Register of the Ludwig E. Frank papers
Finding aid prepared by Theresa Berger
Hoover Institution Archives
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA, 94305-6010
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
© 2008, 2016
Title: Ludwig E. Frank papers
Date (inclusive): 1912-1996
Collection Number: 96054
Contributing Institution:
Hoover Institution Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes
(4.2 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.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Creator:
Frank, Ludwig E., 1917-
Access
Collection is open for research.
Use copies of some video recordings in this collection are available for immediate access. To access other video recordings
please contact the Archives at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of
the material you wish to see or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
Existing use copies, which are noted in the container list, can be accessed at any time.
Publication Rights
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Ludwig E. Frank papers, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1996.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Biographical Note
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
Germans--Japan.
Jews--Japan.
World War, 1939-1945--Japan.
World War, 1939-1945--Jews.
Biographical File,
1912-1954, undated
Box/Folder 1 : 1-2
Yearbooks, journals, records, and pay stubs belonging to the Frank family,
1912-1954, undated
Correspondence,
1945-1958, 1992-1993
Box/Folder 1 : 3
General,
1945, 1946, undated
Box/Folder 1 : 4
Frank, Louis C.,
1956-1958
Box/Folder 1 : 5
Honobe, Makoto,
1992-1993
Speeches and Writings,
1986, 1994, 1996,
Box/Folder 1 : 6
"Speech at Unveiling Ceremony of Dr. Hugo C. Frank's Monument," Kofu, Japan,
1986 August 8
Box/Folder 1 : 7
"Interview of Lou Frank by Judith Antelman,"
1994 November 1
Box/Folder 1 : 8
"Living Conditions in Wartime Japan,"
Points East,
1996 November
Writings by Others,
1916, 1993, undated
Frank, Louis Hugo,
1916, undated
Box/Folder 1 : 9
"Algebraic Relations for Property-Composition Curves of Binary Mixture," dissertation,
Arkansas Academy of Science,
undated
Box/Folder 1 : 9
"Experiments," notebook, in German,
1916
Box/Folder 2 : 1-5, Box 3
The Centenary Book of Dr. Louis Hugo Frank,
1993 May
Photographs,
1913-1933, undated
Box/Folder 2 : 6
Louis C. Frank and wife, 2 photographic prints,
undated
Box/Folder 4
Photograph album of the Frank family in Japan,
1913-1922
Box/Folder 4
Photograph album of the Frank family in Japan,
1918-1933
Box/Folder 2 : 7
Videorecordings,
undated
Scope and Contents note
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/Folder 2 : 8
Newspaper clippings,
1957, 1959
