Charlotte Adelman

Charlotte Adelman (F / France, 1932), Holocaust survivor.

• KEYWORDS : <Hidden Children>

Biography

Charlotte Adelman was born on March 26, 1932 and grew up in Paris, France. Before the war began, she recalls having a delightful childhood and living in a beautiful building, one in which the majority of people were Jewish. Once the war arose, the Jewish population was heavily monitored, for instance, their ID’s had to be marked with red stamps and children would have to get yellow stars sewn into their clothes to be identified as Jewish.

She spent many years living in fear, especially when she was separated from her family and sent to an orphanage. She states, “I was separated from my family for four years.” After hearing a conversation between the woman who adopted her and a German man, she knew she was moments away from being sent to a camp. Adelman quickly reported this to a janitor and he contacted for help. Shortly, a noodle truck was sent from her father to take her to Eastern France. Her father arranged that a family would take care of her meanwhile he worked, but the Germans had quickly invaded Eastern France, meaning Adelman had to go into hiding once more. “I was fourteen when my father found me,” she quotes.

Charlotte’s father carried her into the woods where another family, the Quatrevilles, took her in. She lived in their cellar for nine months, with German soldiers continuously searching the house over that time period. Although very lonely and in a dark cellar, she was well fed and taken care of. She stayed with the family until she could be reunited with her father. Eventually, she was reunited with both her father and brother. Adelman recalls that her biggest strength had come in hopes of finding her mother, but she received devastating news that her mother had died in Auschwitz.

As time passed, Adelman traveled to Israel and to Canada, where she met her husband, Alex. They married and moved to the United States in 1957. Her husband passed away in 2011 and it was then that Adelman decided it was time to share her story with the world. She now goes to schools to speak on her brave survival and share her words of wisdom with young students.