Emil Frank (businessman)

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Israel Emil Frank (born July 11, 1878 in Wittlich ; † June 21, 1954 in Utica ( New York )) was a German businessman and head of the Jewish community in Wittlich. He is the namesake of the Emil Frank Institute at the University of Trier and the Trier Theological Faculty , which opened on November 19, 1997, and which serves the meeting of Jews and non-Jews.

Origin and life

Emil Frank was a son of the Jewish couple Isaak Frank (1843–1912) and Rosalie Reiza Frank, nee. Müller (1849–1936) from Wittlich. After attending the higher boys' school in Wittlich and a grammar school in Trier, he learned the trade of a businessman in Mülheim an der Ruhr . In 1902 he entered the Wittlich textile department store founded by his grandfather and rabbi Abraham Israel Frank (1804–1872) in 1870 and took over this business in 1912. During the First World War he was a soldier of the German Empire and in 1920 he became head of the Jewish community in Wittlich. After he had been a member of the representative office of the approximately 250 Jewish community in Wittlich since 1925, Emil Frank, like his grandfather and father, was the first (and last) chairman from 1926 to 1936.

Emil Frank enjoyed a high reputation among the Wittlich population because of his business conduct, his friendliness, kindness and helpfulness. He was both a board member of the Wittlich volunteer fire brigade and a member of the Moselloge of the Jewish order B'nai B'rith (German "Sons of the Federation" ).

Escape from Germany

First departure in 1936

When Frank's textile business was "Aryanized" in the spring of 1936, his successor Matthias Wendel took it over with the announcement that it would reopen on March 5, 1936. Emil and his sister Clementine Frank-Weil (1875–1950) left Wittlich on June 5, 1936 and then lived for a short time in Koblenz . After he had previously received his VISA in Cologne on May 14, 1936 with the number PV 1089, which was necessary for the departure from Germany and the subsequent emigration to the United States , he left Rotterdam on June 20, 1936 with the passenger ship S. S. Statendam and arrived in New York on June 27, 1936 . His sister Clementine Frank-Weil traveled with him, who had also previously received a visa with the number PV 1090 in Cologne. Emil Frank had named his son-in-law, Paul Kahn, as a friend.

Second departure in 1941

Frank must have returned to Germany in the period from 1936 to 1941 without the circumstances, reasons, documents or a corresponding date being known. What is certain, however, is that the chief of police in Koblenz Emil Frank and his sister Clementine Frank-Weil issued a permit to travel once through Spain and Portugal to the United States on July 24, 1941 . The Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland) collected Jewish persons authorized to leave the country in Berlin and organized the journey with the Deutsche Reichsbahn , whereby it was made clear to the Franks that according to the relevant foreign exchange regulations, only 10 RM could be taken with them. They reached Spain on August 30, 1941 and Portugal on September 10, 1941. Although both had valid visas for the United States, they could not get direct ship passage there. Instead, they had to purchase a transit visa for Cuba for $ 600 each and finally reached Havana on March 2, 1942. The trip was financed by their nephew Alfred Cohn, who had deposited 2,800 dollars for both of them with a Koblenz bank before the trip began.

According to an identification card, Emil and Clementine Frank were transferred to the Tiscorna internment camp north of Havana on May 1, 1942 , which was officially declared an immigration camp and checked newcomers for their political views. The reason for this measure was probably the fact that the USA had introduced a quota system for refugees wishing to enter from 1938, according to which the number of emigrants could not exceed an annual maximum. The Cuban government apparently took advantage of this fact to demand funds from the refugees. According to a document from the Cuban emigration authorities, Clementine Frank had to pay 107 daily allowances for her stay in Tiscorna, which corresponded to a total of 107 pesos . On August 19, 1942, the siblings were given the opportunity to enter the United States indirectly, where they arrived in Miami on September 18, 1942 , to go from there to Utica, to the daughter of Emil Frank, Else (1908–1972) and her husband Paul Cahn (1900–1970) continued to travel, who ran a dermatologist's practice there.

Stay in the states

In 1947 the Franks were granted American citizenship and Emil Frank had to work as a peddler for lack of work and probably because of his advanced age, who sold shoelaces and shoe brushes on the doors with little knowledge of English . In 1957 Else Frank wrote the following words about her father as part of the German reparations:

“When my blessed father was forced to leave Wittlich by National Socialist measures, we sent him a visa for here and he arrived in [the] USA in 1942 penniless. Since we ourselves were not doing well at the time, my blessed father was forced to earn his own life and he peddled. His earnings were very minimal and when he got sick he stopped altogether. "

- Else Frank :

Although Frank had little money, he sent friends like the family of Wittlich mayor Matthias Joseph Mehs CARE packages . In 1948 he reported to Mehs about the reprisals that Frank had suffered during the Aryanization in Wittlich in 1936:

“I would never have sold my house if the GESTAPO government in Trier and the Wittlich district office hadn't forced me to sell my house to Wendel for a ridiculous price within 14 days, even though I was offered 25,000 RM from other parties. If Wendel hadn't been in the party and wasn't a Nazi, he would never have got the house. I was threatened with concentration camps and made so weary that I had to consent to them in order to save my life. The money from the house had to be deposited in a blocked account and I never saw any of it. It is the most pure fraud and there would be no more justice if this were not made good "

- Emil Frank :

Emil Frank was probably close friends with Mayor Mehs, so before he left for America he had entrusted him with a collection of synagogue files for safekeeping, and later both of them were linked by constant correspondence . Emil Frank died at the age of 75 on June 21, 1954 in Utica in the United States, a country in which he had never really felt well due to its ties to home. In Utica he was buried next to his sister Clementine, who had already died on June 18, 1950.

Movie

  • 1992: "It was a piece of his heart" - The story of a closet and its Jewish owner by Ursula Junk (1940–2005) and Gert Monheim .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ State working group of memorials and memorial initiatives during the Nazi era in Rhineland-Palatinate, Emil Frank Institute. In: lagrlp.de. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Emil Frank Institute at the University of Trier and at the Trier Theological Faculty. In: emil-frank-institut.de. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  3. ^ Emil Frank Institute at the University of Trier and at the Trier Theological Faculty. In: Kulturland.rlp.de. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  4. ^ Synagogue Wittlich near Alemannia Judaica
  5. ↑ Information on the Wittlich Synagogue on the website of the Wittlich Cultural Office
  6. ↑ a b Emil Frank, In: gw.geneanet.org
  7. ^ A b c d e f g Emil Frank, a citizen of Wittlich, escaped from Germany. In: ak-juedische-gemeinde-wittlich.de. Retrieved May 21, 2020 .
  8. ↑ It was a piece of his heart ... The story of a closet , by Ursula Junk, In: eifelzeitung.de
personal data
SURNAME Frank, Emil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Frank, Israel Emil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German businessman
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Wittlich
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1954
Place of death Utica (New York)