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BDE: Reb Avrohom Katz, A”H, Auschwitz Survivor

BDE: Reb Avrohom Katz, A”H, Auschwitz Survivor

We are saddened to inform you of the passing of yet another member of the precious she’eiris hapleitah, Reb Avrohom Katz, a pillar of the Klausenberger community, a talmid chochom, ardent chossid, and longtime proprietor of Katz Fabrics in Boro Park. He was about 88 years of age. 

Reb Avrohom was born in the Czechoslovakian town of Selish (Nagykopany) in the year 1932. He had the misfortune of being a twin, and so upon arrival at Auschwitz, he was selected by the infamous Joseph Mengele, ym”shv, for brutal experiments. 

But they did not break him. 

He would speak of life and the camps—but rather than focus on the suffering, he recalled the unshakable faith. As tears would stream down his cheeks, he would recall his fellow Yidden as they danced in the barracks on Simchas Torah night, never letting go of the source of life, even under the harshest imaginable circumstances. 

And then came his lifeline. As the war came to a close, and the shattered survivors began to look around at a world gone up in flames, Reb Avrohom connected with his great master; the Klausenberger Rebbe, zy”a, who took the place of father, mother, and lifelong guide. 

He became tethered to the Rebbe with cords of love, an unseverable connection that would never leave his heart. 

Like so many Klausenberger chassidim, the primary legacy from their holy Rebbe was Torah. And this was his defining characteristic. “If there was a shiur in Klausenberg, Reb Avrohom was there. He had multiple daily shiurim that he never missed, over decades,” recall some of the younger generation who grew up inspired by this exceptional individual. 

When the Rebbe was niftar, Reb Avrohom became connected with his son, the current Klausenberger Rebbe shlit”a. He was from the founders and supporters of the Shul in Boro Park from the beginning, through the rest of his life. Being in the fabric business, he acquired the chazokoh to purchase the bekeshes for the Rebbe. 

And while he was one of the pillars of this community, he was exceptionally humble. “Despite repeated requests, he refused to be seated up front by the tisch; insisting on humbly sitting in the back, with incredible bittul to the Rebbe shlit”a. 

“He was always joyful,” the young chassidim recall. “Always with a smile, always with a wise insight, and always learning. This is an incalculable loss, a pillar that upheld this community from its very beginning.” 

Reb Avrohom bore the tattoo #A5720 for close to 80 years—and it is with this that he ascends to the bein shel ma’alah, to be reunited with his entire family which was so brutally wiped out during the Churban, and to be rewarded for his unflinching faith, joyful rebuilding, and a lifetime dedicated to Torah and mitzvos. 

Yehi Zichro Baruch. 

The levaya is set for 11:00 this morning at Shomrei Hadas. 



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