Doctor ruth biography

German-American sex therapist (1928–2024)

Karola Ruth Westheimer (née Siegel; June 4, 1928 – July 12, 2024), better known as Dr. Ruth, was a German and American sex therapist and talk show host.

Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish family. As the Nazis came to power, her parents sent the 10-year-old girl to a school in Switzerland for safety while they remained behind because of her elderly grandmother.^[1] Both were killed in concentration camps.

After World War II, she emigrated to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine.

Doctor ruth biography book

At 4 feet 7 inches (140 cm) tall and 17 years of age, she joined the Haganah, and was trained as a sniper.^[2] On her 20th birthday, she was wounded in action by an exploding shell during mortar fire on Jerusalem during the 1947–1949 Palestine War, and almost lost both feet.

Two years later, Westheimer moved to Paris, France, where she studied psychology at the Sorbonne. Immigrating to the United