18 | MAY 23 • 2024
J
N
I
n what is perhaps the greatest
defiance to the Nazis’ mission
to exterminate the Jewish
population during World War
II, Auschwitz survivor Katherine
Sattler not only endured unimag-
inable challenges during one of the
darkest periods in history, but also
built a remarkable life and family
that has now led to her celebrating
her 100th birthday.
On May 6, 2024, Sattler, a
Czech native and current West
Bloomfield resident, celebrated 100
rotations around the sun. It’s been
a fulfilling century for Sattler, who
has three children, five grandchil-
dren and four great-grandchildren
— whose lives are all possible
thanks to her determination and
resolve to survive the Holocaust.
A CHANGING WORLD
Born in Uzhhorod, Czechoslovakia, now
modern-day Ukraine, Sattler, born Katerina
Rosenbaum, had what she calls a “beautiful
childhood” with everything she wanted.
As a child, she had a close-knit group of
friends who were predominantly Christian.
Sattler would attend church with them, and
they in turn would attend synagogue with
her — a mutual respect of both religions.
Yet, during the Nazi occupation of
Czechoslovakia during World War II, Sattler
says everything changed when Jews were
forced to wear a yellow Star of David on
their clothing.
“I lost all my girlfriends,
” she said in an
interview with USC Shoah Foundation.
“I couldn’t go to their homes, and they
wouldn’t come into our house, either.
”
Overnight, Sattler found herself virtually
alone. Eventually, like thousands of other
Czechoslovakian Jews, Sattler’s family was
rounded up and deported to Auschwitz.
Sattler was on a cattle train for three days
with almost no food and water before arriv-
ing in Auschwitz with her family. She spent
two years imprisoned in multiple camps.
FINDING THE WILL TO LIVE
Each day, the threat of death hung over
Sattler.
The kapo, or prisoner functionary
assigned to one of Sattler’s barracks, told her,
“Now that you are here, you will never get
out of here alive.
”
Yet Sattler had other plans. Despite wit-
nessing unimaginable hardship day after
day, she harnessed her inner strength to stay
alive.
“I remember when they killed gypsies one
night,
” she recalls of Auschwitz. “I remem-
ber when they killed gay people one night.
I remember when they killed people who
were brought over from another camp one
night.
”
Despite the nearly nightly horrors, Sattler
reassured her sister, Gabriella, whom she
called Ella, that they would be free for Ella’s
birthday. “I promise you we will celebrate,
”
Sattler told her sister on May 3;
Ella’s birthday was one week away
on May 10.
“Then we were liberated,
” Sattler
said.
STARTING OVER
Sattler, Ella, their brother Andrew
(who was imprisoned in a dif-
ferent camp) and mother, Julia,
survived, but, sadly, Sattler’s father,
Kalman, was killed upon arrival in
Auschwitz.
In 1946, Sattler boarded a ship
from Sweden bound for New York
and traveled west to join her moth-
er’s two brothers in Los Angeles,
one of whom provided her with
an apartment to live in. Slowly but
surely, Sattler began to rebuild her
life in America.
“Our lives started,
” she described
in the USC Shoah Foundation
interview. “That was it. That was the begin-
ning of our beautiful life in the United
States.
”
She met her husband, Metro Detroit
native Carl Sattler, in Los Angeles, where she
steadily built a career as a costume designer
and dressmaker.
While in Los Angeles, Sattler made sig-
nificant contributions to early Hollywood
and collaborated with legendary American
costume designer Edith Head.
Eventually, Carl and Katherine made their
way back to the Detroit area, where they
raised a family. Since then, the Sattlers have
also resided in Boca Raton.
Now, at 100, Katherine Sattler continues to
find the drive to keep going.
“I play tennis. I’m a golf player. I play
mahjong. I play bridge,
” Sattler said. “That
keeps me busy. It keeps me thinking. It keeps
my mind going.
“I don’t sit and say, ‘What am I going to
do tomorrow?’” she continued. “That never
bothered me.
”
Czech native and Metro Detroit resident Katherine
Sattler celebrates major milestone.
Auschwitz Survivor Turns 100
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OUR COMMUNITY
Katherine
Sattler