2015 Holocaust Remembrance Day: Honoring Ruth Wachner Pagirsky, a Holocaust survivor who rebuilt her life in New York City

Written by Edil Cuepo

“I take a measure of pride that out of the chaos I was able to bring a sense of meaning to my life and create a future. Yes David, you were right. Our people have survived and kept history alive for over 5,000 years. So have I! I have lost much, but I have never lost my personal integrity and morality. My early lessons have guided me well. I used to wonder if I would ever laugh again. Really laugh, like that time on the floor in our apartment in Berlin with Benno and Mutti. Well, you my children know that I did and still do with you.” – Ruth Wachner Pagirsky, 87, Holocaust survivor and author of Memoirs

Ruth Wachner Pagirsky (sitting on the chair in the middle) and her family  at Ruth’s book launch in September 2014

As we commemorate the Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember and pay homage to the 6 million victims of the unthinkable Nazi bigotry and genocide. It is also a time to give tribute to and celebrate all the people who cared, saved, and stood up for those who were being persecuted, and to honor those who painfully survived amidst their anguish and loss.

Ruth Wachner Pagirsky survived three years on a forced labor farm in Heidelberg, Germany, by posing as a mute to hide her German accent and Jewish identity. She went on to live and rebuild her life to tell the story of her family and friends. Their memories continue to live through her today.

In 1946, Ruth came to New York aboard one of the ships that the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee had sent to fetch Holocaust survivors in Europe. She had lost her entire family.

With her education cut short by the war, she was eager to work with books to continue learning. She had learned English and how to type just a few months before she moved to America. With these skills, she was able to get a job at the Stechert-Hafner publishing house, earning $17.50 per week.

Every day Ruth walked all the way from her work at 31 E 10th Street to the small room she rented on 112th Street and Broadway. Her rent was $59 a month.  She chose to walk instead of taking the train to save a nickel to buy a can of beans for dinner. Her first winter in Manhattan was the worst of her life in America, as she walked home from work even through major snowstorms and blizzard.

“More than being poor, the first year I lived in America was the hardest because no one wanted to listen to my story,” Ruth shares.

In 1947, as the demand for scientific journals grew, Stechert-Hafner started receiving an increasing number of requests from Poland, Germany, and Tel Aviv. As a Polish-German Jew, Ruth spoke and wrote Polish, German, and Hebrew. She rapidly took on an important role handling the orders from these countries, and her employer doubled her salary. After that raise, she no longer had to worry about saving money to pay for her rent or afford dinner. By 1950, she had become the highest paid woman in the company.

In May of that year, Ruth left her position to take care of her children. As her children got older and started school, she decided it was also time to further her education. She completed a degree in Dental Hygiene at New York City Technical College. She worked at a private dental practice until she retired in 1998, at the age of 72.

Ruth told for the first time what she went through during the war to Irving Pagirsky, a Holocaust survivor like her. They tied the knot on December 28, 1947, and were married for 63 wonderful years. Together they raised three children and their family grew to include eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

“Du mein Kind. Du wirst leben um das Alles zu erzehlen” (You my child shall live, you shall live to tell it all). These were the last words of Ruth’s father, Jehoshua Wachner, in 1942. With the joyful and blessed life and family she and Irving rebuilt in New York, Ruth has claimed victory over the war and honored her father’s last wishes.  Today, she continues to share her story at various schools and temples in New York City, at the Jewish Heritage Museum, and at other special events.

Ruth Pagirsky is speaking at the Spring Women’s Luncheon hosted by the Museum of Jewish Heritage on Thursday, April 23.