David Frankfurter
Encyclopedia
David Frankfurter was a Croatia
n Jew known for assassinating Swiss branch leader of the German
NSDAP Wilhelm Gustloff
in 1936 in Davos
, Switzerland.
, in Croatia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
) to a Jewish family, father Mavro and mother Rebekka, (née Pagel). His father was rabbi
in Daruvar and later the chief rabbi in Vinkovci
. The Frankfurter family moved to Vinkovci in 1914. Frankfurter was a sickly child and suffered an incurable periostitis
for which he underwent seven operations between the ages of six and twenty-three, but his doctors feared he would not live a normal lifespan. He graduated from elementary and later secondary school, in 1929, with good success. After completing his basic education
he began a study of medicine
, his father sent him to Germany
to study dentistry, first in Leipzig
and then in 1931 to the town of his ancestors Frankfurt
.
to continue his studies, and he settled in Bern in 1934. There, among the Germans and German speaking Swiss, the Nazi movement gained ground, led by Wilhelm Gustloff. Having become convinced of the danger posed by the Nazis, Frankfurter kept an eye on Gustloff, head of the Foreign Section of the Nazi party in Switzerland, (NSDAP) who ordered the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to be published in Switzerland. In 1936, unable to endure any longer, the torrent of insults, humiliations and attacks on the Jewish people, of whom he was very proud, Frankfurter bought a gun in Bern. Frankfurter found Gustloff's address easily, as it was listed in the phonebook and went to the Gustloff home; Gustloff's wife, Hedwig Gustloff, received him and showed him into the study, asking him to wait since her husband was on the telephone but would be with him presently.
When Gustloff, who was in the adjoining room, entered his office where Frankfurter was sitting opposite a picture of Hitler, Frankfurter presented himself as a Jew and then shot him five times in the head, neck and chest; he left the premises (according to Heinz Schön, while hearing Hedwig Gustloff's cries), went into the next house and asked to use the telephone. He rang the police and confessed to the murder. Immediately he went to the police station and calmly told the police what had happened. The assassination of Gustloff rang out through Europe, thanks to Nazi propaganda
directed by Joseph Goebbels
. But Adolf Hitler
prohibited retaliation against the Jews at the time, fearing an international boycott of the winter and summer Olympics
that were due to be held in Germany, through which he wanted to propagandise the size and power of the Nazi movement and also its ideology, on a world stage. Gustloff was made a Blutzeuge/Martyr of the Nazi
cause and his assassination later became part of the propaganda
serving as pretext for the 1938 Kristallnacht
pogrom
.
Although the assassination was well-received by the largely anti-Nazi population of the country, the Swiss government prosecuted the case strictly, owing to concerns about its status of neutrality. Frankfurter was convicted of the killing and sentenced to an eighteen-year prison term. When his father visited Frankfurter in prison, he is reported to have asked him "... who actually needed this?"
As World War II
came to a conclusion, Frankfurter applied for a pardon on February 27, 1945 which was granted on June 1, with condition that he leaves the country and pays restitution and court costs.
. He later became an employee of the Israeli Minister of Defence
and later an officer in the Israeli army. He lived and worked in several Israel cities until 1982.
canton government rescinded the order of no-entry in September 1969.
Frankfurter published two memoirs first one in German
called "Rache" ("Revange") and second one in English
called "The first fighter against Nazism".
Frankfurter's assassination of Gustloff is the subject of the 1975 Swiss movie Konfrontation which gives a good account of the events with much of the film devoted to the subsequent trial. The movie ends with actual footage of David Frankfurter living in Israel.
After World War II Frankfurter was elected an honorary citizen of Switzerland, in Israel he has been hailed as a hero, and after his death the streets of several cities and parks were named after him.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n Jew known for assassinating Swiss branch leader of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
NSDAP Wilhelm Gustloff
Wilhelm Gustloff
Wilhelm Gustloff was the German leader of the NSDAP party in Switzerland; he founded the Swiss branch of the party at Davos in 1932., which grouped Nazi party members who lived outside the German Reich....
in 1936 in Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, Switzerland.
Background, family and education
Frankfurter was born in DaruvarDaruvar
Daruvar is a town in central Croatia, population 9,815 , total municipality population 13,243 ....
, in Croatia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
) to a Jewish family, father Mavro and mother Rebekka, (née Pagel). His father was rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
in Daruvar and later the chief rabbi in Vinkovci
Vinkovci
Vinkovci is a city in Croatia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County. In the 2011 census, the total population of the city was 35,375, making it the largest town of the county...
