Eva Frank

Badge with a picture of Eva Frank

Eva Frank (* October 1754 as Rachel ben Lev or Lebowicz in Nikopol ; † September 7, 1816 in Offenbach am Main ) was the only woman who was considered a Jewish Messiah . She was at the head of the Frankist sect in Offenbach am Main. In Frankism it was considered a manifestation of the Shechina .

Sabbatianism and Frankism - Shekhina

The Jewish movement of Frankism has its roots in Sabbatianism . The Ottoman Jew Shabbtai Zvi (1626 - 1676) began to portray himself as the messiah of the Jewish religious community as early as 1648, but was only successful in 1665 when the Kabbalist Nathan von Gaza joined Shabbtai Zvi. The religious movement rejected the Talmud and the laws described in it, which is why its members were often called contratalmudists. They built their teachings on a reinterpretation of the teachings of Kabbalah . Sabbatianism spread rapidly in Eastern Europe and came into conflict with the teachings of the rabbis , which resulted in a number of disputes between representatives of Sabbatianism and those of the classical view of the Talmud. After Shabbtai Zvi's death, the dominance of the denomination became weaker, but the Dönme sect remained , especially in the Ottoman Empire , and carried on the Sabbatian teachings covertly.

Jakob Frank , Eva Frank's father, found the starting point of the Frankist faith in the Dönme sect . He presented himself as the new messiah of the Sabbatian sect and direct successor to Shabbtai Zvi. He led his followers from the Ottoman Empire to Poland, the Czech Republic and finally to Germany. Small Frankist communities formed across Europe. The image of the Shekhina plays an essential role in Frankism. In Judaism, it is regarded as the spirit of God who is expressed through it in the actual world. Frankism rejects the term Shekhina and uses the Christian term of the virgin instead . Jakob Frank explained that the Shechina manifested itself in different people in the course of history and, despite several attempts, could never be clearly identified. Now it is clear, however, that Eva Frank is playing the role of the Shechina, the female messiah. The image of the Frankist virgin is essentially based on the veneration of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa . This should lead to the Shekhina, which is why the baptism of the followers of Frankism was a necessary part on the way to her. From when Jakob Frank explicitly referred to his daughter Eva as Shechina, however, is unclear and is not clear from the sources. It is possible that Eva Frank also referred to herself as Shechina after Jacob's death.

Life

childhood

Eva Frank was born as Rachel in October 1754 as the daughter of Chana and Jakob ben Lev (also Lebowicz, after her baptism Frank) in Nikopol in the Ottoman Empire. She was only given the name Eva after her baptism. She spent the first months of her life in the social environment of the Dönme sect, which dates back to Schabbatai Zvi. In December 1755 she traveled to Poland with her mother to meet Jakob Frank, who had left shortly after Eva's birth. However, he was arrested in June 1756 because of the Frankist rituals, which were not tolerated by Christian and traditional Jewish institutions. The role of Eva Frank as the future leader of the Frankists, or at least as a person who embodies religious ideas, should have been clear to Jakob Frank relatively early on. For example, it is said that Jacob referred to her as "Queen" in 1758 and understood her as the manifestation of the rabbinical description of Esther .

In Poland

The next recorded note concerning Eva Frank relates to March 1, 1760, the date of her baptism. At that time Eva Frank was probably living with her mother in Lviv and Warsaw . In 1762 they moved to the Polish nobleman Katharina Kossakowski . With her as godmother , Chana and Eva Frank were baptized a second time on July 2, 1763. In 1763 Chana and Eva were allowed to move in with Jakob Frank, who had been imprisoned in the Czestochowa Monastery since February 26, 1760 , after they had worked towards it since the beginning of their stay in Poland, among other things by sending letters of petition to the nunciature . During her stay, Chana Frank died on February 25, 1769. Jakob Frank asked Eva to continue living with him in the monastery. Contrary to social conventions, Jakob did not allow Eva to marry. Even at the time of Jacob's imprisonment, Eva was likely to have played an essential role in the Frankist sect and to have partially represented Jakob Frank as its leader. During his imprisonment, Jacob had small portraits of Eva made based on the Adoration of Mary and the Black Madonna in the Czestochowa Monastery, which are now kept in the Israeli National Library in Jerusalem. During Jacob's lifetime, however, he did not refer to Eva as Shechina, he saw it as his task to free the "virgin" referred to by the Madonna of Czestochowa.

