Maurice Frankenhuis
Maurice Frankenhuis | |
---|---|
Born | Maurits February 24, 1894 Burgsteinfurt, Germany |
Died | September 22, 1969 (aged 75) New York City, New York |
Nationality | Dutch |
Other names | Moritz |
Occupation(s) | Businessman, Author, Collector |
Known for |
|
Spouse | Hertha Frankenhuis |
Children | Julia, Bertie |
Website | www |
Maurice Frankenhuis (February 24, 1894 – September 22, 1969) was a Jewish Dutch businessman, historian, researcher, author, collector, numismatist, Holocaust survivor, and philanthropist.
Family and background
Maurits Frankenhuis was born in
Early life collecting interests and exhibits
From his early years, Maurice Frankenhuis was an avid collector of
Exhibits of his medals and posters collections were displayed over the years 1918 – 1940 in the Netherlands, England, France, Austria, drawing interest of visitors and dignitaries, including Ambassadors of England and the U.S.A.[5] Among his exhibitions were:
- Amsterdam, Netherlands in "Odeon", April 24 – May 7, 1918.
- The Hague, Netherlands in "Pulchri Studio", July 17 – 30, 1918.
- Manchester, England, in Houldsworth Hall, November 9–20, 1920, Proceeds in aid of St. Dunstan's (Blind soldiers & sailors).[5][6]
- Paris, France, in Chateau de Vincennes in 1924, presented with the Order of the “Officier de l’Instruction Publique de France" by then President Raymond Poincare.[5]
- Vienna, Austria in Government Building in 1925, awarded the Order of "Offizierkreuz des Ordens fuer Verdienste urn die Republik Oesterreich,” by Dr. Iquaz Seipel, president of the Republic of Austria.[5]
- Enschede, Netherlands, June 16–24, 1928.
- "Asiel", Enschede, April 20–30, 1929 and in other cities of the Netherlands - Medal awarded to Mr. M. Frankenhuis from the Netherlands Institution for the Protection of Animals. Queen Mother Emma of the Netherlands presented a silver medal to Maurice Frankenhuis in 1928, in recognition of his exhibits for the public interest.[5][1]
- Enschede, "Zevenmijls", June 1930.
- The Hague, Netherlands, in the "Ridderzaal", Knights Hall, March 1930.
At the Hague in 1933, he received special recognition for his collection of photographs, prints, medals, coins, letters, manuscripts and other materials pertaining to the founder of the House of Orange, William the Silent, and his descendants who ruled The Netherlands, including Princess Juliana (later Queen Juliana), born April 30, 1909.[5]
Collecting during World War I
During the years 1914 through 1918 of the first World War, as a citizen of the neutral Netherlands, Mr. Frankenhuis was able to procure many medals from the belligerent countries, Germany and the Allies.[7] In 1919 he published his Catalogue of Medals, Medalets and Plaques Relative to the World War 1914 -1919 in three languages (English, Dutch, and French) detailing his World War I medal collection, acclaimed as the largest in existence. To this day it is a valuable reference work for numismatists and historians.[1][8] After the war he was anxious to return to England, but foreign nationals were still barred from visiting. Through the efforts of Ambassador Sir Walter Townley, a visitor to Maurice Frankenhuis’ exhibitions, the British government gave special consideration to the request and granted his return in exchange for a donation of his World War I medals to the British Museum, deemed of national value: A letter from George Francis Hill, keeper of the department of coins and medals at the British Museum presented Maurice Frankenhuis with an opportunity: “in the ordinary circumstances the Secretary of State would not be prepared to allow you to return at the present time for business reasons, but if your offer of war medals is considered by the trustees of the British Museum to be of value to the nation, he will not place obstacles in the way of your return.”[9][5]
Rise of Nazism and World War II
Maurice Frankenhuis closely followed the events in Europe and the rise of
Documentation and interviews
Maurice Frankenhuis continued to monitor war-related events in the post-war period, making frequent trips to Europe, gathering and documenting information, and attending war-crime trials. He shared his reports with institutions worldwide including the
A half hour docudrama film based on the self-published story of Maurice Frankenhuis’ interview with the Westerbork Commander Gemmeker premiered at the Westerbork Camp Remembrance Center on September 13, 2019, exactly 75 years after the last transport from the camp.[12] The release date for the film is May 4, 2020, the official Remembrance Day in the Netherlands.[13]
In 1961 he provided information to the prosecution of the
Pages from M. Frankenhuis' diary on Theresienstadt are included in H.G. Adler's authoritative work on the concentration camp. Adler writes: "This immensely detailed diary by the author, who came to Theresienstadt from Westerbork on September 6, 1944, provides abundant insight into daily life in the camp during its period of deterioration."[14]
He contributed World War II era photographs from his collection for historian writer Nora Levin's book, one of the first of its genre published in 1968, The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933–1945.[15]
Donations to museums
Between 1939 and 1940 Maurice Frankenhuis served as correspondent-representative of the Oranje Nassau Museum in The Hague and donated medals, prints, autographs, letters, and manuscripts, which are housed at the Museum.[5]
Portions of the collections of posters, coins and medals from the First and the Second World War were secured during the war under an assumed name at a bonded warehouse.[5] Maurice Frankenhuis donated much of his collection to museums, as “living evidence” to maximize the memorial value of these artifacts of his epoch.
