BIOGRAPHY

Frank Shatz, celebrating his 100th birthday in February 2026, is a Holocaust survivor, writer, and long-time international affairs columnist based in Williamsburg, Virginia. He is widely known for decades of weekly columns for The Virginia Gazette and for public speaking that draws on lived experience of the Holocaust and post-war Europe. He has also been associated with the College of William & Mary through teaching and public engagement, and through long-standing support of the Reves Center for International Studies.

EARLY LIFE AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Frank Shatz was born on the Hungarian-border region of Czechoslovakia that was later annexed by Hungary. Public institutional descriptions held by William & Mary Libraries record that during the Second World War he escaped from a Nazi slave labour camp in Romania and later participated in underground anti-Nazi activity in Hungary. Those accounts emphasise forced labour, escape, and survival in Central Europe during the collapse of Nazi control, experiences that later became central to his writing and public testimony.

POST-WAR LIFE, JOURNALISM, AND DEPARTURE FROM COMMUNIST RULE

After the war, he worked as a journalist in Prague. William & Mary’s archival description records that he later escaped Communist rule with his wife, Jaroslava (“Jarka”). Their subsequent life in the United States included time in Lake Placid, New York, before they settled in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he became known publicly as a writer and long-running columnist for The Virginia Gazette.

WRITING AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Frank Shatz has written for many years as an international affairs columnist for The Virginia Gazette, with columns that combine current affairs with historical reflection and lived experience. He has also given public talks and lectures, including at the College of William & Mary, offering students and the wider public a first-person account of the Holocaust and the post-war period. His story has been featured in broadcast and print media, including a Virginia Currents (VPM/PBS) profile, and Reuters has reported on his later-life public engagements.

WILLIAM & MARY AND THE REVES CENTER

Frank Shatz has had a long association with the College of William & Mary and the Reves Center for International Studies. A Virginia General Assembly commendation (2001) and William & Mary publications describe his role as a major supporter of the Reves Center, including philanthropic support and encouragement of other gifts and programmes connected to international education.

PUBLIC RECOGNITION

Frank Shatz has been formally commended by the Commonwealth of Virginia, including the Virginia General Assembly (House Joint Resolution 727, 2001) and the Senate of Virginia (Senate Joint Resolution 336, 2021). He has also received civic and community recognition in Virginia, including an Americanism Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution (Williamsburg Chapter) and a Silver Good Citizenship Medal from the Sons of the American Revolution.

ARCHIVES AND PUBLIC RECORD

The Special Collections Research Center at William & Mary Libraries holds the Frank Shatz Papers, reflecting the archival interest in his writings and public engagement. A recorded testimony interview is also available through the USC Shoah Foundation and can be viewed online.