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Ruth Rives discusses her life history growing up in Germany during the World War II era. She speaks of her family and living environment, and the confusion, fear, and hardships she faced. She speaks of the experiences of her young adult life nursing, doing missionary work in Iran, and immigrating to the United States. She talks about her life as it unfolded in America and her return trips to Germany.
| Interviewee: | Rives, Ruth |
| Call number: | 98-030 |
| Date(s) of Interview: | August 7, 1998; August 12,1998 |
| Physical Description: | 103 pages; 4 tapes, 1 7/8 ips., 140 minutes; index; interview questionnaire, interviewee's resumé, article on Berlin, Germany |
| Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
| Access Status: | Open |
| Interviewer: | Truesdell, Barbara |
Ruth Rives, a.k.a. Waltraud Zekorn, born on May 12 1932, shares her life story. She speaks a great deal about her family members in Germany, including her grandmother, her aunt, her mother and father, and later her step- father, step-brother, and step-sister. She discusses her early life and education in Germany before, during, and after World War II. She recalls apartment life in Berlin, food and food rations, and the treatment of children. She recalls the beginning of the war, the bombing, her family's forced evacuation, and the hardships and confusion of the time [especially for a child]. She talks about her return to Berlin, the blockade and airlift, and becoming a nurse before traveling to Iran as missionary with her first husband. Again, she returned to Berlin, married an American soldier [though it was looked down upon], and immigrated to the United States. She discusses forming a family in America and struggling to make ends meet. Rives talks about her family today and all that she has experienced and learned in America. She discusses her American citizenship, and her return trips to Germany.
Rives
Zekorn
Zündorf
Zündorf, Arthur
Alabama
Berlin, Germany
Houston, Texas
Iran
Russia
nurse
Berlin blockade
World War II
blood bank
education
family
immigration
missionary work
rations