Westheimer, Ruth K. (Ruth Karola), 1928-

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Ruth Westheimer, better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, and Holocaust survivor. She was born in Germany to a Jewish family. As the Nazis came to power, her parents sent her on a Kindertransport to Switzerland for safety; her parents were subsequently murdered in concentration camps. After World War II ended, she immigrated to British Mandatory Palestine. She joined the Haganah, and was trained as a sniper; she was seriously wounded during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. Before immigrating to the United States in 1956 she lived in Paris, France and studied psychology at the Sorbonne. Westheimer earned an M.A. from The New School in 1959, and a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Westheimer's media career began in 1980 with the radio call-in show Sexually Speaking. She then launched a television show, The Dr. Ruth Show.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Records of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, 1973 - . Video Tape Programs and Worldnet Broadcasts, 1999 - 2009 National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Betty Rollin Papers Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn Woman to Woman Videotape collection, 1983-1984 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn University of Central Florida Photograph Collection Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries,
referencedIn Harvard Law School Forums Records Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
creatorOf Miscellaneous papers. Jacksonville University, Carl S. Swisher Library
referencedIn Presidential Photographs, 1/20/2009 - 1/20/2017 Barack H. Obama Library
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Oral history interview with Ruth K. Westheimer United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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associatedWith Harvard Law School Forum corporateBody
associatedWith Rollin, Betty. person
associatedWith The images were created by the Office of News and Information corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Manhattan NY US
Federal Republic of Germany 00 DE
Wiesenfeld 15 DE
State of Israel 00 IL
United States 00 US
Subject
Occupation
Sex therapists
Activity

Person

Birth 1928-06-04

Americans

English

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