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Mahmoud Bishara
Josef’s younger sister, who is six years old when they board the St. Louis to escape Nazi Germany. Throughout Ruthie’s experiences on the St. Louis, she is able to retain her innocence largely through Josef’s protection. He takes on the responsibility of caring for her so that she can remain carefree. She is upset by many of the things that happen to her father, Aaron, and mother, Rachel, but as she explains as an old woman at the end of the novel, she has very little memory of her time with her family. After Josef chooses to sacrifice himself to allow Ruthie to go free when they are caught by the Nazis, Ruthie is taken in and raised by a kind French woman who treats her like family. When Ruthie later tries to search for Josef and Rachel, she finds that both died in concentration camps. Ruthie returns to Germany, marries a fellow Holocaust survivor named Saul Rosenberg, and has a large family. In 2015, she and her husband choose to be a host family for Syrian refugees, and Mahmoud and his family are placed in her home while they get back on their feet. Hearing Mahmoud’s story, Ruthie tells him her own story, and explains that Josef died so that she could live. Ruthie’s kindness toward Mahmoud and the Syrian refugees contrasts with Lito’s treatment of the Jewish refugees in 1939—it emphasizes again the importance of empathy and the need for all people to help those who are most vulnerable and who are trying to rebuild their lives.
Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg Quotes in Refugee
The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg or refer to Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Josef: Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 22 days
Quotes
For as much as he’d wanted to grow up, Josef wished now that he could join them. Be a little kid again, cheerfully oblivious to what was going on around him.
But he wasn’t a kid anymore. He had responsibilities. Like keeping his sister and his mother safe.
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Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3)
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“Don’t you see?” Lito said. “The Jewish people on the ship were seeking asylum, just like us. They needed a place to hide from Hitler. From the Nazis. Mañana, we told them. We’ll let you in mañana. But we never did.” Lito was crying now, distraught. “We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Back to their deaths. How many of them died because we turned them away? Because I was just doing my job?”
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Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home
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I don’t remember much about him, but I do remember he always wanted to be a grown-up. “I don’t have time for games,” he would tell me. “I’m a man now.” And when those soldiers said one of us could go free and the other would be taken to a concentration camp, Josef said, “Take me.”
My brother, just a boy, becoming a man at last.
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He was filled with sadness for the boy his age. The boy who had died so Ruthie could live. But Mahmoud was also filled with gratitude. Josef had died so Ruthie could live, and one day welcome Mahmoud and his family into her house.
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Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg Quotes in Refugee
The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg or refer to Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Josef: Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 22 days
Quotes
For as much as he’d wanted to grow up, Josef wished now that he could join them. Be a little kid again, cheerfully oblivious to what was going on around him.
But he wasn’t a kid anymore. He had responsibilities. Like keeping his sister and his mother safe.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3)
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“Don’t you see?” Lito said. “The Jewish people on the ship were seeking asylum, just like us. They needed a place to hide from Hitler. From the Nazis. Mañana, we told them. We’ll let you in mañana. But we never did.” Lito was crying now, distraught. “We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Back to their deaths. How many of them died because we turned them away? Because I was just doing my job?”
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Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home
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I don’t remember much about him, but I do remember he always wanted to be a grown-up. “I don’t have time for games,” he would tell me. “I’m a man now.” And when those soldiers said one of us could go free and the other would be taken to a concentration camp, Josef said, “Take me.”
My brother, just a boy, becoming a man at last.
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He was filled with sadness for the boy his age. The boy who had died so Ruthie could live. But Mahmoud was also filled with gratitude. Josef had died so Ruthie could live, and one day welcome Mahmoud and his family into her house.
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