Ruth Andreas-Friedrich (; September 23, 1901 – September 17, 1977) was a German journalist. She was born Ruth Andreas in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and was a member of the

Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with n ...

movement as a girl. She trained as a social worker and also wrote articles for various newspapers. In 1924, she married Otto A. Friedrich. The couple had a daughter Karin but later divorced. With her daughter and her companion

Leo Borchard Lew Ljewitsch "Leo" Borchard (31 March 1899 – 23 August 1945) was a German-Russian conductor and briefly musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Biography Borchard was born in Moscow to German parents, and grew up in Saint Petersbu ...

, she helped Jews who were threatened with deportation by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s by providing them with accommodation, forged identity papers and food ration stamps. The group also helped others to escape Germany and distributed flyers advocating resistance to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

. Borchard was shot dead in August 1945 by an American soldier after his driver failed to stop at a military checkpoint in Berlin. In 1947, she published a memoir from her diaries ''Berlin Underground 1938-1945''. A second book ''Battleground Berlin: Diaries 1945-1948'' followed in 1962. In 1948, she moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. There, she married Walter Seitz, who was also involved in her resistance network during the war. Andreas-Friedrich died by suicide in Munich at the age of 75. She was honoured posthumously by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andreas-Friedrich, Ruth 1901 births 1977 suicides 1977 deaths German women journalists German Righteous Among the Nations 20th-century German women Writers from Munich German people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust Suicides in West Germany