Two Sisters Who Survived the Holocaust Die Days Apart in Alabama

Alabama Holocaust Education Center Ruth Scheuer Siegler Ilse Scheuer Nathan holocaust

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Sep 08, 08:33 pm

Photo: (Photo : LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images)

A pair of sisters who survived the Holocaust as girls and moved to the United States afterward died just days apart in their adopted home state of Alabama, according to NBC News.

According to the Alabama Holocaust Education Center, Ruth Scheuer Siegler died at 95 on Saturday, September 3. Her sister, Ilse Scheuer Nathan, died just ten days prior at 98.

Both women were born in Germany and were young girls when Adolf Hitler rose to power in the 1930s. The center said in an announcement that they were inseparable after losing their parents and older brother in the Holocaust. They shared a unique bond as they both survived Nazi death camps themselves.

Sisters survived the Holocaust and moved to Alabama

Ann Mollengarden, the education director for the Alabama Holocaust Education Center, told Al.com that they were always together. She said that when Ilse died, Ruth was also ready to go.

According to a biography of the women, the girls were selected as workers in early 1944 at the Birkenau camp and got separated from their mom, who they never saw again. They last saw their dad at the camp, and their brother also died at a camp in Germany.

The biography said that the girls worked carrying bricks from one end of the compound to the other for hours at a time. Ilse also sewed uniforms and gun covers. They saw the mountains of shoes of those who died as they worked close to the crematory ovens. They realized for the first time that their fellow prisoners were being killed and cremated.

Ruth published a memoir about her incredible journey

The sisters married fellow Holocaust survivors back in 1949. Ruth and Walter Siegler moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1960 to join Ilse and Walter Nathan, who were already living in the area, according to the New York Daily News.

The sisters, who both taught lessons about the Holocaust, were widows and remained best friends until the end of their lives. The women lived within walking distance of each other for years.

Ruth discussed the reasons for writing a memoir, "My Father's Blessing," in an interview with The Birmingham News back in 2011. The memoir included papers and pictures documenting her incredible journey in surviving the Holocaust.

Ruth said that she has all these memories, and she remembers everything. Her sister Ilse came to visit Ruth during the interview, which was not a complete surprise as the sisters helped each other survive. They both agreed that faith helped them through tough times.

Ilse said during the interview that she always tells others to have faith and hope. Those two things helped the sisters, with Ilse saying they leaned on each other and prayed together.