Otto Frank
Otto Frank | |
---|---|
Born | Otto Heinrich Frank 12 May 1889 |
Died | 19 August 1980 Birsfelden, Switzerland | (aged 91)
Resting place | Birsfelden's Cemetery |
Citizenship |
|
Occupation | Spice merchant[1] |
Known for |
|
Spouses | |
Children | |
Military career | |
Allegiance | German Empire |
Service/ | Imperial German Army |
Years of service | 1915–1918 |
Rank | Lieutenant |
Battles/wars |
|
Otto Heinrich Frank (12 May 1889 – 19 August 1980) was the father of Anne Frank. He edited and published the first edition of her diary in 1947 (subsequently known in English as The Diary of a Young Girl) and advised on its later theatrical and cinematic adaptations. In the 1950s and 60s he established European charities in his daughter's name and founded the trust which preserved his family's wartime hiding place, the Anne Frank House, in Amsterdam.
Early life
Otto Heinrich Frank was born into a Jewish family.
Military service
Frank served in the
Marriage and children
Frank worked in the bank that his father initially ran, which subsequently he and his brothers inherited until its collapse in the early 1930s. He married Edith Holländer – an heiress to a scrap-metal and industrial-supply business – on his 36th birthday, 12 May 1925, at the synagogue in Aachen, Edith's hometown. Edith was 25 when they married. Their elder daughter, Margot Frank (Margot Betti), was born 16 February 1926, followed by their younger daughter, Anne (Annelies Marie), on 12 June 1929.[7] Edith died of starvation and disease in Auschwitz on 6 January 1945. In late October 1944, Margot and Anne were transferred from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where they died[8] of typhus.
In 1953, Frank married Elfriede (Fritzi) Markovits, a Holocaust survivor, who assisted him with the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel,[9] which he launched a decade later. Markovits's daughter, Eva Schloss, is a Holocaust survivor, peace activist and international speaker.[10]
World War II
As the tide of Nazism rose in Germany and anti-Jewish decrees encouraged attacks on Jewish individuals and families, Otto decided to evacuate his family. In August 1933, they relocated to Aachen, where his mother-in-law, Rosa Holländer resided, in preparation for a subsequent and final move to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In the same year, Otto's widowed mother, Alice Frank, fled to Switzerland.[11]
Otto's brother-in-law Erich Elias (the husband of his younger sister Leni and father of
In 1938 and 1941, Frank attempted to obtain visas for his family to emigrate to the United States or Cuba. He was granted a single visa for himself to Cuba on 1 December 1941, but it is not known if it ever reached him. Ten days later, when
He also attempted to obtain visas for his family to Britain, however, he was never granted the visas.At the age of 53, when the systematic deportation of Jews from the Netherlands started in the summer of 1942, Otto Frank took his family into hiding on 6 July 1942 in the upper rear rooms of the Opekta premises on the
The group hid for two years, until their discovery in August 1944. It is not known whether an informant or a chance discovery by authorities ended their period of refuge.[19][20] The group, along with Kugler and Kleiman, were arrested by SS Officer Karl Silberbauer. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl were not arrested with the group. Miep managed to excuse herself by saying she knew nothing of those in hiding, and Johannes Kleiman managed to excuse Bep Voskuijl from being arrested. These two people would rescue Anne's diary before the Nazis cleared out the hiding place.