In 1772 the monastery was captured by the Russian army, after which Eva was able to leave it with her father in 1773. It is not known whether they were deliberately released or had escaped the conquest during the turmoil. Eva spent a few days in a Dominican monastery in Góry while Jacob visited his sons in Warsaw. The stay was only short, however, because Eva traveled to Brno with her father in March 1773 . It is nevertheless noteworthy that Jakob apparently decided at this point to make Eva his successor, since she had always been with him during his imprisonment in Czestochowa, in contrast to his sons. It is unclear why Eva did not accompany her father to Warsaw to see her brothers. This fact serves, among other things, as the basis for speculations that Eva Frank's mother did not see in Chana Frank. These speculations were later to be encouraged by Jakob and especially Eva herself.

In Vienna and Brno

In Brno, Eva and Jakob first lived with their entourage in the “Zum Blaue Löwen” pub before moving to Neugasse in the summer. Frank's cousin Schöndl (Katharina) Dobruska also lived there. Jacob's hope to gain access to the imperial court through Eva or with her help in order to ensure that the Frankists are given their own piece of land is likely to have played an important role in the decision in favor of Brno . There Eva also learned “the foreign languages”, probably German and French, which were the prerequisites for moving into higher circles of society. In Brno Jakob had similar portraits made of Eva as in Czestochowa, they too were based on the icon of Mary. These were sent to Frankist communities in Warsaw and Hamburg .

Role at the imperial court

Eva is said to have had relationships with several higher people, including rumors with Jospeh II , who is said to have received her several times in Laxenburg Castle . Jakob could have planned to claim a piece of the Ottoman Empire for himself, which is why he sought contact with the emperor, but this contact is not documented. Talks with the emperor are only mentioned in the Frankist chronicle ; they do not appear in the minutes of the Viennese imperial court. The fact is that Jakob traveled to Vienna several times with Eva, she “went for a walk in the Prater and swam in the Danube . They prayed in St. Stephen's Cathedral and in the Schottenkirche ”. Jakob Frank introduced his daughter to higher circles in Vienna in the hope of future power and influence, probably also to finance the court in Brno. Jacob may have passed Eva off as the illegitimate daughter of Tsarina Elisabeth I , but that is also not proven. It seems very likely that Eva had acquaintances with high personalities in Viennese society and had access to politically important circles. Eva is also said to have known the Russian prince Tsar Paul I. He is said to have visited her with Joseph II in Brno.

In 1784, however, there was a falling out with Joseph II, who asked Jacob to repay his debts, which had been taken on in order to maintain the court in Brno. This meant that the Frankists had to leave Brno, but it is also an indication of actual contact between Joseph II and the Frank family.

In Offenbach

Eva then moved with her father and the followers of the sect to Offenbach am Main , since the prince of the city, Wolfgang Ernst von Ysenburg , made the Isenburg Palace available to them there . It is not known whether the Frankists only rented or bought the castle. Some sources report an offer of 3 million guilders made by the Ysenburg prince of the sect. Before they could move into Offenbach between 1786 and 1788, the Frankists had to spend the time renovating the castle in Oberrad . The life of the sect was the subject of much speculation among Offenbach's residents. The magazine " Die Gartenlaube ", for example, or the author AG Schenck-Rinck mystified the farm with exaggerated and fantastic reporting. This mystification also made it possible that the "Christian Jews", although very clearly demarcated from the world around them, presented themselves very glamorous on certain occasions. The Sunday walk to the church was like a procession. In their seclusion, however, the members of the sect could not have lacked anything. The court maintained, for example, its own armed guard.

As a religious leader

Jakob Frank died on December 10, 1791. Since the mortality of Jakob Frank was considered controversial among the Frankists or was denied, Eva and her brothers Rochus and Joseph first tried to deny his death by calling themselves Jakob when visiting the church disguised. After the company failed, unsurprisingly, Eva succeeded Jacob against Moses Dobruschki , one of the most influential Frankists, who was a successful entrepreneur and was later even ennobled. From now on Eve was referred to as "Holy Mistress" or "Holy Mother". Jacob's former room remained untouched and was used for prayer.

In order to secure itself financially, the sect now gave sponsorships to potential lenders. In addition, the court took on more and more debts, especially with Frankfurt Jews. The newcomers who went to Offenbach in the service of Eva Frank or the sect had to bring gifts of considerable value. If one believes the report of a Frankist living at court at the time, Eva Frank's authority as a “saint” began to decline around 1800 due to the gifts she requested. Their value often corresponded to the entire wealth of the bearer. So take all means from the newcomers that would allow them to leave the court. However, it remains generally unclear to what extent members were able to leave the sect, there is also talk of the punishment of a member who wanted to flee, as well as reports on an escape that had to take place unnoticed. Despite the precarious financial situation, the Frankist community still exerted a strong religious influence.

