“In the early years I was not blessed by
good fortune, since the new language
gave me great difficulties”, so reported
Willy Katz in 1958 in the Shoemakers
Association periodical “The German
Shoemaker Craft”, about his beginnings
in Ecuador, after he successfully
escaped from Germany in 1940. In
spite of significant initial difficulties, the
people and officials of his new country
helped him to overcome the difficulties
of a beginner, so that he was able to
successfully build a shoe making
business. This in spite of the fact that,
as he reported, “in this country there
are shoemakers as sand on the
beaches”. By specializing in orthopedic
shoes, Willy Katz found a niche with a
successful outcome.
Willy Katz born
January 19, 1898 in
Nentershausen.
Passed away in
Petach Tikvah
(Israel) January 13,
1988.
View of the shoemaking workshop of
Willy Katz in Quito, Ecuador to where he
escaped in October 1940. For more than
30 years he practiced his profession
there.
