Notes from the Edge · Podcast summary
Would You Look Away? A Family’s Attempt to Escape Nazi Germany & the Cost of Being a Bystander with Ruth Stitt
Author, licensed counselor, and ordained minister Ruth Stitt shares the story of her family's efforts to escape Nazi Germany, and how that history shaped her understanding of fear, psychological survival, and the cost of being a bystander.
Listen on the show ↗Key takeaways
- ✍️Ruth's pivot to historical fiction was a natural evolution of her writing identity, driven by a desire to tell stories that deeply resonate.00:34
- ✉️The letters from her grandmother and cousin, initially family artifacts, became a compelling historical fiction project after Ruth reread them and realized their profound story.01:26
- 🇩🇪The book explores the denial of German Jews who were proudly German and couldn't comprehend the atrocities happening around them.01:40
- 💡A developmental editor's advice to 'trust your reader more' and focus on storytelling, rather than just historical facts, transformed Ruth's approach to writing historical fiction.01:50
- 💖The core message, inspired by Viktor Frankl, is that even when everything is stripped away, you always have the choice to respond with love and to choose life.02:39
- 🚫The Nazis created immense bureaucratic and financial obstacles, making it nearly impossible for Jews to emigrate, dispelling the myth of 'why didn't they just leave?'02:54
Chapters
- 0:00🎙️ Introduction to Ruth Stitt and Her Work
- 0:34🔄 The Creative Pivot to Historical Fiction
- 7:18🤝 The Power of Collaboration and Editorial Insight
- 26:53❤️ Denial, Hope, and Choosing Love in Nazi Germany
- 43:30🚫 The Barriers to Escape and the Bystander Effect
- 51:50🦸♀️ Fear, Psychological Survival, and the Upstander
- 1:17:22📚 Where to Find Ruth's Work and Final Thoughts
The digest
Lisa Lacy welcomes Ruth Stitt, an author, licensed counselor, educator, ordained minister, Bible scholar, and professional jazz musician, to Notes From the Edge. Ruth shares the fascinating and deeply personal story behind her latest book, which chronicles her family's harrowing experience attempting to escape Nazi Germany.
The Genesis of a Historical Fiction
Ruth explains that her journey into historical fiction was an organic development of her identity as a writer. Having started with a theological blog in 2018, which led to her first non-fiction book, she realized that as an author, she was meant to continue writing. After taking a break from her therapy practice to compile her first book, Ruth contemplated her future. She felt a strong pull to write a "capstone career project" that would capture the profound insights gained from years of counseling, educating, and ministry. This led to her second non-fiction book, focusing on the complexities of caring for others through grief, trauma, crisis, and relationships, all viewed through a scriptural lens.
The pivotal moment for her current historical fiction came in 2024, following the launch of her second book and the impactful events of October 7th in Israel. Ruth felt it was "time" to revisit a collection of letters that had sat on her shelf since 1992. These letters, exchanged between her grandmother in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and her first cousin in Berlin, detailed a desperate five-year correspondence as her cousin, a physician, sought help for himself and his two sisters to escape Nazi Germany. Reading them again, Ruth was profoundly moved and realized these were not just family artifacts but stories that needed to be told.
Keep reading in The Digest
The full 6-minute article, 5 more sections, and every new episode from Notes from the Edge and the creators you follow.
- The Pivot to Historical Fiction and the Power of Collaboration
- Denial, Hope, and the Gradual Realization of Danger
- The Bureaucratic and Emotional Barriers to Escape
- Fear, Psychological Survival, and the Call to Be an Upstander
- Conclusion
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