• Birth Name: Otto Heinrich “Pim” Frank

• Date of Birth: May 12,1889

• Date of Death: August 19,1980

• Spouses: Edith Frank (1925-1945), Elfriede Geiringer (1953-1980)

• Quote: “To build up a future, you have to know the past.”

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Have you ever heard of Anne Frank? The little, intelligent Jewish girl that wrote in her diary whilst  she hid from Nazi’s with her family during the Holocaust. Well, you wouldn’t know about this incredible little girl and her story if it wasn’t for her father, Otto Frank. Otto Frank was a Jewish businessman that was born into a wealthy family. His parents were Alice Betty and Michael Frank. He was the cousin of a famous furniture designer named Jean-Michael Frank. He married  Edith Hollander on May 12, 1925, his 36th birthday. They had Margot Frank on February 16, 1926 and Anne Frank on June 12, 1929.

 Otto Frank actually fought in the first World War for the Imperial German Army in August 1915. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1917. In 1933 he started his company, Opekta. In 1941, Jews were forbidden to own businesses so Otto had Mr. Kleiman and Mr. Kugler act as the owners as he managed from the background. On July 6, 1942, Otto and his family went into hiding in the upper room of his business to avoid the concentration camps. A week later they were joined by the Val Pels family, and in November, Fritz Pfeffer joined. Two years later, on August 4, 1944, they were found and the Frank family was taken to Auschwitz where Otto was separated from his family. In 1945, Auschwitz was liberated and Otto found out that he was the only one to survive from his family.

Otto was later given his daughter Anne’s diary by his former secretary, Miep Gies. In 1947, he published her diary and titled it “The  Diary of a Young Girl.” So, when you think about the remarkable young girl Anne Frank and her diary that educated so many about being Jewish at that time, think of Otto Frank. Thanks to Otto Frank we get to see into the mind of his young daughter. The book went on to inspire a movie and play, and there are even museums that teach about her . Her legacy will live on for years because of her father, Otto Frank.