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Josef Fränkel

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Josef Fränkel
Born(1920-05-26)26 May 1920
Alwernia, Poland
Died31 January 1994(1994-01-31) (aged 73)
Darmstadt, Germany
OccupationEngineer

Josef Fränkel (26 May 1920 – 31 January 1994) was a Jewish engineer who, during the course of World War II, survived the Gross-Rosen concentration camp and went on to be a key figure in reestablishing the Jewish community in Darmstadt.

Biography

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Fränkel was born on 26 May 1920 in Alwernia, Poland.[1][2][3]

Fränkel would meet his future wife Johanna at Gross-Rosen concentration camp. He would see the inside of five separate camps before the end of World War II.[4][5]

Entering Darmstadt

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After the war Fränkel and his wife would attempt to immigrate to the United States, but would be denied admittance due to a lung condition he had developed. Instead the two of them would travel to Darmstadt, West Germany to study.[3][4][6] During his studies he would join the local Jewish Student Union while working on an engineering degree.[7]

Following the war Fränkel would found the Jewish community of Darmstadt, which he would chair until his death.[7][8] While serving in this role, he would receive the key to the new synagogue, which replaced the three that were destroyed by the Nazis, from the city's mayor in 1988.[9] He was a vocal advocate for modernizing the community, notably relating the difficulty of negotiating a balance between adopting modern practices while working to provide an alternative the orthodox structures people were more familiar with.[10]

Fränkel died on 31 January 1994 in Darmstadt, survived by his wife and two daughters.[7][8][11][12]

References

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  1. ^ "Jüdisches Leben in Südhessen nach 1945 - Darmstadt: She'erit Haplejta". www.hstad-online.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  2. ^ "Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek". portal.dnb.de. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  3. ^ a b Franz, Eckhart G. (1984). Juden als Darmstädter Bürger (in German). E. Roether. ISBN 978-3-7929-0139-7.
  4. ^ a b Ludwig, Astrid (2009-06-19). "Vom Leben in der zweiten Heimat". FrankfurterRundschau (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-14.
  5. ^ Jaeger, Stephan (2020-02-24). The Second World War in the Twenty-First-Century Museum: From Narrative, Memory, and Experience to Experientiality. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-066133-0.
  6. ^ Mandel, Marc (2013-02-05). "Ein Koffer voller Geschichten". Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  7. ^ a b c Ludwig, Astrid (2018-04-09). "Trauer um Johanna Fränkel". Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  8. ^ a b American Jewish Year Book, 1996. VNR AG. 1995. ISBN 978-0-87495-110-3.
  9. ^ "Zeitgeschichte in Hessen - Daten · Fakten · Hintergründe : Erweiterte Suche : LAGIS Hessen". www.lagis-hessen.de (in German). November 1988. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  10. ^ El, Eugen (2021-07-29). ""Einer, der für alle passt"". Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  11. ^ "Fränkel, Josef". www.darmstadt-stadtlexikon.de. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  12. ^ American Jewish Year Book, 1996. Vol. 96. VNR AG. 1995. ISBN 978-0-87495-110-3.
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