Ruth Maier (10 November 1920 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

– 1 December 1942 in Auschwitz,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) was an

n woman whose diaries describing her experiences of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

in Austria and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

were published in 2007; reviews described her as "Norway's

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

Early life

Ruth Maier was born in Vienna to a largely assimilated

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish family daughter of Ludwig .1882and Irma 895-1964 Her father, Dr. Ludwig Maier, held a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in philosophy, was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...

(mastering nine languages), and held a senior position within the Austrian post and telegraph service. He died in 1933 of

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...

. Her first cousin, who survived the war, was the philosopher Stephan Körner. Her younger sister Judith managed to escape to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Through her father's contacts, Ruth was able to find refuge in Norway, where she arrived by train on 30 January 1939. She was housed for some time with a Norwegian family. She became fluent in Norwegian within a year, completed her

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

, and befriended the future poet

Gunvor Hofmo Gunvor Hofmo (30 June 1921 – 17 October 1995) was a Norwegian writer, often considered one of Norway's most influential modernist poets. Background Gunvor Hofmo was born in Oslo, Norway. Her parents were Erling Hofmo (1893–1959) and Bertha B ...

at a volunteer work camp in Biri. The two became a couple, finding lodging and work in various places in Norway.

Model for sculptor Gustav Vigeland

Ruth was also one of the models for the statue "Surprised", by

Gustav Vigeland Gustav Vigeland (11 April 1869 – 12 March 1943), born as Adolf Gustav Thorsen, was a Norwegian sculptor. Gustav Vigeland occupies a special position among Norwegian sculptors, both in the power of his creative imagination and in his product ...

. It is on permanent display in

Frogner Park Frogner Park ( no, Frognerparken) is a public park located in the West End borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The park is historically part of Frogner Manor, and the manor house is located in the south of the park, and houses Oslo Museum. Both ...

in Oslo. Vigeland began work on the sculpture about 1904. The model for the face of the sculpture was Inga Syvertsen; the sculpture was completed in 1942. Maier was surprised by another person entering the room while she was modelling for Vigeland, and she tried to cover her naked body, hence the posture. The statue was eventually cast in bronze in 2002. Additionally Ruth was a model for Norwegian painter

Åsmund Esval Åsmund (Aasmund) Esval (16 February 1889 – 17 October 1971 in Oslo) was a Norwegian painter. Biography Aasmund Esval was born at Nes, Akershus, Nes in Romerike, Norway. From 1909 to 1919, Esval was educated at the Norwegian National Academy o ...

Arrest, deportation to Auschwitz and death

She rented a room in Dalbergstien 3 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

in the early fall of 1942 and was arrested on 26 November 1942 and

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

on the SS ''Donau'' the same day. Arriving in Auschwitz on 1 December 1942, she was led straight into the gas chambers. She lived to be 22.

Publishing of diary

Her partner Gunvor Hofmo kept Ruth's diaries and much of her correspondence. She approached

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal () is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...

to get them published in 1953, but was turned down. After she died in 1995,

Jan Erik Vold Jan Erik Vold (born 18 October 1939) is a Norwegian lyric poet, jazz vocal reciter, translator and author. He was a core member of the so-called "''Profil'' generation", the circle attached to the literary magazine ''Profil''. Throughout his care ...

went through her papers and came upon Ruth Maier's works. After editing them for ten years, they were published in 2007. Vold was highly impressed by the literary value of the diaries, comparing Ruth Maier's literary talent to that of Hannah Arendt and Susan Sontag. The book was translated into English by

Jamie Bulloch Jamie Bulloch (born 6 September 1969) is a British historian and translator of German literature. Life and work Jamie was born at East Dulwich Hospital in 1969. He grew up in Tooting, south-west London, attending first Rosemead School, then Wh ...

in 2009. Most of Ruth's diary is preserved from 1933 to 1942. She wrote in her diary about the deteriorating conditions for Austria's Jewish population following the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

in 1938, her reaction to the many changes in her life, and her yearning for her family.

2012 apology by Norway's government

In a speech issued on 27 January 2012 on the occasion of

International Holocaust Remembrance Day The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of on ...

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...

issued an official apology for the role played by Norwegians in the deportations. As reported on the official website of the Norwegian Government, Stoltenberg delivered his speech at the dock in the capital Oslo where 532 Jews boarded the cargo ship Donau on 26 November 1942, bound for Nazi camps. Stoltenberg said:

Legacy

In 2015

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

printed a facsimile of her piece ''Kirkegård/Vår Frelser'' ("Graveyard/Our Saviour") in an article about the exhibition (until 23 August) at Bomuldsfabrikken Kunsthall in Arendal: "''Krigsbilder. Kunst under okkupasjonen 1940—45''", adding that "Sensitive impressions of nature and cityscapes in aquarell, testify to an independent talent." In 2020, ''Ruth Maiers plass'' (Ruth Maier Square) was scheduled to open in Oslo; it is located at the corner of Glückstads gate/ Dovregata/ Krumgata. Lillestrøm has a street named after her.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maier, Ruth The Holocaust in Norway Children in war Austrian women writers Writers from Vienna Writers from Oslo Stateless people Women diarists Women in World War II 1920 births 1942 deaths Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss Austrian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Jewish women writers Austrian civilians killed in World War II Refugees in Norway People killed by gas chamber by Nazi Germany 20th-century women writers 20th-century Austrian writers Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust 20th-century diarists Norwegian artists' models Models from Oslo