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Edith Frank - Holländer

Edith Frank-Holländer was the mother of Margot and Anne Frank.

Person

Polyfoto. Fotocollectie: Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam
  • Edith Frank - Holländer
  • Born on: Jan. 16, 1900
  • Born in: Aken, Duitsland
  • Died on: Jan. 6, 1945
  • Died in: Auschwitz-Birkenau

Edith Frank-Holländer, Amsterdam, mei 1935 of 1936

Polyfoto. Fotocollectie: Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam

Publiek domein

According to her birth certificate, Edith Holländer was born on 16 January 1900 in Aachen, at Heinrichsallee 50. She was a daughter of Abraham Holländer and Rosalie Holländer-Stern. Edith was the youngest of four children.[1] She had two brothers: Julius and Walter. Bettina, the only sister, died at the age of 16.

Edith attended the evangelical Viktoriaschule at Warmweiherstrasse in her birthplace. In 1916 she took her school diploma. She was a sporty girl and played tennis. Before her marriage she worked for some time in the family business. The company B. Holländer Rohproduktenhandlung, founded by her grandfather, traded in boilers, equipment and industrial plants as well as old iron, paper and rags. There was a branch in Cologne and from 1914 the company also had a wagon factory near Hanover, where Edith's brother Walter worked. On 12 May 1925 Edith married Otto Frank and moved to Frankfurt. Margot was born in 1926 and Anne followed in 1929. After she and Otto decided to leave Germany in 1933, Edith went to live with her mother in Aachen for a while. She travelled frequently to Amsterdam, where she looked for accommodation. In December 1933 she left for the Netherlands permanently.

The loss of her old life was hard for Edith. She corresponded regularly with Gertrud Naumann, a girl who had lived next door to her in Frankfurt, and otherwise focused on her family. From September 1938 she and Otto tried to bring her mother to the Netherlands. Shortly after Kristallnacht the Ministry of Justice gave permission for this. Edith's brothers Walter and Julius managed to emigrate to America. After the arrest on 4 August 1944, Edith went via Westerbork to Auschwitz. At first she was with her daughters, but after about eight weeks they were sent on to Bergen-Belsen. Edith suffered greatly from this. Little is known about her further fate, but a friend saw her later in a sick bay. She had a high fever and was totally exhausted due to lack of food and illness. She died a few days later at the age of 44.[2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Anne Frank Stichting, Anne Frank Collectie, reg. code A_EFrank_I_001: Standesamt Aachen I, Geburterbuch, register A II nr. 211: Geburtsurkunde Edith Holländer (kopie).
  2. ^ Literature: Dineke Stam, 'Who was Edith Frank-Holländer?, in: Anne Frank Magazine 1999, p. 52-55; Aukje Vergeest, Anne Frank in the Secret Annexe: who was who?, Amsterdam: Anne Frank House, 2015.