Ruth Minsky Senderowicz (3 May 1926 – January 2024) was a Polish-American

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

. She wrote three memoirs about her experience: ''

The Cage The Cage may refer to: Sports * West Fourth Street Courts, also known as "The Cage", as of 1978, a public venue for amateur basketball in New York City * Al-Shorta Stadium, 1990–2014, former football stadium of Al-Shorta SC, nicknamed "The Cag ...

'', '' To Life'' and '' Holocaust Lady''.

Early life

''Rifkele Riva Minska'' was born in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland to Avromele and Nacha Minska. Riva was born on May 3, 1926. She was the fourth of seven children: Chanele, Yankele, and Mala preceded her; brothers Motele, Moishele, and Laibele followed her. Riva's father, Avromele Minska died shortly after Moishele's birth.

World War II

Before the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, Riva's older siblings fled to Russia to escape forced labor. Riva, her mom and younger siblings were forced to live in the Lodz Ghetto, where younger brother Laibele contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. On September 10, 1942, their mother was taken out of the ghetto during a Nazi raid, leaving Riva to care for her younger brothers. She adopted them to keep the family together, which lasted until Laibele died and Riva, Motele, and Moishele were rounded up with the other remaining Jews in the ghetto and sent to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. Riva and her brothers were separated at the gates. After a week, Riva was transported to a labor camp in Mittelsteine. There she contracted blood poisoning from cutting her hand. However, she was spared death because she inspired others in the camp through her poetry. The SS officers agreed to take her to a German hospital for treatment. When she recovered, she was sent to the labor camp at Grafenort for the remainder of the war. The camp was liberated by Russian forces. Riva finally got her wish to be free. She moved to the United States of America and started a family.

Post-war

After liberation, Ruth returned to Łódź with friends from the camp. They found that their former homes were occupied by people who had acquired the homes after the Jewish removal. Ruth and her friends decided to flee upon learning that Jewish survivors of the camps were targets for murder. They stayed in an abandoned apartment with other survivors. The newlywed couple arranged to be taken to a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...

in Germany, where the couple gave birth to sons Laibele and Avromele. Also while at the camp, Ruth was reunited with her brother and sisters (Chanele, Yankele, and Mala) that escaped to Russia. Afterward the family emigrated to the United States, where two more children, Chaim and Nachele (Nancy), were born. The family settled in

Commack, New York Commack ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The CDP's population was 36,124 at the 2010 census. History The name "Commack" comes from t ...

and later

Setauket, New York Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population, which at the time included ...

until her death in 2024. She occasionally spoke on her story; specifically at H.B. Mattlin Middle School, a large middle school in Plainview, New York, where her sister Chanele's children went to school. Her husband Morris died in 2005. Sender died in January 2024, at the age of 97.

Published works

*''

'' ( Macmillan, 1986) *''To Life'' (Macmillan, 1988) *''The Holocaust Lady'' (Macmillan, 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sender, Ruth Minsky 1926 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century American women writers Writers from Łódź People from Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish emigrants to the United States Polish women writers Jewish American memoirists Jewish women writers Łódź Ghetto inmates Auschwitz concentration camp survivors 21st-century American Jews