Local Author to Share Memories of Being Hidden During the Holocaust at Chestnut Hill College November 18, 2010

Ruth Hartz brings her story of being a hidden child during the holocaust to Chestnut Hill College in the lecture, "Reflections of a Hidden Child during World War II" on Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. in the Social Room, Fournier Hall. The lecture covers Ms. Hartz’s experiences during World War II as a young child hidden with her family in southern France. During this time she also hid in a small Catholic convent to avoid capture from the Gestapo and the Vichy French Police. Both Ruth and her parents survived the war, and were able to return to their home in Paris. Ms. Hartz came to the United States in 1958 and has become a dedicated speaker on the topic of the Holocaust and tolerance. Her childhood memoir “Your Name is Renée” was published in 1999 by the Oxford University Press and the French translation was released in 2005 by Beach Lloyd Publishers.

Ms. Hartz is a member of the Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council, the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) and the Alliance Francaise. She spent 22 years teaching French, literature and culture at the Springside School in Chestnut Hill, Pa. where a library section dedicated to Holocaust studies is named in her honor. The lecture is free and open to the public.