Alexander Katan (18 November 1899 – 27 January 1943) was a Dutch Jewish accountant, translator, and teacher, who was murdered by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, after which time his photographs were notoriously on display in various museums.

Biography

Alexander Katan was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, one of eight children in a Jewish family. He had

spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (abbreviated to SED more often than SDC) is a rare disorder of bone growth that results in dwarfism, characteristic skeletal abnormalities, and, in some instances, problems with vision and hearing. The name ...

, a rare disorder of

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

growth that results in

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

. He used a wheelchair. As an adult, he moved to

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

and married Julia Sophie Elze. She was also a dwarf. They had one son, Alphons, born in 1930. He was of average height. Katan devoted himself to study, ultimately mastering six languages and working as an accountant and a translator, as well as tutoring students in his home.

Holocaust

Katan was arrested by the Germans in July 1942, ostensibly due to his and his family's refusal to wear the Jewish star the Nazis required Jews to wear on their clothing. His wife and son were arrested soon afterwards. Katan was taken first to

Amersfoort concentration camp Kamp Amersfoort (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The official name was "Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort", P.D.A. or Amersfoort Police Transit Camp. 47,000 prisoners were held there between ...

. A few months later, on November 3, 1942, he arrived at

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. He was assigned the number 13992. Shortly after arrival at Mauthausen, the camp's doctors started to subject Katan to a number of medical experiments. They considered his short stature and bent spine to be the embodiment of "Jewish degeneration". They also photographed him first clothed in his concentration camp prisoner garb, then naked. Katan was killed on January 27, 1943, with an injection to the heart, ordered by Karl-Joseph Gross. Gross then stripped his flesh from his bones, and reassembled them for

display Display may refer to: Technology * Display device, output device for presenting information, including: ** Electronic visual display, output device to present information for visual or tactile reception *** Cathode-ray tube (CRT), that uses an el ...

. Katan's skeleton was taken to the SS Medical Academy near the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

. Katan's wife was sent to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

and then to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. Upon arrival, she was immediately murdered ( gassed).

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

had not yet begun working in Auschwitz at the time Sophie was taken there; he would later gain a notorious reputation for his medical experiments on dwarfs. Their son Alphons was transported to

Westerbork Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...

but was ultimately released due to the efforts of his aunt, who argued, untruthfully, that Alphons' non-dwarf stature indicated that he was not Katan's son.

Post-Holocaust

Following the end of the Holocaust, Mauthausen concentration camp was opened for visitors. Four photographs of Katan were kept on prominent display in the museum there: Katan dressed in his concentration camp prison garb, a frontal naked photo, a rear naked photo, and a photo of his skeleton. In 1994, Alphons Katan went to Mauthausen to visit the place he believed to be his father's final resting place, but was horrified to see his father's photographs on display, first stripped of clothing, then of flesh. Alphons Katan worked to get the photographs removed from display at Mauthausen, a mission that was ultimately successful. He continues to try to find his father's bones to give them a decent burial. In 2000, Dutch documentary filmmaker Hedda van Gennep published the film ''Dood Spoor?'' (Dutch for: "Dead End?") that tells the story of the son's quest to have the photographs removed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katan, Alexander 1899 births 1943 deaths People with dwarfism Educators with disabilities People who died in Mauthausen concentration camp Dutch Jews who died in the Holocaust Nazi human subject research