Ruth Hochhauser Eisenfeld

Survivor of Nazi persecution in Germany and Belgium

Kindertransport child • Hidden child • Witness to Kristallnacht

 

Ruth Hochhauser Eisenfeld was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) in 1932 to Polish-Jewish parents, Eli (Ernst) and Miriam. Raised in an Orthodox household, Ruth’s early years were filled with warmth, family traditions, and her parents’ textile business. But by the mid-1930s, Nazi persecution rapidly intensified.

As a young child, Ruth witnessed the effects of the Nuremberg Laws, the dismissal of her German nanny, and increasing restrictions on Jewish life. She vividly recalls the trauma of Kristallnacht in 1938, when synagogues were set on fire and her grandparents’ home was ransacked. Just months later, in March 1939, she and her sister Dora were sent to Belgium on the Kindertransport.

After a brief reunion with their parents in Antwerp, the family fled German-occupied Belgium in 1940 but were forced to return amid heavy bombing. Ruth endured anti-Jewish laws and hostility in both Antwerp and Brussels, where she was eventually separated from her parents for her own safety.

With help from the Belgian resistance and courageous individuals, Ruth was hidden under a false identity — first at the Château de Beloeil and later with the Secret family in Tournai, where she lived as “Josette Deflandre” for over two years. Despite isolation and spiritual confusion, she survived through strength, faith, and the compassion of her rescuers.

Ruth eventually reunited with her family after the war. She later settled in the UK, raised a family of her own, and shared her story to ensure the memory of the Holocaust would endure. Her testimony honours not only those who perished, including her aunts and grandparents, but also those who risked everything to help.

 

In Her Own Words: “Do you know what? That Jewish child was me.” 

Ruth used these simple, unforgettable words when, fifty years after the war, she finally revealed to her former form‑teacher that she had been the hidden Jewish girl rescued by the Secret family. The line perfectly captures her quiet courage and the lifelong commitment she felt to sharing her testimony.

 

Her full video testimony is available here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hwIwIQUW5Q