Miriam Spiegel Raskin, a writer and Holocaust refugee whose life reflected courage, honesty, and intellectual curiosity, passed away in St. Louis on October 13, 2025.
Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1930, Miriam was the daughter of Julius and Fannie Spiegel. She grew up in Germany during a perilous time for Jewish children and was barred from attending elementary school during her final years there. She and her parents survived the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938 and managed to escape Germany in 1939.
After several years in Chicago, the family settled in St. Louis and in 1945 her sister Susan was born. Miriam graduated from Clayton High School and later from Washington University. During her college years, she met Larry Raskin, and they soon married, beginning a partnership that lasted 68 years until Larry’s death in 2019. They raised three children together in the suburbs of St. Louis.
Miriam’s life was marked by a deep commitment to learning and discussion. Her curiosity ranged widely—from Jewish thought and philosophy to literature, mathematics, and psychology. Her sense of justice and her insistence on truth-seeking often led her into spirited debates with rabbis, teachers, family members, and friends. She was never content with easy answers; she asked questions that challenged assumptions, encouraged reflection, and deepened understanding.
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She lived by the Jewish principle of tikkun olam—that it is the responsibility of all to repair the fractures in the world to the best of their abilities. Her thoughtful engagement, intellectual honesty, and moral clarity left a lasting impression on everyone whose life she touched. She had a profound belief that words—and questions—matter.
Those who knew Miriam remember her as thoughtful, articulate, and playful.
Miriam’s essays and poems appeared in the St. Louis Jewish Light, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Simcha Magazine, and Natural Bridge Literary Magazine, among others. She was a longtime contributor to the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum’s Memory Project, where her reflections on displacement, survival, and moral endurance continue to educate and inspire readers. Her memoir, Remembering and Forgetting: A Memoir and Other Pieces of My Life, gathers decades of her writing—stories and reflections on her childhood as a refugee, the meaning of survival, and the experience of rebuilding a life in America.
Miriam is survived by her sister, Susan Spiegel (Stewart Halperin) and her niece, Rebecca Halperin; her children, Laurie Morgan (Charles), Karen Kleiman (Bruce), and Richard Raskin (Alba Alexander); her grandchildren, Hannah Morgan, Julia Morgan, Jeff Kleiman, Melanie Spera, Sam Raskin, Abby Raskin, and Molly Raskin; as well as eight great-grandchildren and three great-nieces, who will one day tell her story to their loved ones.
The Graveside Funeral will be Private. A Celebration of Life Service at Central Reform Congregation will be announced at a later date.
Donations in her memory may be made to Central Reform Congregation or the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. May her memory be a blessing.
Visit www.bergermemorialchapel.com for more information.
