Discovering Ruth
While researching his own family history, German high school teacher Jens Hausner discovers the erased Jewish history of his village of Londorf, Germany, and learns about Ruth Wertheim, the only survivor of the Nazi deportation from Londorf in 1942.
Through the perspectives of Jens and Ruth’s children in the United States—Larry Bacow (President Emeritus, Harvard University) and Lainey Simonson—who preserved their mother’s only recorded audio testimony—Ruth's life, loss, resilience, and legacy come into focus as Jens acknowledges his family's personal connection to the Nazi Party.
Ruth’s story ultimately comes full circle, deepening our understanding of the past while offering a powerful reflection on the dangerous parallels we face today.
Filmed in Germany, Poland, and the United States, the bilingual (English/German) documentary features an original score by Bleeding Fingers Music, the Emmy Award-winning composer collective founded by Hans Zimmer.
Background
As the Nazis intensified their war against the Jews, persecution did not unfold only in distant capitals—it also took root in small German villages, where neighbors were identified, betrayed, and deported toward an unknown fate. Fear played a role. So did opportunism. Some resisted, but far too few.
Systems of hatred do not sustain themselves on ideology alone; they depend on ordinary participation and collective silence. The warning history leaves us is not only how this happened then, but how easily it can happen anywhere when silence becomes safer than courage.
If ordinary people once allowed their neighbors to disappear, what are we willing to stand up for today?