According to other sources, after the death of Jakob Frank and the accompanying departure of many sect members, the Frankists moved to a smaller house in Offenbach called "To the Three Sisters", which was, however, too small to accommodate all the people described above . There was no space for military exercises either.

From 1800 the Frankist court began to shrink considerably. Eva Frank posed as Eva Romanowa, a member of the Tsarist family, and claimed that the Tsar would settle the court's high debts. In January 1800 she announced: "On the highest orders of his Imperial Russian Majesty, our beloved brother will go to Petersburg on July 1st and return after a six-month stay and, under military escort, bring such a proper transport of money with him, which will satisfy all our creditors" . Tsar Alexander I actually visited the Frankists in Offenbach in 1813, presumably more out of religious interest, because he did not pay the debts, but no new loans had to be taken out after his visit to Offenbach, so the actual role of the Russian tsarist family remains unclear. The fact that Eva was raised by a noble family while her father was imprisoned in Poland also gives rise to speculation about her "true" origins.

Red letters

The so-called "Red Letters" were one of the last propaganda campaigns of the Frankist sect in order to generate new members and thus new sources of income. The goal of connecting as many people as possible to the Frankists was therefore largely due to financial reasons: the highly indebted Offenbacher Hof was dependent on donations from the faithful. The letters were written in red ink, which is a symbol of the Edomite religion , since " Edom " was equated with "Adom", ie "red". Two of the three letters were still written by Jakob Frank. They were sent to a wide variety of Jewish communities between 1798 and 1800 and contained apocalyptic scenarios designed to induce Jews to appear to embrace Christianity in order to ultimately triumph over it. They also used the developments of the French Revolution as an opportunity to prophesy an impending doom. The letters mainly consisted of quotations from the Bible , The Zohar, and other works. It should be noted here that the letters are the product of a sect that rejects Judaism and Christianity, and by no means a " Jewish world conspiracy " as which they have been partially interpreted. Sending the letters to Jewish communities was made more difficult because they were viewed as " Jacobean propaganda " and counter-revolutionary monarchies such as Austria and Hungary tried to prevent their spread. Since Poland was getting closer to Napoleon , this made the community in Offenbach fundamentally suspicious.

death

Eva Frank died on September 7, 1816. The remaining sect members had to leave the property due to debts of around 5 million guilders, which was then auctioned off. After Eva's death, the sect broke up, Frankist writings, pictures and other relics that were in the possession of Frankist families were collected by messengers. The graves of Jakob and Eva Frank remained a place of pilgrimage for years after their death . Similar to her father Jakob, the legend was also spun here that Eva did not actually die, but was able to escape with the help of an Offenbach official.

Literary reception

Eva Frank was received by Olga Tokarczuck , winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, in Jacob's books , which were published in 2019. The work is primarily about the life of Jakob Frank, which has been processed literarily. Eva Frank also plays an essential role in this, and her importance increases, especially towards the end. In those parts in which the stay of the Frankists in Vienna and Offenbach is described, she can be seen as a main character. Apart from this work, there is little literary reception, especially some diaries or eyewitness reports from former sect members.

iconography

The production of pictures and brooches depicting Eva Frank was first documented at the time of Jakob Frank's imprisonment in the Czestochowa monastery . The portrait of the black Madonna there is likely to have inspired Frank, in addition to his religious teachings, to a similar representation of Eva Frank. Apart from the brooches that were produced there and later in Brno, no pictures or representations of Eva Frank have survived.

literature

• Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the Frankist movement). Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965.
• Klaus Davidowicz: Between Prophecy and Heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-205-77273-3 .
• Klaus Davidowicz: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto. Long. Frankfurt am Main et al. 1998. ISBN 3-631-32871-0 .
• Max Dienemann : As a page with Eva Frank. In: Alt-Offenbach sheets of the Offenbach History Association. Offenbach History Association. Offenbach 1931, pp. 66-71.
• Pawel Maciejko: The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA 2011, ISBN 9780812243154 .
• Tamara Or: masculinity, femininity, physicality and sexuality in Judaism. In: Christina Braun, Micha Brumlik (Ed.): Handbook of Jewish Studies. Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-8385-8712-7 .
• Olga Tokarczuk: The Jacob Books. Kampa. Zurich, 2019, ISBN 978-3-311-10014-0 .

