Survivor Testimonies: Ruth Steinfeld

November 9, 2018 marked the 80th anniversary of the November Pogrom known as Kristallnacht. During the November Pogrom, Nazi thugs went through the streets of Germany and, in plain view, set synagogues on fire, smashed the window fronts of Jewish businesses, attacked Jewish people and vandalized their apartments. Houston Holocaust survivor, Ruth Steinfeld experienced the November Pogrom first hand.

Ruth and her sister Lea lived in Sinsheim, Germany when Hitler came to power. The family was deported to the Gurs interment camp in 1940, and their mother was faced with a very difficult decision: to let a Jewish philanthropic organization called Oeuvres de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) take her daughters to safety, or keep them with her. Ruth and her sister's lives were forever altered after that moment.

This event is free with Museum admission.

Read more about Ruth's story, in addition to other local Holocaust survivors' stories, here.