Survivor Profiles: Yvonne Aronson

Her Story:

A child survivor, Yvonne was born in 1939. In May of 1940, Yvonne’s father and brother were taken to a labor camp in southern France. Yvonne remained in Brussels along with her mother, great-grandmother, and great-aunt. Ultimately, they went into hiding in a convent with a group of 25 people total.

Yvonne and her mother had left the convent and returned to their apartment. There, Yvonne’s mother became extremely ill. Their local pharmacist had taken Yvonne and her mother in and hid them in his cellar.

After her recovery, Yvonne’s mother had found a widow in a suburb of Brussels who was willing to hide Yvonne. The kind widow hid Yvonne for over three years.

The war ended on May 8th 1945 and Yvonne’s mom picked her up from the widow and registered Yvonne in school. Yvonne was reunited with her great-grandmother and great-aunt.

Yvonne’s father perished in Auschwitz. Yvonne immigrated to the U.S. in March 1947.

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