Ruth and Justin Aufseeser

Ruth Aufseeser was born Ruth Selig in Hanau-Steinheim, Germany in 1922 to Nathan and Clara Selig.  Ruth was the oldest of four siblings; Manfred (born 1924), Fritz (1927), and Melida (1929). Ruth grew up in an upper-middle class orthodox Jewish family. Her father worked as a kosher butcher. Ruth’s mother Claire passed away in 1937. Sponsored by her aunt Ida, Ruth immigrated to the United States, landing in New York City on September 15, 1938.

Justin Aufseeser was born in 1910 in Hirschaid, Germany to Julius and Lena Aufseeser. Like Ruth, Justin was one of four children, the others being with siblings, Martin, Doris, and Fanny. Justin initially left Germany via Riga to Palestine in 1934, where he lived until immigrating to the United States in May 1938. Justin worked in New York City until he enlisting in the United States Army in October 1943. He returned from service in November 1945. That same month, Justin met Ruth in an elevator in New York City and they were engaged two weeks later. they married in New York in 1946. The following year, they had a daughter, Linda. While Ruth was pregnant with their second child, Milton, in 1949, they moved to a chicken farm in Vineland, New Jersey. Nathan’s sister – Ruth’s Aunt – Ida Selig joined them a short time later. A third child, Miriam was born in Vineland in 1954. After they closed their poultry operations, Justin took a job with the Kimble Glass Company until his retirement.

In Vineland, the family belonged to the Shaare Tikvah Synagogue, where Justin served as the congregation’s president. Justin was also a member of the B’nai B’rith service organization and Jewish War Veterans. Justin passed away in 1986 at the age of seventy-six. Ruth was a member of the Hebrew Women’s Benevolent Society. After Justin’s death, she regularly volunteered at the Newcomb hospital, knitting caps and blankets for newborns. In 2007, Ruth Aufseeser received an honorary degree from Cumberland County College along with other South Jersey Holocaust survivors whose education had been interrupted by the rise of the Nazis and the war. Ruth passed away in 2017 at the age of ninety-four. She was survived by her three children, Linda Aufseeser, Milton Aufseeser, and Miriam Weiss, as well as four grandchildren and  four great grandchildren.