Jakob Katz and Gerti Birnbaum Correspondence

Jacob Katz was born in 1904 to an orthodox family in Magyargencs, Hungary, and received a traditional as well as a general education. In 1928 he moved to Frankfurt, and after studying in a yeshiva he enrolled at the University of Frankfurt and submitted his doctoral dissertation in 1934. He became engaged to Gerti Birnbaum and in June 1935 moved to London to conduct further research, while Gerti was about to leave Germany for Palestine. In early 1936 he migrated to Palestine as well, married Gerti, and for several years worked as a teacher in Tel Aviv. In later years he become a well-known historian of modern Jewry and Orthodox Judaism, served as rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and in 1980 received the Israel Prize. From 1981 to 1992 Katz served as president of the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem. He passed away in 1998.

Gerti Birnbaum was born in 1913 in Frankfurt; her mother's maiden name was Schwarzschild. She trained as a kindergarten teacher and became engaged to Jakob Katz during his studies at Frankfurt University. In 1935 she migrated to Palestine and lived in Jerusalem until their wedding. The couple moved to Tel Aviv and Gerti founded and ran a puppet-theater for children, based on stories written by her husband. In 1951 the couple settled in Jerusalem and in the 1960s Gerti began to work as a librarian at the Israel Museum, where she remained until her retirement. Gerti Birnbaum-Katz passed away in 1999.