruth ended up boarding with a Norwegian family. 

After completing her masters thesis, Ruth won a one-year exchange fellowship to the University of Cologne. But her parents were not keen on her accepting, and tried to dissuade her from going. They were concerned with the rise in anti-Semitism especially since Ruth would be there in 1931. In Cologne, Ruth stayed with Frieda Herz and her family. As the situation in Germany continued to worsen, Ruth decided to stay, especially after she was invited to earn a Ph.D. by Professor Schoffler, head of the English Language and Literature Department. Her research would be original and on English author, Virginia Woolf.  In November, Ruth read Hitler's book, Mein Kampf and was horrified at his beliefs about Jews and race. She personally began to experience the anti-Semitism being pushed by the Nazis. She attended a Nazi rally led by Hitler and had to leave, she was so disgusted.

In  August 1932, Ruth returned home to America. She had earned her Ph.D., the youngest in the world to do so. Ruth began writing articles for the Herald Tribune: this was the beginning of her journalism career. In 1933, Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. In 1935, Ruth received a writing fellowship and she decided to return to Germany to study women in different political systems: fascism in Germany and communism in Russia. At the same time she would be the Herald Tribune's special correspondent while she travelled in Europe. Although her parents were upset with her decision and felt she should marry, Ruth was excited and determined.

When Ruth returned to Germany, she found it much changed. As the situation in Europe escalated to war, Ruth travelled to Poland where she was forced to leave because of anti-Semitism there, and then onto Russia where she encountered the realities of communism. She returned to Europe near the end of the war to escort a large number of Jewish and non-Jewish refugees seek safety in America and worked tirelessly for them to stay.  This was the beginning of Ruth Gruber's life work - to advocate through her writing and action for the Jewish communities throughout the world.

Discussion

Author Rona Arato has written an engaging biography of a remarkable woman, who ignored social conventions to live life on her own terms. Told in seventeen short chapters, the author describes Ruth Gruber's early life, her education and travels to Europe in the 1930's and 1940's. The book focuses on Ruth's early life and education, demonstrating how that led her to her life's work which was to advocate on behalf of refugees and various Jewish communities throughout the world.

The author captures Ruth Gruber's sense of adventure, her determination to help others and her openness to learning about other cultures and peoples. Ruth had the courage to actively push back against the anti-Semitism that was spreading throughout Germany. She read Mein Kampf to learn about Hitler's plans for the Jewish population and she refused to accept her friend Johann's belief that the Nazi's were doing good for Germany. Ruth used her journalism skills and her camera to capture what was going on in Europe and for the Jewish refugees in the Oswego camp in Oswego, New York.

Included in the text are separate boxes which highlight specific topics such as Russia's Many Peoples, Siberia and the Soviet Arctic, The Great Depression, and President Truman. Arato's Author's Note at the back, tells the rest of Ruth's story after the war, including photographs. Also included are a Glossary, Source Notes, a Timeline of Ruth's life, a Bibliography, and an Index. The illustrations were rendered digitally by Isabel Munoz.

Rona Arato has authored more than twenty books for children, many of them focusing on human rights issues. Nothing Could Stop Her highlights the determination of Ruth Gruber to help combat anti-Semitism. She would not be stopped by Nazis, Communists, the Arctic cold, or even the indifference of people to the plight of the Jewish people.

Book Details:

Nothing Could Stop Her: The Courageous Life of Ruth Gruber by Rona Arato

Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing   2023
139 pp.