Käthe Pickardt lived in Berlin with her husband, the doctor Max Pickardt. They had four children: Wolfgang, Joachim, Ursula, and Ilse.
Since her husband was of Jewish origins, the Nuremberg race laws classed their marriage as a “privileged mixed marriage.” Max Pickardt was only allowed to treat Jewish patients. Their son Wolfgang and daughter Ilse emigrated to Brazil and Denmark. Their son Joachim Pickardt was imprisoned for resistance activities from 1935. He was murdered in Buchenwald concentration camp in 1941.
Max Pickardt died in October 1942. Käthe and Ursula Pickardt remained in their large apartment in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. They supported their Jewish friends and other persecuted people. Käthe Pickardt was also part of a support network for people in prisons and camps.
In January 1943, they took in Ilse Rewald, who had gone underground. She was able to stay with the mother and daughter for a year. The Pickardts also sheltered two other women in hiding. Their apartment was destroyed by a severe air raid at the end of January 1944. Käthe and Ursula Pickardt went to stay with acquaintances in the Riesengebirge region.
After the war, they emigrated to Brazil. The Rewalds and the Pickardts remained in touch for the rest of their lives.