Register of the Ludwig E. Frank papers
Finding aid prepared by Theresa Berger
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2008, 2016
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Ludwig E. Frank papers
Date (inclusive): 1912-2003
Collection Number: 96054
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes
(4.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Writings, interview transcript, correspondence, reports, identification documents, printed matter, photographs, and videocassette
relating to the persecution of Jews in Japan during World War II. Includes papers of other Frank family members.
Creator:
Frank, Ludwig E., 1917-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1996.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Ludwig E. Frank papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
German resident of Japan during World War II.
Ludwig (Lou) E. Frank was a German resident of Japan during World War II. The Frank family moved to Japan when Frank's father
Louis Hugo Frank, born in Leipzig, Germany in 1886 received a teaching position in Japan. The Franks lived comfortably in
Japan with their two sons, Hugo C. Frank and Ludwig (Lou) E. Frank until the early 1940s, when racial and ethnic persecution
from Nazi Germany made its way into Japan. In April, 1943, after 17 years of teaching, Dr. Frank was discharged from his teaching
position at Yamanashi Technical College on the grounds of being a German Jew. In May, 1944, Hugo C. Frank, Hugo's wife, and
their daughter were interned in Gora, Hakone, while the rest of the Frank family was interned in Karuizawa. Despite the eventual
release of his family, Hugo was arrested by the Yakohama Military Police on charges of espionage in July, 1944. On June 30,
1945, Hugo died in prison of malnutrition. At the end of the war, the Frank family immigrated to the United States, where
Dr. Frank obtained a teaching position at Arkansas Technical University. Dr. Frank died in San Francisco, California in 1973.
In 1986 August, a memorial was dedicated to Dr. Frank at the Faculty of Engineering at Yamanashi University in Japan, with
Lou Frank speaking at the memorial's dedication. From 1987-1989, the Frank family and one Makoto Honobe participated in the
process of clarification of the false charges against Hugo C. Frank. The process ultimately ended with a letter of apology
to the Frank family, and in 1993, a centenary book of Dr. Louis Hugo Frank, detailing the Frank family's life in Japan, as
well as the investigation into the death of Hugo C. Frank, was distributed. Lou E. Frank died in San Francisco in 2007.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Ludwig E. Frank papers consist of writings, an interview transcript, correspondence, reports, identification documents,
printed matter, photographs, and a VHS videocassette relating to the persecution of Jews in Japan during World War II. The
Frank family lived in Japan from 1913 to approximately 1947. In early 1944, Hugo C. Frank, eldest son of Dr. Louis Hugo Frank
and brother of Ludwig (Lou) E. Frank, was accused of being an Allied spy and imprisoned. Hugo C. Frank died in prison in Yokohama
in 1945. Much of the collection chronicles an investigation of and subsequent report on Hugo's death by either an acquaintance
or investigator hired by Ludwig Frank named Makoto Honobe. A general history of the Frank family in Japan, followed by their
move to the United States in the post-World War II period is also included.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan
Video tapes
World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews
Germans -- Japan
Jews -- Japan
Biographical File
1912-1954, undated
box 1, folder 1-2
Yearbooks, journals, records, and pay stubs belonging to the Frank family
1912-1954, undated
Correspondence
1945-1958, 1992-1993
box 1, folder 3
General,
1945, 1946, undated
box 1, folder 4
Frank, Louis C.
1956-1958
Speeches and Writings
1986, 1994, 1996
box 1, folder 6
"Speech at Unveiling Ceremony of Dr. Hugo C. Frank's Monument," Kofu, Japan,
1986 August 8
box 1, folder 7
"Interview of Lou Frank by Judith Antelman,"
1994 November 1
box 1, folder 8
"Living Conditions in Wartime Japan,"
Points East,
1996 November
Writings by Others
1916, 1993, undated
Frank, Louis Hugo
1916, undated
box 1, folder 9
"Algebraic Relations for Property-Composition Curves of Binary Mixture," dissertation,
Arkansas Academy of Science
undated
box 1, folder 9
"Experiments," notebook, in German,
1916
box 2, folder 1-5
The Centenary Book of Dr. Louis Hugo Frank
1993 May
box 3
The Centenary Book of Dr. Louis Hugo Frank
1993 May
Photographs,
1913-1933, undated
box 2, folder 6
Louis C. Frank and wife, 2 photographic prints,
undated
box 4
Photograph album of the Frank family in Japan
1913-1922
box 4
Photograph album of the Frank family in Japan
1918-1933
box 2, folder 7
Videorecordings
undated
Scope and Contents
Features a brief series of clips from the dedication of a memorial to Dr. Louis C. Frank in Japan, as well as interview clips.
The interview clips are mostly in Japanese, with some English.
Access
Use copy reference number: 96054_v_0008569
Printed Matter
1957, 1959
box 2, folder 8
Newspaper clippings
1957, 1959
box 5
Material not yet described
box 6
Material not yet described
box 7
Material not yet described
box 8
Material not yet described
Incremental materials
Processing Information
These incremental materials were processed to a baseline standard that employs an accession inventory for description. An
accession inventory is a basic description of an archival collection with no attempt at intellectual arrangement. The depth
of description varies depending on the format of the materials and the amount of pre-existing description received when the
materials were acquired.
box 9
1926-2003
Scope and Contents
This box contains printed matter, a draft, and a letter. The following is a list of original enclosure titles contained in
the box: "Fisher family album," "The Kohnstamm and Allied Families," "Charles Fisher," "Ernest Fisher," "Amy Fisher," "Florence
Fisher," "George Fisher".