Synopses & Reviews
A National Jewish Book Award–winning biography: A fascinating look at the early years of Israel’s statehood experienced through the life of a pioneering nurse
During her extraordinary career, nurse Raquela Prywes was a witness to history. She delivered babies in a Holocaust refugee camp and on the Israeli frontier. She crossed minefields to aid injured soldiers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and organized hospitals to save the lives of those fighting the 1967 Six-Day War. Along the way, her own life was a series of triumphs and tragedies mirroring those of the newly formed Jewish state.Raquela is a moving tribute to a remarkable woman, and an unforgettable chronicle of the birth of Israel through the eyes of those who lived it.
Review
“Ruth Gruber is an adventure in herself.” —New York Herald Tribune“You couldn't invent Ruth Gruber . . . not even in a movie." —Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan
Review
- History buffs, specifically those with an interest in the Holocaust, Jewish history, and Israel
- Readers of the biography genre, with particular appeal to fans of women’s biographies and medical biographies
- Jewish book clubs and organizations (JCC, Hadassah, etc.)
Gruber lives in New York City.
“Ruth Gruber is an adventure in herself.” —New York Herald Tribune“You couldn't invent Ruth Gruber . . . not even in a movie." —Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan
Synopsis
A National Jewish Book Award winning biography: A fascinating look at the early years of Israel s statehood experienced through the life of a pioneering nurseDuring her extraordinary career, nurse Raquela Prywes was a witness to history. She delivered babies in a Holocaust refugee camp and on the Israeli frontier. She crossed minefields to aid injured soldiers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and organized hospitals to save the lives of those fighting the 1967 Six-Day War. Along the way, her own life was a series of triumphs and tragedies mirroring those of the newly formed Jewish state.
Raquela is a moving tribute to a remarkable woman, and an unforgettable chronicle of the birth of Israel through the eyes of those who lived it.
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About the Author
Ruth Gruber is an award-winning Jewish American journalist, photographer, and humanitarian. Born in Brooklyn in 1911, she became the youngest person to receive a PhD and went on to author nineteen books, including the National Jewish Book Award–winning biography Raquela (1978). She also wrote several memoirs documenting her astonishing experiences, among them Ahead of Time (1991), Inside of Time (2002), and Haven (1983), which documents her role in the rescue of one thousand refugees from Europe and their safe transport to America. Gruber lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
PrefaceOne: Jerusalem, August 1929Two: September 1929Three: January 31, 1943Four: February 1943Five: November 5, 1944Six: March 1945Seven: May 8, 1945, MorningEight: May 8, 1945, 6 P.M.Nine: October 1945Ten: November 1945Eleven: April 1947Twelve: April 1947Thirteen: June 1947Fourteen: November 1947Fifteen: November 1947Sixteen: January 1, 1948Seventeen: February 4, 1948Eighteen: February 22, 1948Nineteen: May 14, 1948Twenty: July 1948Twenty-One: February 1949Twenty-Two: November 1949Twenty-Three: June 1950Twenty-Four: August 1950Twenty-Five: April 1952Twenty-Six: August 1960Twenty-Seven: September, 1963Twenty-Eight: April 1967Twenty-Nine: July 1967Afterword