Wilhelm Katz

Wilhelm Katz was born to Polish parents in Antwerp in 1891. He trained as a diamond cutter and fled abroad during the First World War. Wilhelm returned to Antwerp in 1920 and married Anna Hirschmann that same year. The couple had two children, Erna and Lucien. Anna died in Schilde in early 1928. 

When war broke out in May 1940, Wilhelm took refuge in France with his two children. They settled in Marseilles and began to build themselves a new life. Wilhelm (51), Erna (20) and Lucien (18) Katz were detained in autumn 1942 and interned at Champagnole. They were deported from Drancy on 4 November via Transport 40 to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There is no further trace of Wilhelm or Lucien following their arrival. Erna was selected for forced labour. She was transferred to Flossenburg at the end of October 1944, at which point she disappears from the records. None of the Katz family members survived deportation.