Ruth Diamond

Ruth Diamond was born in 1926 in Bialystok, Poland, where she grew up in a happy, comfortable home with her parents, two sisters, and a brother. Her father was a furrier, and the family lived a stable middle-class life with schooling, a nice home, and a maid. All of that changed with the war. Ruth and her older sister Helen were the only two members of their immediate family who survived; her parents, brother, and other sister were all lost during the Holocaust. Ruth and Helen managed to stay together throughout their imprisonment, likely because the Germans did not know they were related.

Ruth was imprisoned in multiple camps, including Blizyn and ultimately Bergen-Belsen. She worked in forced labor, producing airplane parts and other materials for the German war effort. Conditions were harsh, food was scarce, and survival required constant endurance. She credits her sister Helen with helping her survive. Ruth recalls the day the British liberated Bergen-Belsen: the soldiers opened the gates, and she remembered the overwhelming feeling of happiness and relief. Afterward, she and Helen were sent to a displaced persons camp in the American zone.

Following the war, Ruth lived for two years in Bialystok before marrying Karl, who had served as an administrator in the DP camp where she registered. She emigrated to the United States because she had family there, eventually settling in Memphis, where she and Karl raised four children. Although she built a stable life after the war, Ruth found it painful to talk about her experiences and did not share her story with her husband or children for many years.

Transcript

Interviewer: Tell me where you grew up. What country?

Ruth Diamond: Well, I grew up in Poland.

Interviewer: OK. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Ruth Diamond: Two sisters and a brother.

Interviewer: So, there were four of you?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: What did your father do?

Ruth Diamond: My father was a…

Female: A grocery store owner?

Interviewer: He owned a grocery store?

Ruth Diamond: No. A furrier.

Interviewer: A furrier. OK. You had a happy childhood?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: What year were you born?

Ruth Diamond: 1956… 1956.

Interviewer: 1926.

Ruth Diamond: ’26.

Interviewer: So you were about 18 years old?

Ruth Diamond: 18. My husband is sick. He cannot talk.

Interviewer: OK. Would you like to take a break?

Ruth Diamond: No.

Female: He had a stroke.

Interviewer: He had a stroke. I understand you perfectly. Tell me about Helen.

Ruth Diamond: About Helen?

Interviewer: Your sister.

Ruth Diamond: Yeah. She survived with me.

Interviewer: She survived the war with you?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah, together.

Interviewer: She’s in Tokyo? You were both in camps together?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah, yeah.

Interviewer: Do you remember what camps you were in?

Ruth Diamond: I was in Blizyn… and I was in Bergen-Belsen. And I was in another camp.

Interviewer: You want to tell me a little bit about the camp?

Ruth Diamond: I worked in the camp.

Interviewer: You were working?

Female: Sewing.

Interviewer: You were sewing?

Ruth Diamond: No. It was a factory. Airplane parts.

Interviewer: You did airplane parts?

Ruth Diamond: Parts.

Interviewer: You and Helen together?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Where were your parents?

Ruth Diamond: Lost.

Interviewer: And your other brother and sister?

Ruth Diamond: Lost.

Interviewer: Was Helen the only one who survived with you?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Do you remember sewing uniforms?

Ruth Diamond: No. We were bleaching… they made things for the army.

Interviewer: How did you and Helen stay together?

Ruth Diamond: All the time. She was older.

Interviewer: Do you remember the day you were liberated?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: You were at Bergen-Belsen?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: And the soldiers came in?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: What happened?

Ruth Diamond: They opened the gate. We were happy.

Interviewer: Were you able to eat?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Did you meet other survivors you remember?

Ruth Diamond: Survivors… yes.

Interviewer: Do you think Helen helped you survive?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Did you pray or do anything to help you survive?

Ruth Diamond: No.

Interviewer: After liberation, where did you go?

Ruth Diamond: The American zone.

Interviewer: Did you need medical help?

Ruth Diamond: No.

Interviewer: Were you sent to a displaced persons camp?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Where was that?

Ruth Diamond: (Unintelligible)

Interviewer: Did you stay there?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Were you ever able to go back to Poland?

Ruth Diamond: No.

Interviewer: When did you know you’d never see your family again?

Ruth Diamond: In the beginning.

Interviewer: What country were you in after the war?

Ruth Diamond: Bialystok.

Interviewer: And how old were you?

Ruth Diamond: Twenty-one.

Interviewer: Did you live there two years?

Ruth Diamond: Two years.

Interviewer: Is that when you got married?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: And you moved to the United States?

Ruth Diamond: I had family here.

Interviewer: Did Helen come with you?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: You moved to Tennessee?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Straight to Memphis?

Ruth Diamond: And stayed in Memphis.

Interviewer: Did you meet other survivors?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Did you talk about what happened over the years?

Ruth Diamond: No. Couldn’t. Too painful.

Interviewer: You’re married to Karl?

Ruth Diamond: Fifty-five years.

Interviewer: And you had children?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Three girls and a boy?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah.

Interviewer: Do they all live here?

Ruth Diamond: No. One daughter lives in Memphis. Others moved.

Interviewer: Did you ever tell your children about the war growing up?

Ruth Diamond: No. Never told them.

Interviewer: Did you ever tell Karl?

Ruth Diamond: No. Too painful.

Interviewer: Tell me about childhood in Bialystok.

Ruth Diamond: We had a nice house. I went to school. I was happy. My parents were happy. My father was a furrier. My mother stayed at home. We even had a maid.

Interviewer: Did your parents tell you anything about what was coming?

Ruth Diamond: No. Never.

Interviewer: You and Helen were sent together to camp. Do you know why?

Ruth Diamond: It just happened. They didn’t know we were sisters.

Interviewer: Do you remember the last day you saw your parents?

Ruth Diamond: When they separated us.

Interviewer: And that was the last time you saw them?

Ruth Diamond: (Unintelligible)

Interviewer: After liberation you met Karl. What was he like?

Ruth Diamond: Hardworking. A workaholic.

Interviewer: He was in charge of the displaced persons camp?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah. He helped me register.

Interviewer: And you were 22 when you married him?

Ruth Diamond: 22.

Interviewer: You moved to the U.S. because of family?

Ruth Diamond: Uh-huh.

Interviewer: What did Karl do?

Ruth Diamond: He owned Diamond’s Appliance Center.

Interviewer: You stayed home and raised four children.

Ruth Diamond: Four children.

Interviewer: Tell me about your grandchildren.

Ruth Diamond: I have seven. Three girls and four boys.

Interviewer: They’re all over the world?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah. I would like them here.

Interviewer: You have one here?

Ruth Diamond: Yeah. Just one.