Fred Emil Katz Collection

Fred (Manfred) Emil Katz was born on November 10, 1927, in Oberlauringen, Germany to the butcher Max Katz (August 16, 1883, Mellrichstadt—1942, Sobibor) and his second wife Jenny Grünebaum (October 2, 1892, Vollmerz--1942, Sobibor). He and his sister Trude Viener (April 4, 1924, Oberlauringen, Germany—June 10, 2000, Quantico, United States) were the only survivors. Their parents and stepbrother Ludwig Katz (December 20, 1920, Oberlauringen—1943, Sobibor) perished in the extermination camp Sobibor.

In 1937 Fred’s sister Trude emigrated to the United States and Fred left for England on a Kindertransport on June 5, 1939. There he attended the Bunce Court School which was based on Quaker and progressive Judaism principles and was run by the German-Jewish refugee Anna Essinger. In 1943 he left the school at the age of 15 and was helped by Hertha Karger until his emigration to Cleveland, Ohio in the United States in 1947. Fred Emil Katz held various factory jobs and in 1949 began his studies at Guilford College, North Carolina, graduating in 1952 with a degree in sociology/anthropology. He went on to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his PhD in sociology. Following his studies came a distinguished teaching career at the University of Missouri, Columbia, the State University of New York, Buffalo, and Tel Aviv University, where his work focused on the Holocaust. Fred Emil Katz is the author of a dozen books, most notably: “Ordinary People and Extraordinary Evil: A report on the Beguiling of Evil,” “Confronting Evil: Two Journeys,” “Immediacy: Our Ways of Coping in Everyday Life,” and “We Live in Social Space: A Window to a New Science.” He also contributed materials to the exhibitions held by the German librarian Cordula Kappner about Jewish families from his hometown Oberlauringen.

Fred was married to Pearl Gottlieb with whom he has a daughter Liat. Since 2014 he lives in Towson, Maryland.