Ruth: A Little Girl's Big Journey - Teach with Testimony

This activity prepares students before viewing the short, animated film, Ruth: A Little Girl’s Big Journey, narrated by Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and based on her childhood memories. The film explores universal themes of fear, loss, and loneliness, as well as resilience, bravery, and hope experienced throughout life’s most difficult and most joyful moments to succeed.

Born as Karola Siegel, the film tells her story as a young girl in Germany who had to leave her family and live in an orphanage in Switzerland with 50 other children for safety. Once there, she studied on her own as girls were not allowed to go to high school and wrote letters to her parents each week. When her letters stopped coming and she saw new groups of children come to the orphanage, she knew something horrible had happened.

In 1945, she found out that six million people were killed in the Holocaust, including her family. At 17, she left the orphanage to board a ship to Palestine – now Israel – to live in freedom and build a new life, even changing her name to her middle name, Ruth. She continued her studies, moved to America, worked at jobs she loved, and created a family of nine.

Blending live action and animation, this video is accompanied by a series of teacher guides and activities for children of various age groups. Learners in grades 3 to 5 will engage in a lesson on courage, thinking about challenges they had overcome after a long journey. They will analyze Dr. Ruth’s testimony about the challenges she faced and courage she showed, connecting Dr. Ruth’s journey and their own.

Students in grades K to 5 will participate in an activity about preserving family stories and will explore the value of story in other people’s journeys and their own. After reflecting on the short film, they will create a family mural that depicts a memorable journey they have experienced.

Families may also choose to watch the visual testimony of Hilde Gernsheimer to learn about her journey from Germany to England on the Kindertransport.

The 15-minute-long film is produced by IWitness/USC Shoah Foundation and Delirio Films in association with Neko Productions. Educational resources provided thanks to generous support from Andrea and Barry Cayton, and from Jodi Harris.