RUTH (GAMZER) GRUENER..A Survivor

Ruth (Gamzer) Gruener, Attended Madison for only one year . Her story is so incredible I thought it a perfect time to have her story told, especially this time of the year. I had the good fortune to be able to speak to Ruth many times, and we have been e-mailing since. Ruth stated that her one year at Madison was an especially wonderful and happy time of her life. She started classes there in 1949, she was in awe at how all the teachers and students welcomed her into their midst. Being fluent in German, and not so in English, some of the teachers suggested that she copy homework from other students,(can you imagine if we did that??) as to help her improve her English. Her friends always picked her up in the morning walked to school and walked her home as well..She felt so at home with all these wonderful kind things happening to her, she felt safe and she had new friends.

She was invited to become a member if a Social Club as well, the club was "Citiai" from the Latin word Friendship. Her best friend was Ruthie Kagen who I am trying to locate for her. Following is her story,
=================================================================

Over sixty years ago, Joanna Zalucka hid a young Jewish girl in her bedroom for eight months, saving the child from the Nazi killing spree in their native Poland.

Ruth Gruener - was reunited with her old friend from Poland in 2005 finally returning a lifesaving favor by hosting her World War II benefactor for two weeks.

"It is just so wonderful that no words can describe how I felt," said Ruth, who was sobbing as she and Joanna now 81, hugged in their emotional meeting.. Although the two have corresponded over the decades, they hadn't seen one another since 1944. "Its a miracle" Joanna said in Polish

Ruth's survival in their hometown of Lvov, Poland, was a miracle as well; she and her parents were the only ones from an extended family of 300 who survived the Holocaust. "Luncia" her nickname in Poland was a cheerfull eight year old girl growing up in 1930's Poland. But then the Nazis arrived-and Luncia's world was shattered.

Her father smuggled her out of the ghetto under his overcoat and placed her with Joanna's family because he expected to be slaughtered.

Ukrainian nationalists had already begun ransacking Jewish homes at night. Families disappeared in waves, presumably taken away to concentration camps.

"I heard screams every evening," Ruth said. "To a child's ears, it was just horrible."

Ruth then spent most of her eight months at Joanna's home just sitting in a chair, afraid to even look out the window from Joanna's bedroom. Joanna, then 18, was in charge of keeping an eye on the girl.

When visitors came, Ruth would hide under Joanna's bed or duck into a trunk. She spent so much time silent and immobilized that she had to relearn how to walk and speak normally. After eight months, Ruth was brought to the home of another Christian family that hid her parents and was hidden for another two years.

Once World War II was over, Ruth and her family went to Munich and then to Brooklyn. Ruth eventually married another Holocaust survivor, Jack Gruener, and started a family.

Jack's path to freedom was more traumatic. His parents were murdered in the Krakow ghetto when he was 13. He then spent time in a series of concentration camps before being liberated at Dachau in 1945. None of his other relatives lived.

"To this day, I can't figure out how I survived," he said.

Joanna spent two weeks with Ruth and Jack Gruener and her family, a turnabout that was a long time coming.

Joanna would likely have faced the death penalty if she had been caught harboring a Jew during the war. The family was never found out, but Joanna herself was later imprisoned, first by the Germans, then by the Soviets, as a suspected member of the Polish underground.

The pair were reunited by The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, which was created in 1986 to provide assistance to non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust.

The foundation has been providing Joanna with a pension and helping her pay for medical care. So well deserved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over time Ruth has become a docent at the Museum Of Jewish Heritage where she volunteers every Monday, Her Hubby Jack, a survivor of 10 concentration camps ,along with Ruth speak in public around the country to Hebrew and Catholic schools, where they tell the children their stories of survival. She has also completed her education in Interior Design, (which we found out we have in common) and she also teaches piano.
She has written a book "Destined To Live" by Ruth Gruener which should be in the book stores this year so do look for it and learn more about a brave little girl who survived a grueling time and grew into a loving and caring mother and wife. Such a splendid women.

. Thank you Ruth for befriending me, You are a joy and I shall treasure your friendship . God Bless You,and all who survived that horrible time.

Sherry Gordon