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Georg Fränkel * 1869

Isestraße 23 (Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude)

1942 Theresienstadt
ermordet am 8.2.1943

further stumbling stones in Isestraße 23:
Hedwig Augenstern, Gracia Gretchen Bachrach, Ingeborg Mirjam Bachrach, Hermann Bachrach, Henriette Fränkel, Alice Maschke, Erich Wilhelm Maschke, Dr. Herbert Michaelis, Gertrud Seidl

Georg Fränkel, born 5 July 1869, deported 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, died there 8 Feb. 1943
Henriette Fränkel, née Löwenthal, born 6 Nov. 1877, deported 15 July 1942 to Theresienstadt, transferred 21 Sep. 1942 to Treblinka
Erich Wilhelm Maschke, born 27 Aug. 1900, deported 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Isestraße 23

Alice Maschke, née Fränkel, born 24 Feb. 1912, deported 8 Nov. 1941 to Minsk

Isestraße 23 and Bundesstraße 78 (Gymnasium Emilie-Wüstenfeld)

Georg Fränkel was a traveling salesman. He was originally from Breslau (Wroclaw). In 1905 he married Thekla Leipziger from Hamburg. In 1906 he listed himself as an independent businessman in the Hamburg commercial registry. He and his brother Arthur ran a sales agency together until Arthur’s death in 1925. Georg ran the firm alone afterwards, with one employee. He brokered fine textiles to large companies, including the Karstadt and Tietz department stores in Hamburg. He sold to firms outside of Hamburg as well, and possibly to firms in other countries. Former business partners, relatives and friends reported to the restitution board that the family had "no difficulties financing an elegant lifestyle.”

A daughter was born in 1905, followed by a son in 1909. The Fränkel family lived on Eppendorfer Baum, then moved to a "stately,” as it has been called, eight-room apartment on Schlüterstraße. They had a housemaid, and once a year vacationed for several weeks at a spa resort.

The Fränkel’s daughter Edith attended Dr. Lowenberg’s private school. Their son Edgar first attended secondary school in Eppendorf, and then at the Vor dem Holstentor secondary school. Both of the children played tennis at the Rothenbaum Tennis Club.

A doctor, who was a friend of the family, rented two rooms in their apartment for his residence and practice. The money from the rent helped finance the very high price of the apartment. In 1929, Georg Fränkel lost his entire fortune, due to the collapse of the Norddeutsche Wollkämmerei (Northern German Wool Combing Works). His business continued to do well, however, into the early 1930s. Edgar had also finished his commercial apprenticeship by that time and could contribute to the family’s income.

Thekla Fränkel died on 14 June 1935. The doctor who lived with the family had died one week before. Soon afterwards, Georg Fränkel moved to a five-and-a-half-room apartment at Isestraße 23, where he also had his office. His son Edgar lived with him, but Edith was already married and lived in Paris. She died there, aged 31, on 2 October 1936.

1935 was the last year in which Georg Fränkel’s income was still nearly what it had been in the years before. Thereafter it plummeted steadily. After 9 November 1938, it was nearly impossible for the Jewish sales representative to do any business. His son had lost his very good job in April of that year, and left for Paris in June. He was finally able to emigrate to the US is 1941, after a long wait and several complications.

In the late summer of 1939, Arthur Fränkel’s widow, Henriette Fränkel, and her daughter Alice moved in with her brother-in-law, after they had been forced to give up their apartment at Isestraße 36. Her son Ernst Fränkel was married, and was able to emigrate. Alice worked in a bank in Hamburg. She married Erich Maschke on 27 August 1938, who also moved into the Fränkel’s apartment.

Erich Maschke’s father, Willi Maschke, had died in 1920. The family must have been poor, as they received subsidies from the Jewish Community. Erich’s brothers Erwin, who was married to Else Bramman, and Ernst emigrated in 1938. Ernst went to Argentina, and his mother, Zerline Maschke, followed him there on 25 September 1941. She was 74 years old.

Six weeks later, on 8 November, Alice and Erich Maschke were deported to Minsk, where they died. Their dates of death are unknown.

Georg Fränkel and his sister-in-law Henriette were now the only ones remaining in the apartment on Isestraße. In early 1942 they were forced to move to Dillstraße 15. They spent their remaining few months in Hamburg here in a "Jew’s house.” Shortly after Georg Fränkel’s 73rd birthday, he and his sister-in-law were ordered to appear at the Schanzenstraße School on 15 July 1942. From there they were deported to Theresienstadt.

When they were moved to Dillstraße, most of their valuable furnishings had to be left behind in the Isestraße apartment. They were auctioned off. After his deportation the last of Georg Fränkel’s belongings that he was able to take with him to his room on Dillstraße were auctioned off by the Schlüter Auction Company, together with those of another resident in the building, for 974 Reichsmarks.

Two months after her arrival in Theresienstadt, Henriette Fränkel was transferred to Treblinka and murdered. Georg Fränkel died on 8 February 1943 in Theresienstadt.

Translator: Amy Lee

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

© Christa Fladhammer

Quellen: 1; 2; AfW 060309.
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