Inside of Time: My Journey from Alaska to Israel

by Ruth Gruber

Inside of Time is a book for everyone eager to read about the personal and human side of our stirring times. The vivid recollections of a trailblazing eyewitness to history, combined with stories of Gruber's intimate friendships with luminaries of the century, has created a book to cherish. In the Roosevelt administration and as a foreign correspondent with the New York Herald Tribune, Gruber worked with, wrote about, and was mentored by a cast that included Harold Ickes, FDR's Secretary of the Interior, who in 1941 appointed Gruber as his personal representative to Alaska; Helen Rogers Reid, Herald Tribune publisher and Gruber's boss, who scheduled her to speak at lecture forums where Gruber shared the podium with Churchill and DeGaulle; Golda Meir, with whom she swapped kitchen table confidences about their families; David Ben-Gurion, whose prophetic voice made him the most inspiring leader Gruber ever knew; and Eleanor Roosevelt, whom Gruber shepherded to Israel in the early 1950s. Spanning 1941–1955, Gruber also recalls the fierce anti-Semitism she overcame in Congress, the DP camps she saw in Germany after WWII, and traveling with the Israeli army during the War for Independence. Sixteen pages of photographs add to this enthralling autobiography by one of America's best journalists.

Genres: Memoir, History, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction, Israel, Biography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ruth Gruber was an award-winning Jewish American journalist, photographer, and humanitarian. Born in Brooklyn in 1911, she became the youngest PhD in the world and went on to author nineteen books, including the National Jewish Book Award–winning biography Raquela (1978). She also wrote several memoirs documenting her astonishing experiences, among them Ahead of Time (1991), Inside of Time (2002), and Haven (1983), which documents her role in the rescue of one thousand refugees from Europe and their safe transport to America.

Reviews

[Tova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a travelogue, not a list of famous people, not a history book. It's a well-written, exciting to read story that brings history to life, on topics and places that I never expected to be interested in.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book! Ruth Gruber's life is one of legend. In this part of her memoir she helps Interior Secretary Ickes open Alaska to regular folks. Then, she covers the Nurmberg Trials. She is a member of the committee that studies the displaced persons camps existing after WW2. Now this is the part I was most interested in, as it is a part of history that I lived through but knew nothing about. Several years ago, I thought that the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine was the world's "final solution" for dealing with the "Jewish problem." It made me angry to think that was what the world had done. I now realize that the displaced Jewish people of Europe wanted more than anything to have a homeland, where they could live without fear or discrimination. I did not realize how anti-Semetic the British were after the war, keeping the DPs in virtual prison camps almost as bad as the Nazi camps. They did not wish to give up control of Palestine, either. Eventually, as we know, Israel was born. Those that formed the homeland and welcomed thousands there also created camps that drained the spirit of the people, but Ruth helped to alleviate that problem. Everyone had great hope for this land where Jew and Arab would live side by side in peace. All the Israeli leaders of the time were firm in the opinion that this could be achieved. Maybe it could have, if the Palestinians and other Arabs had participated in the formation of this/these countries, but they boycotted and we are painfully aware of the result, as there is still no peaceful co-existance in this land... just more displaced persons with bitter hearts. My heart aches for them all.

[Maryclaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth Gruber is an unbelievable woman. I met Ruth Gruber at one of her visits to Oswego, NY to start the Safe Haven Museum. She is an unbelievable woman. If she wanted something accomplished she did it herself or pushed to make sure it was done. It seemed like she had a fire under her. This book is about her travels in Alaska and then on to Europe and returning with the DP's. The DP's (displaced persons) were not only Jewish people but others who wanted out of Nazi area takeovers. She worked as a journalist and for the government. Her most admired person was Eleanor Roosevelt and I have to agree. The two women had many of the same ideas and feelings for people all over the world. If you have read Haven I recommend you read this book. It answers a lot of questions about the reasons she was in Europe. Ruth Gruber met with many of the influential leaders of Europe at the time of her many travels.

[Kelly Maines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome and so informing

So much I didn’t know. So many female role models that I am just now learning about. So little has changed in foreign affairs through the world!

[Yael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth Gruber is my new spirit animal! This book is amazing. Not just because it so well written, but because the author is one of the greatest women of the 20th century. She was far ahead of her time. Dr. Gruber never let her gender or social norms keep her from exploring the far reaches of the world. She was a student of humanity. She loved and respected the Native people of Siberia and Alaska. She suffered alongside the displaced victims of the Holocaust. She respected the pioneers of Israel, who put their lives and hearts on the line to create a homeland for all Jews. Ruth Gruber befriended and worked side by side with the great leaders of her time including President Harry Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir, David Ben-Gurion, and many more.
Dr. Gruber was not satisfied by merely observing and reporting on the most important events of her time, but she rolled up her sleeves and put in the sweat equity to change the world and make it a better place for everyone. She was a quick and accurate judge of character and knew how to navigate the many cultures and social gatherings of every people she encountered. She stood up to the big egos that blocked the way of peace and progress. And she did it so well, that those egos often had no idea they were being worked.
I struggle to put into words how much Ruth Gruber inspires me, and it’s not just because I am an Alaskan Israeli Jew. I’ve read her book ‘Haven’ and after finishing ‘Inside of Time’ I plan to read all of her books. I am definitely in fan-girl status with Dr. Gruber!

[Virginia Kay Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. Very well written. And the fact that a woman during the 40's could accomplish all she did in a man's world. A lot of interesting insights about how our government works. Some of it surprising. And the things you learn about how Alaska was settled. Also the conflict that was going with with the Jewish nation after WWII. Much like what is still happening. A must read if you are a history buff.

[Barbara Liberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all her books!

[Therese]

$2.02