Holocaust survivor Ruth K. Hartz offers free lecture at Huntingdon Valley Library.
By Matt Schickling
Wire Staff Writer
Ruth K. Hartz has now told the story of her childhood hundreds of times, but there was a time when speaking up would have threatened her life.
In 1941, during the Holocaust, Hartz and her family lived in Nazi-occupied France. As members of the Jewish faith, they were forced to live in hiding, endlessly fleeing from one place to the next and relying on the help of ordinary strangers from the French countryside to survive.
While the experience is detailed in her 1999 biography, Your Name Is Renée, she will be giving a lecture titled “Reflections of a Hidden Child in Nazi-Occupied France” at Huntingdon Valley Library on Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m.
“Literally, as a child, I had to lie to survive,” Hartz said. “The term ‘hidden children’ is appropriate in the sense that we were physically hiding during the war, but we were mentally, psychologically and spiritually hiding, too.”
Her experiences during this time contributed to an overwhelming appreciation of her personal identity as well as a need to protect others from discrimination. The goal of her lectures is to raise awareness about anti-Semitism and all other forms of discrimination. Her story, with age, has given her perspective on what it means to be a Holocaust survivor. But at the time, she was not yet able to grasp the meaning behind the circumstances of her life.
“A young child doesn’t quite understand that right away. It took a while for me to understand what people did to help me and my family,” she said. “I was a child survivor, but I was also a child of survivors.”
Hartz is talking about her parents, who also survived the Nazi occupation of France. Together, they were able to return to their home in Paris after the war. But the time in between was filled with worry, fear and disorientation. There was even a long period of time when Hartz was living in an orphanage, separate from her parents, and was not able to speak to or about them.
Hartz moved to the United States in 1958 and became a French teacher at various schools in the area including Arcadia University, Bryn Mawr College and the Springside School in Philadelphia. She currently lives in Jenkintown.
“I didn’t talk about my experience when I was teaching,” Hartz said. But, eventually, she enlisted a former student, Stacy Cretzmeyer, who was studying history and creative writing, to help share her story.
“The teacher was asking the help of a student to write her memoir,” Hartz said. “It was really unique.”
The memoir was picked up and published by Oxford University Press, and has been regarded by critics as a profoundly personal account of the Holocaust without the needless implementation of empty historical information. In other words, it is Hartz’s story from her individual perspective. Since the book’s publication, Hartz has taken to lecturing about her story and its message: the danger of discrimination.
“When I retired, it took a life of its own because it was written in the voice of the child I was then,” she said. “People want to hear your personal story. If you talk statistics, that doesn’t register. They’re cold and chilling, certainly, but hearing a personal story is very important, so that’s what I focus on.”
Hartz recognizes that her lecture must be tailored to her audience as it may hold a different meaning for different age groups. While she enjoys sharing with people from all different backgrounds, it is most important for her to effect change among students.
“When I have students in the audience, I like to address them, because they are the future,” Hartz said. “They have to be vigilant. They are the ones that have to know how to speak up against discrimination.”
“Reflections of a Hidden Child in Nazi-Occupied France with Ruth K. Hartz” lecture takes place on Wednesday, April 23, at Huntingdon Valley Library, 625 Red Lion Road, at 7 p.m. For information, call 215–947–5138 or visit www.hvlibrary.org.
