KITTY SAKS

Kitty was born in Vienna where she lived with her parents and grandparents. One day, an officer in the Wehrmacht walked into their home, liked what he saw, ordered the family to leave, and took their home from them. So began her family’s plans to cross the border into Belgium, trying to stay ahead of the Nazis. Her father crossed the border first, while grandparents decided to stay behind. They were later deported and killed.

After a number of failed attempts to cross the border, which included armed guards, bribed mercenaries, and a strip search, Kitty, aged 6, and her mother, finally reached Belgium and rejoined her father in Brussels. 

At the age of 9, Kitty’s physical education teacher convinced her parents that in order to survive she must be moved to a Catholic school and take on the appearance of being a Catholic child - so began a journey of hiding “in the open,” while moving from convent to convent, from school to Catholic orphanage and back. 

In the early days of September l944, the British troops entered Brussels and liberated the country from the Nazi stronghold. Shortly afterward, Kitty was reunited with her parents who had survived in hiding, not far from the orphanage from which Kitty was ultimately liberated.

Kitty was married to Abbott Saks, of blessed memory, for 63 years, with whom she shares two grown children and two grandchildren.