Spitzer was born in Cieszyn on 14 June 1927. He lost his father, Samuel,[1] who died in February 1940 due to illness, and his mother, Gretta, to the Nazis. In June 1940, his family fled to Strzemieszyce Wielkie, where he worked as a photographer and welder. That year, his brother, Harry, was arrested by the Germans.[2] Walter himself was arrested in 1943 at the age of 16 and was sent to Gross-Rosen. He was then sent to Blechhammer and later Auschwitz, where he was separated from his mother.[3] He was tattooed with the number 78489. He then participated in the death marches in January 1945 before his liberation by the United States Army.[4]
After he was freed, Spitzer moved to France and studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. He then spent his career as a painter, while continuing to preserve the memory of the Holocaust.
Walter Spitzer died in Paris on 13 April 2021, at the age of 93, from COVID-19.[5]
