B I O G R A P H Y
Ian Karten

   Hermann Karten was born december 14, 1920 in Vienna as son of Israel und Helen Karten. A few years later the family with three children moved to (Duisburg-) Homberg. Hermann went to the "Gymasium" (secondary school) in Moers. In 1937 he switched to the Jawne school in Cologne and enrolled in the "English class" which had been established by the headmaster of the Jawne, Dr. Erich Klibansky. In the following year he passed the "Cambridge School Certificate" which enabled him to go to university in England, beginning in fall 1938. In England Hermann changed his first name to Ian for he abhorred his name because of Hermann Göring. Ian Karten studied engineering at Battersea College which was part of London University.

   In the summer of 1939 Ian travelled to Homberg to visit his parents, returning to England only shortly before the war broke out. As he was a Polish citizen he was considered a "friendly alien" during the war. After passing his university exams in 1941 he volunteered in the Royal Air Force (1942-46). Ian’s father and both siblings were killed by the Nazis. Only his mother survived and lived with her son in England after liberation.
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