Childhood
Frankenthal was born into a family of prominent Jewish butchers in Schmallenberg, Province of Westphalia. In the Frankenthal home the Jewish religion was strictly followed mainly due to the Orthodox Jewish traditions of Frankenthal's mother, Adele Frankenthal. In the village of Schmallenberg there was a strong Christian, mainly Roman Catholic, presence.
After Jewish businesses began to be boycotted following the Nazi Party's seizure of power in 1933, the Frankenthal family was no longer able to properly provide themselves with basic necessities. Due to attempts to get around the new laws through extensive contacts in the German community, the Frankenthal family received several visits from the SA to investigate their ongoing commercial activities. The contacts themselves were also running a great risk in that the names of so-called "Traitors to the People and State" were published in the Nazi newspaper Rote Erde ("Red Earth"). To avoid being seen, the farmers preferred to trade at night; however, after the curfew for Jews was enacted, this was no longer possible.
Frankenthal's father, Max Frankenthal, believed that the Nazis would not harass his family to a large extent because he was a decorated soldier in the First World War. Max Frankenthal was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class for his service during the war, having reached the rank of sergeant, and was a member of the veterans' union after the war. He took part in the erection of the first war memorial for the fallen soldiers from Schmallenberg.
Read more about this topic: Hans Frankenthal
Famous quotes containing the word childhood:
“When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to suffer the experience of total loss. It was more than that. It was the period in which we suffered more total losses than in all the rest of our life put together.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“The fact remains that the human being in early childhood learns to consider one or the other aspect of bodily function as evil, shameful, or unsafe. There is not a culture which does not use a combination of these devils to develop, by way of counterpoint, its own style of faith, pride, certainty, and initiative.”
—Erik H. Erikson (1904–1994)
“The route through childhood is shaped by many forces, and it differs for each of us. Our biological inheritance, the temperament with which we are born, the care we receive, our family relationships, the place where we grow up, the schools we attend, the culture in which we participate, and the historical period in which we live—all these affect the paths we take through childhood and condition the remainder of our lives.”
—Robert H. Wozniak (20th century)