Jack Eugene Curtis

 

Our family is saddened to announce the passing on October 6 of a beautiful soul, Jack Curtis aged 98, a Holocaust Survivor and longtime resident of Santa Monica.  

Our father was born Jeno Katz in 1928 in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia (now Ukraine) the youngest of four children.  In spring of 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz along with his parents, older sister and brother.  Our father miraculously survived Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps and was liberated at Dachau by American troops in April 1945 weighing just 65 pounds.  Jack and his older brother Samuel were the only survivors in our family and were reunited at a displaced persons (DP) camp in Furth, Germany after the war by their American first cousin Captain Donald Katz, who served in Patton’s 3rd Army.

After a long recovery, dad lived in France, Australia and Canada before finally immigrating to Detroit, where he was reunited with his older brother Samuel (RIP), eventually moving to southern California after Samuel and his family moved to Los Angeles in the ‘60s.  Our father worked in the hardware business for many years.  He also spoke six languages and used to read foreign language newspapers. He had an amazing mind.

Our father leaves a legacy of kindness and was a gentle soul. He is survived by his daughter, Valerie; his son, Brian; three beloved grandchildren, his nephew Jeff, and niece Sharon.  He will always be missed and always be remembered