Frankfurt am Main
Birthplace of Otto Frank and his daughters Anne and Margot Frank. The Frank family lived here until their departure in 1933.
In terms of population, Frankfurt am Main is the fifth largest city in Germany. Frankfurt was granted the status of Freie Reichsstadt in the Middle Ages. From 1816 to 1866, Frankfurt was the seat of the Deutsche Bund; after annexation, the city became part of Prussia. After World War I, the city developed rapidly, especially in cultural and urban planning terms.[1]
Otto Frank's maternal family had been resident in Frankfurt from the early sixteenth century.[2] Otto's father Michael Frank built up a banking business in the city. From the later 1920s, due to the presence of the stock exchange and many banks, Frankfurter Börsenplatz was a popular rally site for the emerging National Socialists. On 1 May 1932, there was a rally at which a harsh tone was struck against the Finanzjudentums.[3]
In late March 1933, the mayor decided to dismiss all Jews from municipal service.[4] In early April 1933, interventions by the new regime expelled 15 Jewish brokers from the Frankfurt stock exchange.[5] Frankfurt University stripped a large number of Jewish professors and private lecturers of teaching qualifications, including the obstetrician Marcel Traugott (who attended the births of Anne and Margot).[6]
More than 11,000 Jewish residents were expelled and/or murdered during the National Socialist period. At the end of World War II, air raids destroyed a very large part of the city.[1]
Footnotes
- a, b See: Wikipedia: Frankfurt am Main.
- ^ Jürgen Steen & Wolf von Wolzogen, Anne aus Frankfurt. Leben und Lebenswelt Anne Franks, Frankfurt am Main: Historisches Museum, 1990, p. 12.
- ^ Steen & von Wolzogen, Anne aus Frankfurt, p. 53.
- ^ Het Vaderland, 29 maart 1933, avondeditie.
- ^ Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 3 april 1933.
- ^ Klinische Wochenschrift, 14 oktober 1933.