Web links

• Eva Frank biography in the Jewish Virtual Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tamara Or: Handbook of Jewish Studies . In: Christina Braun, Micha Brumlik (Ed.): Handbook of Jewish Studies . Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-8385-8712-7 , p. 261 .
2. ^ Maciejko, Pawel: The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA 2011, p. 4.
3. ↑ Joseph Dan: The Kabbalah . 2nd Edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2012, p. 124-135 .
4. ^ Jacob M. Landau: The Dönmes: Crypto-Jews under Turkish Rule. In: Jewish Political Studies Review. 19, No. 1–2, spring 2007.
5. ↑ Mechelle Berger: Shekinah. In: Jewish General. October 22, 2013, accessed June 17, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Words of the Lord. Ms Krakow 6969, Zbiór…, § 725.
7. ↑ Words of Mr. Kraushar § 996, Volume 1, p. 424.
8. ↑ Eva Frank. In: .jewish virtual library. 2008, accessed July 7, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 19 .
10. ↑ Eva Frank. In: jewish virtual library. Retrieved May 18, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Davidowitz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 200 .
12. ↑ Davidowitz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 242 .
13. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 80 .
14. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 77-80 .
15. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 82 .
16. ↑ Eva Frank. In: jewish virtual library. Retrieved May 18, 2020 . 
17. ^ Singer, Saul J .: The false messiahship of eva frank. In: jewish press. August 29, 2014, accessed May 18, 2020 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b} Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 111 .
19. ↑ Davidowicz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 256-257 .
20. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 88-91 .
21. ↑ Davidowicz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 258 .
22. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 95 .
23. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 94-97 .
24. ↑ Davidowicz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 273 .
25. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 94 .
26. ↑ Davidowicz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 275 .
27. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 22 .
28. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 94-97 .
29. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 24 .
30. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 127 .
31. ↑ 1788: A Messiah in Isenburg Castle - the Frankists in Offenbach. Retrieved May 18, 2020 . 
32. ↑ Davidowicz, Klaus S .: Jakob Frank, the messiah from the ghetto . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 284 .
33. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 128 .
34. ^ Dienemann, Max: As a page with Eva Frank . In: Alt Offenbach: sheets of the Offenbach history association . S. 68 .
35. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 135 f .
36. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 30 .
37. ^ Singer, Saul J .: The false messiahship of eva frank. In: jewish press. August 29, 2014, accessed May 18, 2020 . 
38. ^ Dienemann, Max: As a page with Eva Frank . In: Alt-Offenbach sheets of the Offenbach History Association . S. 69 .
39. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 135 f .
40. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 31 .
41. ^ Dienemann, Max: As a page with Eva Frank . In: Alt-Offenbach sheets of the Offenbach History Association . S. 67-71 .
42. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 31 .
43. ↑ Doctor Jan: Frankism: The History of Jacob Frank or Frank of the ITR . In: Polonsky, Antony; Wegrzynek, Hanna; Zbikowski, Andrzej (Ed.): New Directions in the History of the Jews in the Polish Lands . Academic Studies Press, Boston 2018, pp. 277 f .
44. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 149 .
45. ↑ 1788: A Messiah in Isenburg Castle - The "Frankists" in Offenbach. Retrieved May 18, 2020 . 
46. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 149 .
47. ↑ Hoensch, Jörg K .: The "Polackenfürst von Offenbach". Jakob Jozef Frank and his sect of the Frankists. in Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 1.1.1990 p. 237
48. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 41 .
49. ^ Singer, Saul J .: the false messiahship of eva frank. In: jewish press. August 29, 2014, accessed May 18, 2020 . 
50. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 32 .
51. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 32 .
52. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2004, pp. 136-138 .
53. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 43 .
54. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965.
55. ↑ Klaus Davidowicz: Between prophecy and heresy. Jakob Frank's life and teachings . Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2004, p. 150-153 .
56. ^ Paul Arnsberg: From Podolia to Offenbach. The Jewish Salvation Army of Jakob Frank (on the history of the frakist movement) . Ed .: Offenbach History Association. Offenbach am Main 1965, p. 48 .
57. ^ Petz, Ingo: "The Jacob Books": New novel by Nobel Prize winner Tokarczuk. November 17, 2014, accessed June 23, 2020 .