Holocaust survivor Arlette Andersen has passed away, aged 98.
Arlette Andersen spent the last years of her life perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust. A story she stubbornly shared, especially to the youth.
As a young student in France, she herself was arrested and deported to Auschwitz in 1943, but survived.
She later came to Fredericia, a small city in Denmark, where she settled with her husband, Ole Andersen, and became a valued French teacher at Fredericia Gymnasium. The couple had a son, Christian, and a daughter, Anett.
The students at the Gymnasium were the first to learn about her painful memories when they noticed her tattoo on her forearm from Auschwitz. She later shared her memories with thousands of Danes through hundreds of lectures across the country.
Knight’s Cross
Arlette Andersen gives her name to the Freedom Award, which was founded six years ago by Fredericia Municipality, Fredericia Gymnasium, Danske Bank, Fredericia Dagblad. It is awarded every year on 4 May. The prize is intended to ensure ongoing awareness of the concept of freedom in its broadest sense.
Arlette Andersen received the Knight’s Cross in 2020 for her efforts, and a building at a university in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand has been named after her.
A few years ago, Fredericia author Thomas Kvist Christiansen immortalised Arlette Andersen’s stories in a film about her life.