. The Frankfurter family moved to Vinkovci in 1914. Frankfurter was a sickly child and suffered an incurable periostitis
Periostitis
Periostitis, also known as periostalgia, is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the periosteum, a layer of connective tissue that surrounds bone...
for which he underwent seven operations between the ages of six and twenty-three, but his doctors feared he would not live a normal lifespan. He graduated from elementary and later secondary school, in 1929, with good success. After completing his basic education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
he began a study of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, his father sent him to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to study dentistry, first in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and then in 1931 to the town of his ancestors Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
Shooting of Gustloff
While studying in Germany, he witnessed the Nazi advent to power and the initiation of anti-semitic measures. The rise of Nazism in Germany and the banning of Jews from German universities, compelled him to relocate to SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to continue his studies, and he settled in Bern in 1934. There, among the Germans and German speaking Swiss, the Nazi movement gained ground, led by Wilhelm Gustloff. Having become convinced of the danger posed by the Nazis, Frankfurter kept an eye on Gustloff, head of the Foreign Section of the Nazi party in Switzerland, (NSDAP) who ordered the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to be published in Switzerland. In 1936, unable to endure any longer, the torrent of insults, humiliations and attacks on the Jewish people, of whom he was very proud, Frankfurter bought a gun in Bern. Frankfurter found Gustloff's address easily, as it was listed in the phonebook and went to the Gustloff home; Gustloff's wife, Hedwig Gustloff, received him and showed him into the study, asking him to wait since her husband was on the telephone but would be with him presently.
When Gustloff, who was in the adjoining room, entered his office where Frankfurter was sitting opposite a picture of Hitler, Frankfurter presented himself as a Jew and then shot him five times in the head, neck and chest; he left the premises (according to Heinz Schön, while hearing Hedwig Gustloff's cries), went into the next house and asked to use the telephone. He rang the police and confessed to the murder. Immediately he went to the police station and calmly told the police what had happened. The assassination of Gustloff rang out through Europe, thanks to Nazi propaganda
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
directed by Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
. But Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
prohibited retaliation against the Jews at the time, fearing an international boycott of the winter and summer Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
that were due to be held in Germany, through which he wanted to propagandise the size and power of the Nazi movement and also its ideology, on a world stage. Gustloff was made a Blutzeuge/Martyr of the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
cause and his assassination later became part of the propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
serving as pretext for the 1938 Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
.
Although the assassination was well-received by the largely anti-Nazi population of the country, the Swiss government prosecuted the case strictly, owing to concerns about its status of neutrality. Frankfurter was convicted of the killing and sentenced to an eighteen-year prison term. When his father visited Frankfurter in prison, he is reported to have asked him "... who actually needed this?"
As World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
came to a conclusion, Frankfurter applied for a pardon on February 27, 1945 which was granted on June 1, with condition that he leaves the country and pays restitution and court costs.
Later years and emigration to Israel
After his release from prison, he was expelled from Switzerland and traveled to the British Mandate of Palestine. Frankfurter settled in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. He later became an employee of the Israeli Minister of Defence
Ministry of Defense (Israel)
The Ministry of Defence of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats...
and later an officer in the Israeli army. He lived and worked in several Israel cities until 1982.
Legacy
Several books were written about the Gustloff assassination. The GraubündenGraubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
canton government rescinded the order of no-entry in September 1969.
Frankfurter published two memoirs first one in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
called "Rache" ("Revange") and second one in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
called "The first fighter against Nazism".
Frankfurter's assassination of Gustloff is the subject of the 1975 Swiss movie Konfrontation which gives a good account of the events with much of the film devoted to the subsequent trial. The movie ends with actual footage of David Frankfurter living in Israel.
After World War II Frankfurter was elected an honorary citizen of Switzerland, in Israel he has been hailed as a hero, and after his death the streets of several cities and parks were named after him.
Further reading
- Günter GrassGünter GrassGünter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
's novel, where Frankfurter plays a large, symbolic part in the plot: CrabwalkCrabwalkCrabwalk, published in Germany in 2002 as Im Krebsgang, is a novel by Danzig-born German author Günter Grass. As in earlier works, Grass concerns himself with the effects of the past on the present; he interweaves various strands and combines fact and fiction...
, English 2003, ISBN 0-15-100764-0 - Peter Bollier, 4. Februar 1936: das Attentat auf Wilhelm Gustloff; in: Roland Aergerter (ed.), Politische Attentate des 20. Jahrhunderts, Zürich, NZZ Verlag, 1999
- Matthieu Gillabert, La propagande nazie en Suisse, L'affaire Gustloff 1936, Lausanne: Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2008
- Emil Ludwig; Peter O. Chotjewitz; Helmut Kreuzer (eds.), Der Mord in Davos, Herbstein: März, 1986
- Heinz Schön Die Gustloff - Katastrophe. Bericht eines Überlebenden über die größte Schiffskatastrophe im Zweiten Weltkrieg. (The Gustloff Catastrophe: Account of a Survivor of the Biggest Ship Disaster in the Second World War.) Motorbuch Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-613-01027-5
External links
- "Simon Wiesenthal Center" about David Frankfurter
- Konfrontation at the Internet Movie Database.