Book Review, Mia Swart, On Bonifratròw Street: How a Boy from Lwów Escaped the Nazis (2024)

On Bonifratròw Street is a book about biography, history, and law. It begins with Katz’s childhood in Lwów, Poland, before World War II. The story unwraps the backgrounds of his parents and other family members, notably his biological father, whose presence and then absence loom large in his life. The book then moves to the war. It details Katz’s life in a variety of places, including Lodz and Warsaw, among others, seen from his perspective as a teenager at the time. The book ends with Katz’s post-war emigration to the US, where he joined a distant relative. Defying odds and the expectations of refugee organisations, Katz enrolled at university and went on to achieve considerable success as a pediatrician and academic. Swart interviewed Katz 70 times.