Sylvia was born in Göppingen, Wuerttemburg in 1922, to Julius and Irma Fleischer.

Born into a wealthy middle-class, non-practicing, Jewish family, Sylvia had a privileged and happy upbringing.
Experiencing antisemitism firstly at school, then more generally, the prestige of her family in the local community sheltered her from the worst Nazi excesses. As a young woman she witnessed Kristallnacht, the fine imposed after this, spurred her family to begin planning emigration.
Sylvia was in Hamburg, continuing her fashion studies a few days after the pogrom, when the Matron of the Orphanage , she was staying at, placed her name on a ’Kindertransport‘ to England.
Leaving Germany in July 1939, she was initially looked after by her sponsors, but as she was 18 years old, she was quickly enlisted into war work, working for the American Red Cross.
Of her immediate family her two brothers, Arnold and Richard, and her Sister Susan were the only survivors of the Holocaust
Sylvia continued her studies in fashion design, becoming an established fashion designer and manufacturer, she later passed on her knowledge as the Head of Department for Fashion and Clothing at Hollings and Thameside, Manchester.
On retirement Sylvia took over the running of an Inn in County Durham, but continues to design. She lives in County Durham