Ruth Sands

Ruth Sands was born in July 1938 in Vienna to parents Leon and Regina Buchholz née Landes. Leon was born in Lviv as the youngest of four and came at a young age to Vienna. He worked in manufacturing alcoholic drinks and met Regina at a dance. Leon was interned in Dachau in October 1938 but was released with the help of non-Jewish friends. He left Vienna immediately and went to Paris in December 1938. Ruth’s mother felt at this point that she could not leave her mother and mother-in-law behind to join her husband. When Leon said farewell to his mother, she gave him a scarf and her wedding band.

On arrival in Paris Leon started teaching German at the Berlitz School to French soldiers. Leon made contact with people at a church in Paris where refugees found help. This is probably where he met Elsie Tilney, an English lady, who volunteered to travel to Vienna and bring back baby Ruth and another little girl, Leon’s niece. At the station in Vienna the little girl refused to leave her mother and only Ruth travelled to Paris. In 2013 she was recognised as a Righteous Gentile in Yad Vashem.

Ruth, in the meantime, was hidden by private individuals and as well as in children’s homes under the false name of “Jocyline Teve”. Leon came to visit her regularly and even took photos which he sent to Regina in Vienna. In 1943, Regina finally managed to escape to Paris. As Regina refused to talk about her experience no details are known. However, Ruth’s parents with the help of a French couple, managed to survive in hiding and escape the so-called rafles, roundups, in Paris.

After the liberation in 1944, Ruth reunited with her mother and father. Ruth was a popular girl in school and started visiting her mother’s brother’s family in England as a young teenager to learn English. After meeting her husband Alan, she decided to move to England. In 1947 Ruth’s little brother was born, Jean-Pierre, who she was very close to. She moved to Belsize Park with Alan, a dentist, and they had two sons, Philippe and Marc. Ruth started an antiquarian books business with a friend, called M&R Glendale. After retirement she started volunteering for the AJR and the Wiener Holocaust Library. Ruth’s story features in her son’s book “East West Street” which explores the roots of international human rights law.

Key words: Vienna. Paris. Rashi Synagoge. Elsie Tilney. Righteous Gentile, Yad Vashem. Hidden child. Buchholz. Landes. Lviv. East West Street. Les engagés volontaires, Barcarès. Private nursery, Meudon: A l’aube de la vie.