Hear a Witness: Vivienne Spiegel

Join us at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum for the rare opportunity to hear first-hand from Holocaust survivor Vivienne Spiegel.

Viv was born in Paris, France in 1934. She was six years old when the Germans invaded France.

In July 1942 Viv's, her mother, and two siblings were caught up in the Vel d'Hiv Round Up. In a stroke of luck, the family was released before the transports to Auschwitz.

Following this, Viv's mother made the difficult decision to separate from her children for their safety. After experiences with families that stole their food rations, Viv and her siblings were sent into hiding in the countryside with a family who cared for them until the end of the war.

After liberation, Viv and her siblings were sent to an orphanage for children, before immigrating to Australia in 1948.

Viv later found out her parents were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau.