Silvia Grohs Martin

Silvia Grohs-Martin was an actress, a singer and a dancer who was born in Vienna Austria in 1919 and performed throughout Europe, eventually landing in Amsterdam at the world-renowned theatre "Hollandsche Schouwburg" (renamed in 1943 as the "Joodsche Schouwburg"). Had Hitler not invaded, she might've been the next Dietrich-esque Hollywood import from Europe. One day when reporting for a rehearsal at her beloved theatre, she discovered that Hitler's army had turned the theatre into a deportation center overnight for the transport of thousands of Jews to the concentration camps. Silvia and the other actors were put to work corralling their fellow Jews onto trains for the camps. Silvia herself was later sent to Auschwitz-Berkinau, Ravensbruck and Malines. She survived all three camps and was rescued by the American GIs toward the very end of the war. She was forced to perform for the Nazis in the camps, singing and dancing, to help her captors prove that everyone was being "well taken care of." Silvia later lived in Australia, New York City (her favorite) and ultimately, in Los Angeles. She was a fervent lover of animals (especially dogs). She had many pets including Mischa, Welington, and Poppi. She also went on safari in Africa and talked fondly of the elephants and other wildlife she saw there. In 2000, Silvia's autobiography "Silvie" was published by Welcome Rain publishers in NYC. The book was translated into German, Dutch, and several other languages. Just months before her death she was in talks with a young Austrian director about adapting her book into a feature film. She is survived by a nephew in Montreal, and a grand-niece named Jenevive. She was married three times, but the whereabouts of those ex-husbands is unknown. Silvia had an indelible impact on all those who knew her, and spoke tirelessly to young people in high schools and colleges throughout California. She was also instrumental in the creation of Steven Spielberg's "Shoah Foundation," which helps to locate holocaust survivors and record their stories so that later generations may have access to them. Steven Spielberg wrote the front page quote for her autobiography and spoke very highly of her.