Ruth Posner BEM (née Wajsberg; born 20 April 1929) is a Polish-born British Holocaust survivor,[1] former dancer and choreographer and is today an actress and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1942 her father arranged for Ruth and her aunt to go to work at a Jewish-owned leather factory outside the ghetto walls, and from here they both escaped.
Posner survived the remainder of the war by pretending to be a young Polish Catholic girl called Irena Slabowska.
[4] Arriving in the United Kingdom as a refugee at the end of World War II, she married Michael S. Posner in 1950.
During her nine years in the United States she trained as an actor with Uta Hagen, and gained an MA in Theatre Arts at Hunter College in 1980.
[6] Later she concentrated on an acting career, and on television she appeared in Making News (1990), Love Hurts (1994), The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1995), Bramwell (1997), To Anyone Who Can Hear Me (1999), Casualty (1987–2003), The Bill (2003), Coming Up for Air (2003), Timeless (2005), Apparitions (2008) and The Pharmacist (2012).
[8] Stage roles include Hiawatha at the Bristol Old Vic (1991–92), The Dybbuk for the Royal Shakespeare Company (1992), The Tempest with the Actors Touring Company (1999), Woman in the Moon at the Arcola Theatre (2001), Ritual in Blood at the Nottingham Playhouse (2001) and Seven Jewish Children (2009) at the Royal Court Theatre.
[4] She was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to Holocaust education and awareness.