After being imprisoned in Amsterdam, the Jewish prisoners were sent to the Dutch transit
Letter from the Monowai steamship
The closer we get to home, the greater our impatience to hear from our loved ones. Everything that's happened the past few years! Until our arrest, I don't know exactly what caused it, even now, at least we still had contact with each other. I don't know what's happened since then. Kugler and Kleiman and especially Miep and her husband and Bep Voskuil provided us with everything for two whole years, with incomparable devotion and sacrifice and despite all danger. I can't even begin to describe it. How will I ever begin to repay everything they did. But what has happened since then? To them, to you to Robert [Otto's brother and Edith Frank's brother-in-law]. Are you in touch with Julius and Walter? [Edith Hollander's brothers and Otto's brothers-in-law] All our possessions are gone. There won't be a pin left, the Germans stole everything. Not a photo, letter or document remains. Financially, we were fine in the past few years, I earned good money and saved it. Now it's all gone. But I don't think about any of that. We have lived through too much to worry about that kind of thing. Only the children matter, the children. I hope to get news from you immediately. Maybe you've already heard news about the girls.[23]
— Letter sent by Otto Frank on board the Monowai steamship May 15, 1945 on his way back to Amsterdam
Post-war life
After Anne Frank's death was confirmed in the summer of 1945, her diary and papers were given to Otto Frank by Miep Gies, who had rescued them from the ransacked hiding place together with Bep Voskuijl. As Miep Gies wrote in her book, Anne Frank Remembered, Frank immediately started to read the papers. Later he began transcribing them for his relatives in Switzerland. He was persuaded that Anne's writing shed light on the experiences of those who suffered persecution under the Nazis and was urged to consider publishing it. He typed out the diary into a single manuscript, editing out sections he thought too personal to his family or too mundane to be of interest to the general reader. The manuscript was read by Dutch historian Jan Romein, who reviewed it on 3 April 1946 for the Het Parool newspaper. This attracted the interest of Amsterdam's Contact Publishing, which accepted it for publication in the summer of 1946. Otto Frank is now recognized as a co-author of the diary.[24]
On 25 June 1947, the first Dutch edition of the diary was issued under the title Het Achterhuis ("The House Behind"). Its success led to an English translation in 1952, which led to a theatrical dramatisation in 1955 and eventually the film The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), with actor Joseph Schildkraut reprising his role as Otto.[25]
Otto Frank married former Amsterdam neighbor and fellow Auschwitz survivor[26] Elfriede Geiringer (1905–1998) in Amsterdam on 10 November 1953, and the couple moved to Basel, Switzerland, where he had family, including relatives' children, with whom he shared his experiences. In 1963, he founded the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel (not to be confused with the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam, see below), which is devoted to global distribution and use of the Diary of Anne Frank. The non-profit organisation uses the proceeds of the copyrights for charitable purposes, education, and scientific research. In addition the Foundation in Basel supports projects in the field of human rights, racism and rights and promoting social justice.[27]
In response to a demolition order placed on the building in which Otto Frank and his family hid during the war, he and Johannes Kleiman helped establish the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam on May 3, 1957, with the principal aim to save and restore the building so it could be opened to the general public. With the aid of public donations, the building and the adjacent one were purchased by the Amsterdam-based foundation. It opened as a museum (the Anne Frank House) on 3 May 1960 and is still in operation.[28]
The rest of his life, Otto Frank dedicated himself to the publication of the diary and the ideals his daughter had expressed in it.[29] Otto Frank died of lung cancer on 19 August 1980 in Birsfelden and his ashes were buried in the town's cemetery, where Elfriede would also be buried, in the same tomb, 18 years later.[30] He was survived by his stepdaughter Eva Schloss,[31] his sister Helene Frank (Edith Frank's sister-in-law) and her two children.[32]
Otto Frank designated the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel as his sole heir and legal successor, which means that the copyright on all Anne Frank's writings belongs to this organisation.[33]
Legal fights against Nazi sympathizers
In the years after the diaries were published, Otto Frank became embroiled in a series of legal battles with individuals who accused him or others of forging the manuscript; these cases would persist even after Frank's death in 1980. In 1959, Frank "lodged a criminal complaint on the grounds of libel, slander, defamation, maligning the memory of a deceased person and antisemitic utterances"[34] against two members of the right-wing Deutsche Reichspartei, Lothar Stielau and Heinrich Buddeberg, who had dismissed the diary as a work of fiction.
In 1976, Nazi sympathizer Ernst Römer accused Frank of editing and fabricating parts of Anne's diary. Frank filed a lawsuit against him. As with the previous case, the court determined that the diary was authentic. Römer demanded a second investigation, but on this occasion the Hamburg District Court engaged the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA).[35] It was claimed that parts of her diary were written with ballpoint pen ink, which did not exist prior to 1951. However, the BKA found that these parts were simply two scraps of paper not attached to the manuscript and clearly written in different handwriting. Some page numbers are presumed to have been added by Otto Frank when compiling the diary for publication. No diary entry is written in ballpoint ink.[36] Reporters were unable to question Frank, as he died around the time of the discovery.[35]
References
- ^ Carol Ann Lee, The Hidden Life of Otto Frank (Harper Collins, 2003)
- ^ a b Anne Frank Fonds/Otto Frank
- ^ a b "Photo Gallery: Treasures of the Anne Frank Family". Der Spiegel. Hamburg, Germany. 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Photo Gallery: Treasures of the Anne Frank Family". Der Spiegel. Hamburg, Germany. 29 February 2012.
