Frankl Family escape from Prague

My father, Franta Frankl, was born in January 1899 in the small town of Louny in the province of Bohemia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This pretty town lies close to the edge of the České Středhoři (Central Bohemian Highlands). A lovely rural area of rolling hills and fertile soil.

His father Max, my grandfather, had served in the Austrian Army, married Frantiska (Fanny) Porges and opened a general store on the main town square. The name Max Frankl can be seen in this copy of a postcard from 1905.

They had four children, three daughters and one son. The shop provided a good living and the children went to Czech speaking primary school and then German speaking secondary school.  

They attended the local synagogue on a regular basis and participated in Jewish communal life.

The teenage children enjoyed plenty of activities around the swimming club and Franta was an excellent rower, winning several prizes. Here is a photo of the four of them relaxing on a summer afternoon.

Sadly, Max died of a heart attack in January 2015, just after my father’s 16th birthday. Rabbi Richard Feder conducted the funeral and these are a few of his words from his eulogy…

“And you dear, deeply sorrowful and mourning orphans, certainly never forget your father. You experienced not only his warm, profound love for you, not only his tender care for you, but also his virtues and his excellent qualities. Of course you will appreciate the beautiful legacy left for you in your good, honest name, which he earned through his tough struggle in life with his tireless activity.”

Rabbi Feder, eventually was sent to Terezin with the whole of his congregation from Kolin. He survived and was appointed Chief Rabbi of Bohemia and Moravia in the 1950s.

The 1st World War had already started and in 1917, Franta was called up to join the army. His army training took place In Terezin, in those days, it was really just a frontier town, constructed in the form of a series of large barrack buildings.

He joined a machine gun platoon and the family story is that they marched into Northern Italy, met up with some other Czech battalions, seized a train, which then drove back to Bohemia and that’s where their war ended.

With Franta away, Fanny decided to move to Prague to be closer to her Porges family. When he came home from the army, he joined the Porges family business and was trained in the trading of fur. He worked hard and diligently and was successful. He began to travel and went to Paris and London, where he established contact with the Hudson Bay company.

In 1930 he was at a tea dance in Marianske Lazne, a spa town where he was introduced to the nineteen year old Marta Haurowitz.

They fell in love and were married in Prague in 1931.  Marta’s parents, Julius and Maria Haurowitz lived in Mlada Boleslav, where Julius owned and ran a successful store.

Franta and Marta set up home in Prague and in March 1933, my sister Hana was born, followed by my brother George in October 1935. The doting grandparents were frequent visitors. Life in Prague at this time was very comfortable. Each year, Franta and Marta had photos taken of the two children. Hana and George, were blond-haired and blue-eyed and were dressed in traditional Czech costumes.

These photos, taken by a leading Prague photographer were given to the grandparents as birthday gifts. They were also on display in the photographer’s shop window in the main street in Prague.

The family story is that this photo was spotted by a German Officer later in 1939 and it was published in a local newspaper with the caption: “This is what typical Aryan children should look like!”

In recent years I have discovered that more than 100 of my family were murdered during the war years and in their memory, we have placed a column with a sculpture on its top made by my sister Hana.

The sculpture is of three cloaked faceless people standing for Denunciation; Despair; Defiance.

I believe that there are Frankl family relatives living in the Philadelphia area, particularly of Spencer Nelson Frankl and I would be very happy to hear from them.