Personal papers of Elsa Lüthi-Ruth Nachlass Elsa Lüthi-Ruth

Copyright Holder: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Archiv für Zeitgeschichte - Archivleitung Contains personal papers and photographs of Elsa Lüthi-Ruth, a nurse for the Swiss Red Cross and in various internment camps in France during World War II. Papers consist of biographical materials and documentation on the Elsa Lüthi-Ruth activities. The main part of the collection consists of six personal albums that document her youth and studies, as well as her work during the war. Elsa Lüthi-Ruth (1909-2005), was a nurse for the Swiss Red Cross and in various internment camps in France during World War II. After the outbreak of World War II she became a member of the Women's Aid Service (Frauenhilfsdienst, FHD) and later she worked for the Swiss Labor Association for Children Harmed by War (Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für kriegsgeschädigte Kinder, SAK), and for children’s aid for the Swiss Red Cross. Together with Elisabeth Eidenbenz und Elsbeth Kasser, she worked at the Maternité Suisse in Elne in France, and later become the head of the Swiss delegation for children's aid in the Southern Zone of France. In 1941-1944 she worked in internment camps in Rivesaltes and Cruseilles in France, then founded and lead a nurses' station in Château des Avenières. After the war she was involved in Swiss charities for war victims. Until 1952 Elsa Lüthi-Ruth lead an orphan's house in Beau Soleil in Gstaad. From 1952 until the death of her husband in 1959 she worked in his carpentry business. From 1960 until her retirement in 1969, Elsa Lüthi-Ruth lead a reconvalescent home in Bern.