Ruth Weiss

Who is Ruth Weiss?

. For the American poet and artist, see Ruth weiss. For the musician, see Ruth Dolores Weiss.

Ruth Weiss focuses on anti-racism in all its forms. She is a well-known anti-apartheid journalist and activist, exiled by South Africa and Rhodesia for her writings. She is based in the UK and Germany and writes in both English and German. Her young adult, historical fiction reflects her battles against racism in Germany and Africa.

“My Sister Sara” tells of a four-year old, blonde German war orphan patriotically adopted in 1948 by an Afrikaner parliamentarian who sympathizes with the Nazis. The family, a good family, falls in love with the child. When her papers arrive from the orphanage six months later, Pa discovers that Sara's roots are tainted; hate rips through the family. The rejected child only has two options: depression or rebellion. It was selected as compulsory matriculation reading in the German state of Baden-Württemberg in 2007.

“Mitzi’s Wedding”: a young German aristocrat defies convention to become a musician in the heady days of Berlin in the 20s and 30s. Charming and exuberant, she braves the mesmerizing ascent of Nazi Germany to marry one of the three men who love her. She is betrayed by the second who cowers before the voice of popular racism and, finally, continents away, is revenged by the third. This novel considers how racism impacts the intertwined, families of victims and oppressors and the everyday voices of silence and dissent.