In the aftermath of World War I, he donated nearly 600 medals to the British Museum. With the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Maurice Frankenhuis endowed approximately 2000 medals of World War I and II to the Kadman Numismatic Pavilion in Museum Haaretz in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1961 which three years later was curated in a special exhibition, "The Five Years of the Nazi Occupation in Europe".[7]
In 1965, Frankenhuis documented and donated
After Maurice Frankenhuis’ death, his two grandsons, Joseph and Aaron Oppenheim donated 5000 World War I posters to the Columbia University Rare Books and Manuscript Library in New York in 1974.[17] "As a result of the recent donation of the Frankenhuis Poster Collection, Columbia now possesses one of the most important privately held collections of posters and proclamations of the First World War and its immediate aftermath."[18]
Tribute to the Six Million Martyrs Medal
In 1967, Maurice Frankenhuis commissioned a “Tribute to the Six Million Martyrs” medallion sculpted by renowned American artist Elizabeth N. Weistrop and struck by Medallic Art Co. The medal depicts a Jewish mother grasping her two daughters, the Star of David sewn on their garments. In the background, others are loaded onto a cattle-car transport under Nazi guard to an unknown fate. On the reverse, survival is symbolized by a tree stump with new branches growing forth, and the inscription: “THE FRANKENHUIS COLLECTION 1914 – 1918, 1939 – 1945 DESPITE THE FORCES OF DESTRUCTION MAURICE FRANKENHUIS PAINSTAKINGLY RECORDED THE HISTORY OF TWO WORLD WARS IN HIS COLLECTION”.[19] He presented his medal to institutions, world leaders, individuals and Righteous Gentiles.
Numismatic activities
In 1967, Frankenhuis was one of the founders of A.I.N.A, the American Israel Numismatic Association.[20] He displayed exhibitions of his World War II medals at New York coin shows in 1967 - 1968. The Frankenhuis byline appeared over a series of Coin World articles tracing the history of World War II through tokens and medals. Other features about Karl Goetz and many assorted Adolf Hitler medals issues served as primary sources for such works as Colbert and Hyder's Medallic Portraits of Adolf Hitler.[5][21]
World War I centennial exhibits
Exhibits of several of his major collections pertaining to World War I were curated during the centennial years 2014 -2018.
- The British Museum prepared a special centennial exhibit in 2014 displaying a number of the Frankenhuis Collection medals donated in 1918–1920 in the context of “The Other Side of the Medal: How Germany Saw the First World War”.
- The Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at Columbia University displayed an exhibition, “The European Home Front in WWI: Posters from the Frankenhuis Collection.” in 2014.[22]
- The Kadman Numismatic Pavilion of Museum Haaretz in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2017 opened a permanent exhibit with select items from his vast contribution to the museum in 1961. It was described by the curator as “an important and rare collection of medals and medallions made during the war by the fighting powers, designed by the finest artists who lived and worked in Europe during World War I.”[23]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Maurice Frankenhuis Dies at 75 in New York City". Coin World. 10 (497): 1,14. October 22, 1969.
- ^ a b "Maurice Frankenhuis 1894-1969". The Shekel. 2 (3): 16. Fall 1969.
- ^ a b Hill, David (2017). "Maurice Frankenhuis Built a Collection to Remember". American Numismatic Society Magazine. 16 (3): 44.
- ^ "Jewish Community of Enschede". DutchJewry.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Medal Remembers Holocaust; Frankenhuis collector, historian, writer". Coin World. 24 (1200): 1,3. 13 April 1983.
- ^ "The Churchman, Manchester exhibit". The Churchman: 7. December 25, 1920.
- ^ a b c d "Frankenhuis Medals Go To Israel; World Famous Collection of War Medals Endowed". Coin World. 3 (104): 16,30. 13 April 1962.
- ^ "ANS Museum Notes". ANS Museum Notes. 6–8: 189. 1954.
- ^ Hockenhull, Thomas (Spring 2014). "German First World War Medals and the British Museum". The Medal (64): 19–20.
- ^ Frankenhuis, Maurice (1948). Westerbork and an interview with its Commander Gemmecke in 1948. The Hague: W.P. van Stockum en Zn.
- ISBN 9789460039782.
- ^ "Première korte speelfilm Gemmeker met historische transportbeelden in kleur". dvhn.nl. 12 September 2019.
- ^ "Gemmeker". IMDb.
- ^ Adler, H.G. (2017). Theresienstadt 1941 - 1945 The Face of a Coerced Community (English ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 655–660.
- ^ Levin, Nora (1968). The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. Shocken. p. v.
- ^ "Brochure Outlines Story Behind Frankenhuis Gift". Coin World. 7 (338): 60. October 5, 1966.
- ^ "Frankenhuis posters collection, 1914-1926". Columbia University Archival Collections.
- ^ Marrin, Albert (November 1974). "Poster Art in the First World War". Columbia Library Columns. XXIV (1): 21–31.
- ^ Frankenhuis, Maurice (Spring 1968). "Medal Commemorating the Six Million". The Shekel. 1 (1): 21–22, 34, 36–37.
- ^ "The Shekel Premier Copy". 1 (1). 1968: 6.
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(help) - ISBN 0-918492-04-1.
- ^ "Columbia University Library WWI Posters Exhibit". Columbia University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.
- ^ Meir, Cecilia. "Kadman WWI Medals Centennial Exhibit". Eretz Israel Museum.
External links
- Media related to Maurice Frankenhuis at Wikimedia Commons
- The Frankenhuis Collection