Joan Salter

Joan Frances Salter MBE (born Fanny Zimetbaum, February 15, 1940; also called Joan Farell) is a Belgian, American and British Holocaust survivor. She escaped to the United States at the age of three, and returned to a reunited family whom she did not remember. She has spoken out against British politicians and given witness to children about her experiences.

Biography Fanny Zimetbaum was born on February 15, 1940, in Brussels, Belgium, the second daughter of Polish Jews who emigrated to Belgium in 1939 in hopes that Nazi Germany would not invade. Following the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, Zimetbaum's father was deported and spent six months in prison. After Zimetbaum's father escaped and returned to Belgium, she, her mother, and her half sister obtained permission to move to Paris while their father lived in hiding nearby. In June 1941, all Jewish men living in Paris were ordered to be detained. Zimetbaum's father evaded the French police and fled to Lyon. but the effect of the U-boat's interference caused concern.

On arrival in the United States, Zimetbaum and her half sister were separated and placed with different foster families. Fanny was taken in by the Farrell family. They renamed her "Joan" and treated her as their own daughter. and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Salter has responded to political figures such as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who implied that the UK took in many Jewish refugees during the Second World War, by pointing out that programs such as the Kindertransport were exceptions to UK policy. Salter was filmed in 2022 challenging Home Secretary Suella Braverman over her use of the word "invasion" to describe the arrival of asylum seekers. Salter's words were defended by Freedom from Torture, who refused to delete a clip of the recording from the organisation's social media at Home Office request. Salter spent Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2025 at Wembley Stadium with visiting footballers as part of an initiative which introduced Holocaust survivors to young fans of the Premier league. In 2026 to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day she was at the Scottish Parliament with Var Ashe Houston, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide.

Salter's suitcase, among other artefacts of hers, are part of the collection of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Nottinghamshire.