Ruth Baum was born in 1922 in Warsaw, the daughter of Emanuel Beker and Felicja née Dziury. She lived in Muranów. From an early age she made literary attempts, debuting in 1937 in the pages of "Mały Przegląd". After the outbreak of the war, she fled with her older brother's family to the USSR and lived in Voroshilovgrad until 1946. After returning to Poland in 1946, she settled in Wrocław. She studied Polish studies and then collaborated with the literary editorial office of the Wrocław radio station and the magazine "Fołks Sztyme". In 1957, she emigrated to Israel with her husband. She worked in the Polish-language newspaper "Nowiny Kurier" and wrote reports. She was particularly interested in the situation of people on the margins of society - the elderly, the poor, migrants. She is the author of novels based on autobiographical themes: "Życie nieromantyczne" (1974) and "Thirteenth Month of the Year" (1976). INTERVIEWEE'S NAME: Ruth Baum INTERVIEWED BY: Józef Markiewicz RECORDING: Klara Jackl DATE OF RECORDING: October 9, 2018 COPYRIGHT TO THE RECORDING: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews 00:01:00 - Introductory information – date and place of birth; outbreak of the war and interruption of education in junior high school; escape to the east with the eldest brother's family. 00:04:15 - The road into the depths of the USSR. 00:07:16 - First literary attempts; making contact with Julian Tuwim. 00:09:00 - Separation from family in Russia, further escape into the depths of the USSR after the outbreak of the Russo-German war. 00:11:00 - First stories about school experiences in Poland. 00:11:45 - Transfer to work in a mine; meeting with family. 00:16:30 - Emotion accompanying the return to Poland; encounter with negative reactions to the return of Jews to Poland; atmosphere of hostility towards Jews. 00:20:16 - Beginning life in Wrocław, the interviewee's initial reluctance to go to Israel; leaving Poland in 1957. 00:21:40 - Difficult times after arriving in Israel – first impressions and difficulties. 00:25:50 - Longing for Poland; initial lack of hope for mastering Hebrew; missing familiar people on the street, falling in love with Israel after the Six-Day War, remaining love for Polish literature. 00:28:46 - Diversity of attitudes of Poles towards the departure of Jews from Poland, memories of Poles who were saddened by the emigration of Jews from Poland. English: 00:29:45 - Sense of Jewish identity. 00:31:30 - Growing up in the Jewish district - memories from Muranów. 00:36:35 - Demand for Polish-language newspapers in Israel; the interviewee’s collaboration with the newspaper “Nowiny Kurier”. 00:37:25 - Difficulties after arriving in Israel – many migrants, lack of housing, unemployment. 00:45:10 - The road to Israel (Warsaw-Vienna-Italy-Haifa) and the accompanying feelings of uncertainty and sadness. 00:49:45 - Sentiment towards Polish and European culture. 00:51:35 - Reasons for Jewish immigration from Poland in 1957. 00:54:30 - The war fate of the interviewee’s family; lack of awareness of the Holocaust. 00:58:45 - Searching for information about loved ones in Warsaw after the end of the war; English: 01:00:00 - Reaction to the shock of the Kielce pogrom; various comments and theories concerning the Kielce pogrom. 01:02:15 - Imagination of the future in Poland after the war. 01:07:25 - The desire to write and interest in literature from an early age; sending a letter and her own story to Julian Tuwim; meeting with Julian Tuwim. 01:13:20 - The interlocutor's activities after the war in Wrocław - work at a radio station, writing "for the drawer". 01:15:40 - Working on a reportage about Kazimierz Pankiewicz and his story. 01:21:18 - Obsession with the Holocaust, plays, films, accounts, Dawidek's diary. 01:23:30 - Collaboration with a Polish newspaper in Israel; taking up socially important topics related to, for example, violence against women or the difficulties of immigrants. English: 01:29:15 - Disparaging attitude towards Polish Jews in Israel; memory of the wartime fate of Jews. 01:36:45 - Diversity of experiences of Survivors; attitude of Israelis towards Survivors. 01:40:07 - Bombing of Warsaw; fate of the synagogue on Tłomackie. 01:42:58 - Feedback from readers of the interviewee's texts. 01:51:53 - Circumstances of the publication of the interviewee's story in Russia; accidental finding of a translator from Polish into Russian. 01:55:54 - The subject of the stories – school as a place of Polish-Jewish relations through the eyes of a Jewish student. Discover the POLIN Museum's oral history collection: https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/historia-mow... Subscribe to our channel: / @historiamowionapolin Watch the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews channels: POLIN (announcements and reports from events at the Museum): / mhzp2013 Virtual Shtetl (history and culture of Polish Jews): / wirtualneshtetl Pol