Gomori and Katz Families Collection

Peter Gomori’s mother, Charlotte “Lotte” née Nadas Gomori, was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1908; her parents were Flora née Friedmann Nadas and Bertalan Nadas, a lawyer. (Flora was one of Friedrich and Hermine Friedmann’s seven children. Four other children in that family – Wilhelm, Otto, Franziska, and Sophie – are also represented in this collection, along with their families. Otto and his family escaped to Colombia during World War II, while Sophie and her family escaped to Palestine.) In addition to their daughter Lotte, Flora and Bertalan had an older son, Frigyas “Fritz” Nadas, born in 1905; he died in a Hungarian slave labor camp in 1944. During the War, Lotte worked for Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Budapest who saved thousands of Jews in German-occupied Hungary by issuing protective passports. Through her employment with Wallenberg in Budapest’s American Embassy, Lotte received a visa from her supervisor and was neither detained nor interned during the War, although she did live in hiding alongside her parents at a friend’s house. Lotte also tried to secure a Schutz-Pass (a protective passport issued to Hungarian Jews) for her parents and for her future husband, Imre Gomori, who was detained and about to be sent to Auschwitz before Wallenberg rescued him. Imre was born in 1911 in Budapest and worked as a watchmaker. He married Lotte Nadas in 1951 and obtained a divorce from her shortly thereafter, in Hungary. Lotte moved to the United States in 1951, while Imre moved there in 1958. Their son Peter was born in 1953. Lotte and Imre Gomori both died in New York City – Imre in 1978, Lotte in 1990.

Jannette Katz-Gomori’s mother, Anne “Annie” née Wolff Katz, was born in 1920, in Rees, Germany. Her parents were Alma née Frank Wolff and Isidor Wolff. Annie and her mother were imprisoned in Dusseldorf for a week and were released on the condition that they both leave Germany. Annie’s mother left for Holland, while Annie left for the United Kingdom. Annie secured a visa from the British government in 1939; she worked as a domestic and also trained as a nurse. She then moved to the United States either in 1946 or 1947 and worked at the Foundling Hospital. Annie’s first cousin, Charlotte née Wolff Gunzberger, married Werner Gunzberger in New York City, after World War II ended. Werner, who was born and raised in Landau, Germany, came to the United States around 1937 without his immediate family. His parents, Siegfried and Karoline Gunzberger, and his sister, Irmgard Gunzberger, sought refuge in Zutphen, Holland during the War, but they were deported to Westerbork and subsequently killed. Annie’s sister, Margarete “Grete” née Wolff Schwartz, married Gustav Schwartz, and they fled Rotterdam for Switzerland.

Jannette Katz-Gomori’s father, Rudolf “Rudy” Katz, was born in 1918 in Dahn, Germany and came to the United States with his brother Eric in 1937, and they both settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey; their mother, Marianne née Simon Katz, was deported to Gurs from Drancy and later sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Annie and Rudy met in New York City’s Washington Heights in 1948 and married that same year. Rudy Katz and Annie Katz died in 1997 and in 2016, respectively.