Alabama is mourning two German-born sisters who endured the Holocaust to raise families in Birmingham before recently dying just days apart, leaving behind powerful personal stories of tragedy, survival, determination and courage.
Ruth Scheuer Siegler, 95, died Saturday and Ilse Scheuer Nathan, 98, died on Aug. 23 after living within walking distance of each other for years.
They were barely teens when their family fled Hitler's Germany for Holland with plans to travel to America. But the war started and borders were closed. Their father was sent to Westerbork, a refugee transit camp, in 1940, and two years later the family voluntarily reported there rather than be deported.
Later they were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where their mother died. Their father and brother also died in camps. The girls were shipped to Poland to clear runways for German planes and were later abandoned to die.
The sisters told the Alabama Holocaust Education Center they contemplated suicide: “We didn’t want to suffer anymore.”
They were found by Russian troops and sent back to Holland, where they reconnected with relatives before arriving in the U.S. in 1946. They married, settled in Birmingham and raised families.
“They were always together,” Ann Mollengarden, the center's education director, told Al.com. “When Ilse died, I think Ruth was ready.”
Mollengarden says Ruth Siegler's dedication to the work of the center has "shaped what the organization has become today." She gave speeches and allowed the use of her story for teacher workshops. And the Siegler Fellowship created by her children for her 90th birthday provides opportunities for students to research Holocaust survivor-related topics.
She also wrote a memoir, primarily for family members, with a dedication that explains why.
"This book is dedicated to my children and grandchildren," she wrote.
"So that the suffering I endured, along with millions of others, will
never be forgotten."
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