Rozette Kats (* 1942) was born in Amsterdam, the first child of Jewish parents who went into hiding together with her. In February 1943, she was separated from them, placed in the care of a childless couple in Amsterdam, who officially raised her as a foster child, changing her name to Rita. Her biological parents were betrayed and arrested, and – while detained at the Westerbork transit camp – her mother gave birth to a second child. That baby along with her biological parents were murdered in Auschwitz. In May 1945, on the eve of her sixth birthday, Rozette learned the truth of her circumstances as well as her real name. The devastating truth traumatized her and led to a long period of psychotherapy and searching for connection to others who, like her, had survived in hiding without their parents. She has been involved in Holocaust education for many years and has held several board positions, e.g. in the Sobibor Foundation. Kats also gives lectures to German and Dutch school classes. In commemoration of the Holocaust on January 27, 2023, she was invited to speak in the German Parliament about her life. In that address, Kats made substantive analogy of her own circumstances to the current exclusion and persecution of people from the queer community.
