Survivor in conversation: Yvonne Engelman

Holocaust survivor Yvonne Engelman was born in 1927 in Czechoslovakia. In 1944, the family was taken to a ghetto and four months later they were boarded onto a cattle car and transported to Auschwitz. On the journey, her father made her promise that whatever happened to him and her mother, she would survive. Miraculously Yvonne did survive, although she was the only one of her family to do so and she was left alone in the world.

In May 1949, Yvonne married John Engelman in the first wedding of child survivors to take place in Australia.

Yvonne has volunteered at the Sydney Jewish Museum since the day it opened in 1992. She says that coming face-to-face with a survivor is more meaningful than any book or movie and she feels satisfied that those who hear her story will not be able to ignore the Holocaust.

Hear Yvonne share her incredible story of survival at the Museum as part of our conversations with Holocaust survivors this summer. Members with valid access codes can access this expert talk for $15. Non-members can access this event for $25.

Photograph: by Katherine Griffiths. SJM Collection.