Barbara (née Zarniko) met Martin Ruhemann while a student in Professor Franz Simon's group at the University of Breslau,[1]: 17  and they later married.

[1]: 18 László Tisza recalled the Ruhemans being a part of a low temperature group focusing on industrial applications at Ukrainian Physics and Technology Institute (UPTI) in the 1930's.

[10] The first day focused on Friedrich Engels' works Dialectics of Nature and The Origin of the Family and the second day on concepts first illuminated by Lewis Morgan, who was one of the first to contrast a universal form of society based on clan organization and matrilineal succession as opposed to that of nuclear family.

This symposium brought together imminent scientists, philosophers, and communicators of the day including Arthur Eddington, James Jeans, Hyman Levy, Joseph Needham, Alfred North Whitehead, J.

[10] Ruhemann corresponded with Haldane, who wrote articles for the Daily Worker, where she questioned the scientific basis of eugenics calling it pseudoscience and favoured arguments of Lysenko, acknowledging the limits of Lamarckism but stating his approaches could potentially help overcome inherited genetic weaknesses.