- ^ a b Otto Frank at Anne Frank Guide. Retrieved 29 May 2014
- ISBN 978-0-7089-9174-9.
- ^ Carol Ann Lee, The Hidden Life of Otto Frank (Harper Collins, 2003), pp. 8–9
- ^ "Anne Frank". Anne Frank House. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "History of the foundation". Anne Frank Fonds. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "A Historic Evening With Anne Frank's Stepsister Eva Schloss". Northrop. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ISBN 9780590474474.
- ^ Müller 1999, p. 92.
- ^ a b Lee 2000, p. 40.
- ^ Müller 1999, pp. 128–130.
- ^ "Otto Frank". Anne Frank House. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Anne Frank family letters released". CNN.com. 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2007.
- ^ Patricia Cohen (15 February 2007). "In Old Files, Fading Hopes of Anne Frank's Family". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
- ^ "The people living in the Secret Annex". Anne Frank House. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Patricia Cohen (17 December 2016). "Anne Frank's arrest might not have stemmed from betrayal". CNN.com. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ "New Study Casts Doubt on Theory Anne Frank Was Betrayed". NBC News. Associated Press. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ "Photo Gallery: Treasures of the Anne Frank Family". Der Spiegel. Hamburg, Germany. 29 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019.
- ISBN 9789021423937.
- ^ Treasures From The Attic Page 202
- ^ Carvajal, Doreen (13 November 2015). "Anne Frank's Diary Gains 'Co-Author' in Copyright Move". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024.
- ^ "How did Anne's diary become so famous?". Anne Frank House. 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Goldsmith, Belinda (8 April 2013). "Anne Frank's step-sister highlights post-Holocaust traumas". Reuters. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ "Anne Frank Fonds/work". Anne Frank Fonds. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Anne Frank House celebrates 60th anniversary". Anne Frank House. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Otto Frank". Anne Frank Fonds. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ "Otto Frank, Father of Anne, Dead at 91. Daughter's Famed Diary Described Life in Hiding From the Nazis. Family Died in Camps". The New York Times. United Press International. 21 August 1980. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ Duerden, Nick (6 April 2013). "I've been haunted by Anne Frank's memory for so long". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
- ^ Butnick, Stephanie (23 March 2015). "Anne Frank's Last Living Relative Dies at 89". Tabletmag. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
- ^ "History of the foundation". Anne Frank Fonds. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ "The authenticity of the diary of Anne Frank". Anne Frank House. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Blaue paste" [Blue paste]. Der Spiegel. 5 October 1980. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ "Anne Frank House Ballpoint Pen". Anne Frank House. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
Books
- ISBN 0-553-29698-1
- Anne Frank Remembered, ISBN 0-671-66234-1
- The Hidden Life of Otto Frank, ISBN 0-670-91331-6
- Roses from the Earth: the biography of Anne Frank, ISBN 0-670-88140-6
- Love, Otto, Cara Wilson ISBN 0-8362-7032-0
- Eva's Story, ISBN 0-9523716-9-3
- Mirjam Pressler, Treasures From The Attic ISBN 1407231103
- The Last Secret of the Secret Annex: The Untold Story of Anne Frank, Her Silent Protector, and a Family Betrayal, Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen De Bruyn ISBN 9781982198213
External links
- Profile of Otto Frank's early life, written by the Anne Frank House
- BBC video interview with Otto Frank in 1976 (requires RealPlayer)
- Short article about Otto Frank's last years, with a photo taken in 1979
- Feature documentary about Otto's recently discovered letters, which reveal the plight of his family to find refuge from the Nazis in the US and elsewhere
- BBC video interview with Otto Frank in 1976 (requires RealPlayer)
- Otto Frank and Miep Gies in a video from the opening year of the Anne Frank House in 1960 (English subtitles)
- Oral testimony of Otto Frank, US Holocaust Museum
- Website Anne Frank Foundation Basel
- Horrible Nazi Torture of Otto Frank – German Occupation of Netherlands & Auschwitz – Holocaust – WW2
- Horrible Nazi Torture of Otto Frank in Auschwitz Concentration Camp – Anne Frank House – Part 2