Ruth Oppenheim papers (Ms.2023.006)

Biographical/Historical Note

Ruth Oppenheim was born on November 28, 1927, to Albert Heimann and Rosa Fromm. She grew up in Werne, Germany with her two older sisters, Julie and Hannelore, and younger brother, Herbert, being one of only ten Jewish families in the area, and the only Jewish children. As the Nazis came to power in 1933, she remembers gradual restrictions on Jewish people that eventually led to them being banned from movies, concerts, swimming pools and skating rinks. After that, her classmates weren't allowed to talk to her. By 1937, she was still allowed to attend school but was not allowed to participate. She survived Kristallnacht in November 9, 1938, after a Nazi mob stormed her family's home. "They were shouting 'out with the Jews,'" Oppenheim said. "I heard my father pleading, 'I will come with you, just spare my family.'"

Her father survived, along with the Torah he saved from their synagogue, and the family gradually escaped Germany. Her oldest sister, Julie, emigrated to the United States first in May 1939. Their father followed next, and Ruth, her mother, her sister, and her brother were in the United States by early 1940. They were fortunate enough to escape Germany on one of the last ships to cross the Atlantic during World War II. She still mourns relatives who could not escape or survive, including her 5-year-old cousin, whom she loved like a little brother and who was killed with his parents. The tragic loss of family members "remains a wound that never heals," she says.

The Heimann family lived first on Audubon Avenue and then on Fort Washington Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. The family endured the hardships of moving to a country where they did not speak the language or know the culture. She recalls, "Most of the time I felt like an outsider, self-conscious of my German clothes and my different ways. I remember the first American dress I bought at Klein's discount store in downtown New York. It was light blue with a white sailor collar, trimmed with matching light blue piping. I liked myself in my American dress."

Oppenheim acclimated to her new life over time and on June 21, 1947, married Walter Oppenheim who thrived in the jewelry business. They have two children, Claudia and Jeff. After her children went off to college, Oppenheim joined Brown University where she served for 15 years as the office manager for the English department, followed by six years as the manager of the dean of the College's office. In these roles, Oppenheim formed close relationships with the students, staff, and faculty.

In 2016 she wrote her memoir, Beyond Survival: The Story of My Life, where she details the horrors of growing up in Nazi Germany as well as the richness of her life since.

To learn more about Oppenheim, watch her 2023 keynote address for Brown University's Global Day of Inclusion.