“I was born in the Czech Republic. At that time, it was called Czechoslovakia, on the third of January in 1941. I am 83 now.”
Ruth Shaw, nee Ringel, sat in an armchair in the front room of her home in Valley, as she recounted her life. She spoke with, sometimes, surprising honesty about her experiences growing up in the middle of one of the worst events in human history.
Despite the hardships endured, Ruth speaks with no bitterness in her voice. Instead, she is quite matter-of-fact, occasionally interrupting a story to offer soda or cookies, not unlike any other grandmother. The familiarity of the interaction contrasts with its uniqueness, especially in this neck of the woods.
Czechoslovakia (The Sudetenland)
Ruth grew up in a part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland in a small village about 50 kilometers away from the German border. The Sudetenland was settled by Germans 300 years before in an effort to develop the sparsely populated portion of the country, according to Ruth. Ruth and her ancestors grew up as Germans. They spoke German, and they were German citizens, with German passports and birth certificates.