Star of David badge with Jude for Jew worn by a young woman assigned to forced labor

Ruth Kittel was born on July 21, 1927, in Berlin, Germany, to Josef and Marie (Maria) Ritter Kittel. Josef Kittel, a businessman and World War I veteran, was born on February 5, 1896, in Vienna, Austria, to Catholic parents. Maria was born on July 29, 1896, in Orzegow, Germany, to Jewish parents. Ruth’s older sister, Hannelore, was born on March 12, 1924. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. In spring 1934, Ruth was enrolled in her local public school in the Neukolln borough of Berlin. She was also enrolled at the Jewish religious school run by Rabbi Dr. Kantorowitz to study Hebrew and Jewish teachings. The sisters actively participated in Jewish life and were members of a congregation.

Following the September 15, 1935, passage of the Nuremberg Laws, Ruth and Hannelore were classified as persons with mixed Jewish blood, mischlinge, and subject to anti-Jewish restrictions and laws. In spring 1938, the German government passed laws to remove Jewish students from public schools. Ruth had to enroll at the Jewish middle school in her borough, which was managed by the Jewish Religious Organization of Berlin. Ruth, her sister Hannelore, and their mother, Maria, had to register with the local police, district number 214, and were recorded as Jews. On February 14, 1939, they each received a numbered Jewish identification card with a large red letter J and the added middle name Sara to make them identifiably Jewish. Ruth’s card was numbered A. 611790. In September, World War II began after Germany invaded Poland.

On September 19, 1941, 14 year old Ruth reported to the office of the Jewish Organization to pick up Star of David or Judenstern badges, which she always had to wear to indicate she was Jewish. Non-Jewish children her age regularly ridiculed Ruth because she wore the Star of David. Ruth never had enough to eat because the Organization distributed ration cards for food, but Jews received reduced rations. The anti-Jewish regulations also required Ruth to have a special pass to use public transportation, but she was banned from most public places, such as parks. Her mother could only shop for necessities during the one hour allotted for Jews to shop. Beginning in October, many Jews from Berlin were deported to German occupied regions to the east. Many of Ruth’s teachers and classmates were deported, and it became very difficult to attend school.

In June 1942, the Jewish Organization was dissolved, and all Jewish schools were closed. Ruth, Hannelore, and Maria had to register with the Berlin work office for Jews, which assigned registrants to work 60 hours per week at one of many designated German companies. On November 24, Ruth began working as a forced laborer on the assembly line at the Osram light bulb factory. She worked in a specially designated Jewish department under the supervision of the Gestapo. Ruth earned 30 Reichsmarks per week. On February 27, 1943, members of the SS took Ruth and the entire Jewish department from Osram to a collection camp on Lehrter Street. Ruth was transported by truck and forced into a small, crowded space with other Jews. The SS members randomly whipped people and shot into the crowd. Ruth had no access to food, bathroom facilities, or space to lie down. On her third day, she was given some turnip soup and then transported to a collection camp on Rosen Street. The conditions there were terrible, although Ruth did get some turnip soup daily. On March 6, Ruth was released because her paper work proved she was mischlinge. On May 5, Ruth’s forced labor service continued at the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin factory in the Tempelhof-Schoneberg borough. In September, the factory was destroyed and Ruth was moved to the W. Jakubaschk factory, where she made buttons. In February 1945, the button factory was destroyed. Beginning in March, Ruth worked as a seamstress on the night shift at the Fa. Schultz factory.

On May 7, Germany surrendered and Ruth, Hannelore, and Maria were free. The family registered with UNRRA as displaced persons. Ruth enrolled in the Teaching Institute at the Business and Language School in Berlin, where she studied English. In November, Ruth became a secretary for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. On August 7, 1946, the Kittel family travelled to Bremen, Germany. On August 22, Ruth, Hannelore, Maria, and Josef boarded the S.S. Marine Perch and sailed for the United States. They settled in Queens, New York. In 1954, Ruth met Harold Gabriel, a Jewish man from Berlin, where he had been a forced laborer during the war. In 1948, he had emigrated from Germany. In 1955, Ruth and Harold married and their son was born a year later. In 1960, the couple divorced. In 1963, Ruth married Abe Miller, a non-German man, who adopted her son. In 1964, Harold returned to Berlin, where he later died. Ruth, age 71, died on May 8, 1999.