From late March 1931 to late March 1933, the Franks rented a five-room apartment on the ground floor of 24 Ganghoferstrasse. Unlike the one at Marbachweg, the urban villa at 24 Ganghoferstrasse did not have a balcony. It did, however, have a backyard and an inner court where Margot and Anne could play. The house was smaller than 307 Marbachweg. The family had taken their old furniture and furnished their home with pretty steel-blue couches and oval side- tables. 32 The white building had a protruding façade with window shutters, and was situated in a suburb of Frankfurt am Main that was known as the poets’ district: many physicians, lawyers and architects resided here. It was one of the many urban villas in the street.
Ganghoferstrasse was within walking distance from Marbachweg in a north-western direction, on the other side of Eschersheimer Landstraße. Although they lived a mile away from Marbachweg, Anne and Margot kept in touch with some of their old friends from the area. They also quickly made friends in their new neighbourhood.
Margot attended the Ludwig Richter Schule (10 Hinter den Ulmen, Frankfurt am Main). 33 At this progressive school, Anne received Jewish religious education. 34 There used to be a green meadow across the street where the children would play on the sandy hills; now, however, these have been built over. Margot loved to pull Anne on a little sledge. In the (back)yard, the children would play with water in an old metal bucket. The Franks were a tolerant family, and Anne and Margot would play with children from various backgrounds: Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. Margot attended a friend’s Communion celebration. When the Franks celebrate Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish winter festival, neighbouring children would join in. Whenever Anne’s cousins, Stephan Elias (1921-1980, hereafter referred to as Stephan) and Bernhard ‘Buddy’ Elias (born in 1925, hereafter referred to as Buddy), visited, the children would be spoiled and the house would be full of toys.
Some defended the Jews that had fought in the German army during WWI. In 1932, the Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (National League of Jewish Front Soldiers) handed the German president Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorf und von Hindenburg (1847-1934, hereafter referred to as Hindenburg) the book Die jüdischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, der deutschen Marine und der deutschen Schutstruppen 1914-1918. Ein Gedenkbuch. (Jewish soldiers killed in action serving the German army, the German navy and the German defence troops 1914-1918. A memorial book.). 35 This, however, did not decrease anti-Semitism: ‘I [Otto] remember that even in 1932, SA troops would march by singing: ‘When Jewish blood splashes off the knife’. 36 Otto and Edith were burdened by financial problems and the antagonistic atmosphere; however, yet they wanted their children to 3 live a care-free life as much as possible. Their mother would regularly take Anne and Margot shopping in the Frankfurt am Main city centre. Edith would buy clothes for her children, who always looked impeccable. Edith once bought a beautiful, white fur coat for Anne and a pair of patent-leather shoes for Margot. After shopping, they often went to a café on Hauptwache in the centre of Frankfurt am Main. Edith would treat Anne and Margot to Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake). Edith and Otto must have noticed the anti-Semitic slogans chalked on the shop windows, indicating the doom at hand.
On 31 July 1932, fourteen million German citizens voted for Hitler, which made his national-socialist party, the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), the largest party in the new Reichstag parliament. 37 On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as the Reichskanzler (national chancellor), heralding the end of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933).
Otto about Hitler: ‘We [Otto and Edith] were sitting around the table listening to the radio. Then came the news that Hitler had become Chancellor. This was followed by a report of the SA torch lit procession in Berlin and we could hear the screaming and cheering. Hitler ended his speech with the words, “Just give me four years.” Our host then said enthusiastically: “Let’s see what that man can do!” I was speechless, my wife stunned.’ 38 On 13 March 1933, the Nazis celebrated their victory in the city hall (Römer) at Römerberg. Swastika flags waved on the porch. Following the takeover by the Nazis, the Jewish mayor, Ludwig Landmann (1868-1945), fled to Berlin and the Nazis instated their own front man. In Anne’s times, Römerberg was the city’s central square, with medieval buildings and a city hall. Hitler eliminated his opponents and outlawed the Jews.
Soon after the takeover, the SA (Sturmabteilung, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party) barricaded the entrances of Jewish businesses. Otto’s (Jewish) family bank was greatly affected by the national- socialist rule and, before long, Otto was unable to afford the rent of 24 Ganghoferstrasse. 39 He and his family temporarily moved in with his mother, Alice, on Mertonstrasse. 40 The urban villa was in the Westend 3 area, close to the synagogue. This was the house in which Otto grew up, and he lived there with his family from late March 1933 to July 1933.
Friedrich Krebs (1894-1961), Frankfurt’s new mayor, 41 coordinated the dismantling of Jewish shops and the removal of all Jewish doctors, lawyers, and any other Jewish entrepreneurs, from their posts. The leading Jewish-owned department store Tietz, 42 founded by Hermann Tietz (1837-1907), had branches in all major European cities but, by Nazi order, the Dresdner Bank appointed Georg Karg (1888-1972) as the new director of the enterprise, replacing the Jewish-owned Tietz by Hertie-Warenhausunternehmen. Jews were banned from these ‘Aryanised’ businesses.
On 1 April 1933, Nazi students and the SA occupied the University of Frankfurt. With the help of these students, Jewish professors and students were expelled from university.
The University of Frankfurt (Goethe-Universität, Senckenberganlage 31) 43 had been founded in 1914. Its campus was located near to Alice’s home on Mertonstrasse. ‘Shortly after Hitler seized power, the national-socialists expelled from the universities all Jewish and any opposing scientists and students. The University of Frankfurt was particularly adversely affected by these enforcements: teaching permissions of 100 Jewish scientists were withdrawn in the spring of 1933; one-third of all professors were forced to step down; another 16 teachers voluntarily left their posts out of political conviction; many students were expelled from the university and forced to give up their studies. Frankfurt’s internationally renowned, liberal university was turned into a ‘well-aligned’ educational institution.’ 44 The Nazis were very influential in the construction industry; project managers and contractors were eager to accept Nazi projects. In 1930, IG Farben (Interessen Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft) moved into a monumental building at 1 Grüneburgplatz, built in the style of the New Objectivity.
IG Farben was a large chemical concern that produced Zyklon B, which would be used by the Nazis to kill millions of Jews in Eastern European extermination camps ten years later.
The Nazis implemented restrictions that isolated Jews from society. The school board refuse to enrol Anne in pre-school because she was Jewish. Margot attended the Varrentrapp school, where she had to sit apart from her non-Jewish classmates; she was seven at the time. Many Jews left Frankfurt am Main after the Nazis had assumed power. The sculptor Benno Elkan (1877-1960), for example, emigrated from Frankfurt am Main to London. 45 After the war, Otto refers to this period in a letter: ‘When many of my fellow Germans changed into multitudes of nationalist, cruel, anti-Semitic criminals, I had to draw the obvious conclusion and, although I was very much aggrieved by it, I realised that Germany was not the only place in the world and left my country for good.’ 46 The family banking business continued to decline, and Otto wanted to prevent his property from falling into the hands of the Nazis. He also wanted to protect his wife and children from Hitler’s violence.
Otto aimed for Amsterdam because he had some important contacts there. In 1933, Otto’s brother-in-law Erich offered him the opportunity to set up a business in the Netherlands, which is why he did not want to leave for Switzerland, London or the United States.
Apparently, Otto did not want to send his children to Palestine either.