Jeanette and Kenneth Frank papers
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of a well preserved scrapbook with photographs and newspaper clippings, as well as some loose handwritten notes, a ship newsletter, fliers, immigration paperwork, various photographs and postcards, a metal, and photocopies and originals of newsletters.
Dates
- undated, 1946-1971
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.
Copyright
This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.
Biographical / Historical
This collection is from Jeanette (Lewin) and Kenneth Frank (Kaufman/Koifman Frankovski) who lived in St. Paul after emigrating from Europe. The album depicts a Yiddish theater troupe (Hazomir) based in Landsberg am Lech in Germany after World War II. Jeanette Frank was born in December 1920 in Lotz, Poland and passed away in 2003.
Kenneth was born in 1910 in Kolo, Poland and passed away in 1992. Kenneth and his wife Laytche, along with Laytche's brother Israel Gonshor, survived World War II by fleeing Poland to the Soviet Union. After the War ended, in 1946 Polish citizens were allowed to leave the Soviet Union and return to Poland. Laytche passed away in 1946 from cancer. Kenneth made his way to a German displaced persons camp where he was involved as the director of a Yiddish theater troupe. He eventually emgrated to the United States in 1951. On the General Muir ship manifest he was listed as Kaufman Frankowski, headed to St. Paul, and was listed as widowed. He became a citizen in June 1956, residing in St. Paul as a bookkeeper and member of Temple of Aaron Synagogue. It is unknown when Jeanette and Kenneth met and were married.
Jeanette Frank was born Eugenia Lewin on December 21, 1920 in Lodz, Poland. She is presumed to have survived the Holocaust in the Lodz ghetto. She lived in the displaced persons camp at Landsberg am Lech in Germany from 1945 to 1950 before immigrating to the United States.
Both Jeanette and Kenneth are buried at the Temple of Aaron Cemetery in Roseville, Minnesota.
Extent
0.25 Cubic Feet (1 tall half hollinger)
Language of Materials
Yiddish
English
German
Polish
Abstract
This collection consists of immigration paperwork and a scrapbook related to a Yiddish theater troupe in a German displaced persons camp after the end of World War II.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota from an unknown donor at an unknown time; assumed donor is Jeanette Lewin. Materials transferred to the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives in February 2022.
- Displaced persons Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Holocaust survivors Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jewish refugees Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jewish theater Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Jews -- Minnesota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Refugee camps -- Germany. Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Theater, Yiddish Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Jeanette and Kenneth Frank papers, undated, 1946-1971
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kate Dietrick
- Date
- April 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- July 2022: revised to include newly found materials
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Upper Midwest Jewish Archives Collecting Area
