Charlotte Adelman was born on March 26, 1932, in Paris, France. She grew up in a traditional Jewish household with her mother, Rose, her father, Herszle, and her brother, Max. Her early years were marked by a picturesque childhood, filled with love and happiness.

Everything changed when Charlotte was just ten years old. The Nazi invasion of France and occupation of Paris brought terror and upheaval to her life.

For the next four years, Charlotte lived in constant danger, fleeing for her safety on six separate occasions. During this time, the Nazis were systematically rounding up Jews for deportation to concentration camps in Eastern Europe. Tragically, her mother, Rose, was among those deported and perished in Auschwitz, a notorious concentration camp in Poland.

By the end of the war, Charlotte had been separated from her family for nearly five years. She was reunited with her father shortly after the war ended and, following two years of tireless searching through Red Cross facilities, she was finally reunited with her brother, Max.

After the war, Charlotte returned to Paris and lived there until 1957 when she immigrated to Montréal, Canada. It was there that she met Alex, the love of her life. Together, they built a life filled with love and joy, sharing 50 years of marriage until Alex's passing in 2011. They raised two wonderful children and became proud grandparents to two grandsons.

Today, Charlotte is an active member of the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors Association, where she attends regular meetings and contributes to the community. In collaboration with Steven Spielberg and the Shoah Foundation, Charlotte's story was documented on video. Her testimony is preserved and available at each of the six major Holocaust museums worldwide.

Charlotte’s story stands as a powerful testament to resilience and remembrance. Among the 76,000 Parisians who perished in the Holocaust, her mother, Rose, is honored at the Holocaust Museum in Paris, built in 2005 to memorialize those who were lost.