Sarah Katz

During this time, the Jewish community in Arad, like the rest of Romanian Jewry, suffered from growing antisemitism between the two World Wars. By 1941-1942, the Romanian fascist authorities had concentrated all the Jews from surrounding villages into Arad. Sarah remembers attending school until the Germans arrived.

Sarah’s father had a non-Jewish secretary named Lucretia, who agreed to hide Sarah and her sister. Disguised as gypsies with kerchiefs, the two girls went into hiding. During bombings, they would hide under the table. Food was scarce, and everyone had to stand in long lines for rations. After several months in hiding, the Russians came and liberated them.

Thankfully, Sarah’s family was reunited, but times were still tough.

The youngest two brothers were sent with a Kindertransport to Prague and later to Ireland. Sarah and her sister remained in Arad with their parents.

By this time, the Communists had taken power, and the family endured the oppressive conditions of Communist rule. Arbitrary arrests were common, and life became increasingly difficult. In 1949, Sarah’s parents were finally able to secure visas to leave Romania, and the family immigrated to Israel.

Eventually, both brothers settled in Cleveland, though one returned to New York, where he became an avid runner and even helped start the New York City Marathon.

Sarah lived in Israel for ten years, during which time she traveled to Paris to study French. By the time she left Israel, only one sister and one brother remained there. Sarah later moved to the United States, where she married an American and had three children.