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After a Lifetime of Helping Others, Ruth's Life Now Depends on Others
An elderly lady sits by the window in her tiny kitchen looking at old black and white photographs. Ruth, now almost 90, has only these pictures left to remember her family.Ruth was born during the Revolution of 1917 to a Jewish family in Odessa, Ukraine. Both of her parents were doctors and she attempted to emulate the prestigious academic tradition they had begun by working hard and applying to enter medical school. Though at first Ruth was rejected for being a Jew, her family called in all of their connections to help her enter Moscow Medical University. She graduated in 1941, a few days before WW II broke out in the former Soviet Union. Almost immediately, Ruth was drafted to the front from Moscow. She saw the horrors of war in the evacuation hospitals; she was wounded; and she met her future husband in the military hospital. Although they were separated by the war, the couple wrote one another as often as possible. Now these letters, carefully preserved by Ruth, are among her most precious possessions. When the war ended, Ruth was then sent to Vitebsk by the Ministry of Health of the USSR. The medical and health infrastructure in the city had been destroyed by the Nazis, and her expertise and leadership abilities were so highly regarded that she was sent to reestablish it. As Head of the Regional Office of the Health Ministry, Ruth was responsible for building and opening the first hospital in the city. She was very well known for her strong character and amicable personality. And while in this position of power, she was often approached by young graduates of Medical Universities who had been rejected from employment opportunities because they were Jewish; Ruth accepted them all. She knew too well how it felt to have others judge and place limits on her due to her religion. When in 1955 Ruth’s husband was transferred to Kharkov, Ukraine, she followed him, leaving her high post. In Kharkov she worked at the Railway Hospital as a neuropathologist and psychiatrist for more that 20 years. While she built a brilliant career for herself, Ruth never had children; after her husband died in 1985 she was left completely alone. Now the 90-year old woman lives by herself on a monthly pension of $90. She is visually- and hearing-impaired, homebound and disabled. She survives on old memories and with great thanks to the efforts of Kharkov Hesed workers. 'My caregiver is my only family and life rescuer,' the elderly lady shares of the home care worker who helps her to bathe, prepare food and clean. 'I can’t even get up from the bed without her help.' Still, being a non-Nazi victim, Ruth is at risk of having the vital services she currently receives reduced in the coming months because of funding shortfalls for those who do not qualify for Holocaust restitution monies. 'I have helped so many people in my life,' says Ruth. 'And now, in the end, I’m in the position when it wouldn’t be possible for me to survive without other people’s assistance.' October 2006 |
