Ruth David Holocaust Survivor, succumbs to COVID-19

Former Ames resident and Holocaust Survivor, Ruth David, succumbs to COVID-19 Spotlight

By Robbie Sequeira

Gannett

Ruth David was 14 when the Kindertransport — which helped 10,000 children to escape from Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror in parts of Europe controlled by the Nazis — saved her life.

She would soon translate the tragedies of being a Holocaust survivor into two books, a life of teaching and speaking internationally on life during and after the Holocaust.

On April 6, at the age of 91, David passed away due to complications from the COVID-19 in Leicester where she moved to in 2000. But during her life, she once called Ames “home” for 17 years.

“I know living in Ames meant an awful lot to Mom,” David’s son, Simon Finch said to the Tribune. “She also had a real gift for (developing) friendships.” Finch said his mother, who moved to Ames in 1992, created strong friendships during her first year in Ames and even adopted the “Iowa Nice” attitude.

“I think the joke her new friends would say is that she found herself being the one introducing people to her husband, a long-time resident of Ames, rather than vice-versa.”

Barbara Pleasants, adjunct assistant professor at Iowa State University, said David was one of the most influential people to live in Ames.

Since her arrival in Ames, David was a frequent Holocaust educator through lectures and speaking engagements at the university. She, along with Pleasants, was also a member of the Ames Jewish Congregation.

“There were times where she would tell stories of horrors of the Holocaust to our students and she would engage with the community (about ) stories of other survivors, and those who didn’t,” she said. “But she embraced this community as it did her in every way.” David was born in 1929 and grew up in Germany. Her parents sought refuge for her in England before being murdered by Hitler’s Nazi regime. Her most well-known book, “Child of Our Time: A Young Girl’s Flight from the Holocaust” chronicled the reality and experiences as a Holocaust survivor to groups unaware of its tragedies. Upon her return to the UK in 2000, she would annually visit Germany to teach German school children about the Holocaust. Since Hitler’s Nazi regime ended, the country has had a complicated relationship teaching and discussing the Holocaust, according to the United States Holocaust Museum.

“For two decades, on annual visits to Germany, many of them found it barely imaginable that as a former pupil herself, she had once been taught under a portrait of Hitler in a class that stood up and gave the Nazi salute to teachers,”

“I KNOW LIVING IN AMES MEANT AN AWFUL LOT TO MOM,” RUTH DAVID’S SON, SIMON FINCH SAID. “SHE ALSO HAD A REAL GIFT FOR (DEVELOPING) FRIENDSHIPS.” DAVID, A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AND AMES NATIVE FOR A TIME, PASSED AWAY DUE TO COMPLICATIONS FROM THE COVID-19 ON

APRIL 6. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

said Finch.

Finch said that after his mother’s passing, people from all over the world reached out he and his sister Margaret Finch. But he was taken aback by the outpouring of “memories and love” from Ames, a city located miles away from Leicester, England.

“In Ames, judging from the multiple letters of condolence my sister and I have received, she made several close friends and left a striking impression on dozens, if not hundreds of individuals,” Simon said.

A lifelong friendship formed between Linda Emmerson and David on the tennis courts in Ames.

“I remember talking to her that first time on the tennis

courts and just enjoying our talk,” said Ames native, Emmerson who stayed in touch with David until her death.

“I remember visiting her two years ago in the UK; she gave me a grand tour of life there and it was the greatest day to have with her.”

Emmerson and her husband, Tom visited David two years ago in the United Kingdom, and would maintain their friendship through an unbreakable chain of letters, emails and phone calls.

“She always asked about how we were, how Ames was, and we’d talk about the memories shared here,” she said. “She would always invite us to the United Kingdom and always talked about future visits to Ames.”

Simon said that 2019 was another banner year for David, 90, at the time.

David had been active in engagements, speaking to the UK’s National Holocaust Center just weeks before her death, and making two trips to Germany and one to Madeira, Portugal in Christmas. She had so much more planned, with continued speaking engagements and lectures. She even continued visits to Simon and Margaret to spend time with grandchildren, such as spending her 90th birthday with her family in March 2019.

“We had a really good year, doing all sorts including two trips to Germany and one to Madeira,” said Simon. The COVID pandemic hit the United Kingdom, with its first case on February 28. The United Kingdown went to lockdown on March 23, a three-week period of lockdown measures to ensure social distancing and limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.” Simon said his mother, Ruth had been social distancing since March 16, “taking every precaution she could.”

“She was being ultra-careful since March 16 and only two people were coming into her home,” said Simon. But on March 27, Ruth who had declared that she felt ‘healthier than in months’ — had been experiencing COVID-related symptoms, which included a high-grade fever and bouts of confusion.

Over the ensuing days, Ruth had been experiencing a strong cough and began losing weight. On April 2, two weeks after the UK had been shut down, Ruth was admitted into expert care at a hospital in Leicester.

Ruth’s health had deteriorated rapidly, having difficulty breathing and maintaining a level of lucidity.

“I remember her being lucid enough when leaving home to explain to the very nice ambulance man, ‘My parents were killed in the holocaust,’” he said. “He was terribly sympathetic.” Ruth was able to get tested at the hospital ward, and Finch said the health workers gave them the highest quality of service.

“They told us within a couple of hours admission that she had COVID-19 pneumonia in both lungs and in the afternoon that she was not responding to intravenous antibiotics,” he said. Simon said Ruth was able to get tested and start palliative care as her health was worsening. She succumbed to the virus on April 6.

“It’s been an unsure time and everything has changed,” he said. “They are beginning to ease some restrictions.” Ruth’s daughter, Margaret described her death as “rapid and shocking.”

“But I suspect it was so fast that she didn’t have time to be frightened,” she said.

Simon said the outpouring of love from Ruth’s Ames family, which also experiencing its own relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic, has been “amazing.”

Former Ames Mayor Ann Campbell said Ruth David was a one of a kind person, who impacted Ames from the moment she set foot.

“Ruth was an amazing person, the memories and stories she left here will always have an effect,” said Campbell to the Tribune. “This place has always missed her presence when she left. But Ames will always be home for her.”