Niklas Frank, son of Nazi criminal Hans Frank, speaks about his family history on the Schliersee on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of his father's death.
His new book was recently published, in which he published the correspondence between his father and his family at the time of the Nuremberg Trials.
Schliersee - Its legacy is overwhelming.
He is the son of a Nazi criminal.
A mass murderer.
Journalist and author Niklas Frank spent his life studying the dark past of his family.
His father, Hans Michael Frank, was Governor General of Poland and was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people during World War II.
He once worked as a lawyer for Adolf Hitler, later he went down in history as the "butcher of Poland".
Correspondence between Hans Frank and his family during the Nuremberg Trials
At the time of the Third Reich, he lived with his family alternately in Krakow at Wawel Castle and at Schliersee - at Schoberhof.
In his most recent book, “My Family and Their Executioners”, Frank - who is now 82 years old - publishes letters from his family.
Many of the letters went back and forth at the time of the Nuremberg Trials.
Between Frank's cell number 15 and his “loved ones” who stayed in Fischhausen.
October 16 marks the 75th anniversary of Franks' execution.
In an interview with our newspaper, Niklas Frank talks about his former home and his father, who continues to persecute him to this day.
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Niklas Frank grew up as the youngest of five siblings.
Here in the photo you can see (from left).
: Norman, Michel, Niklas, Sigrid and Gitti in 1941 in front of the Schoberhof.
His siblings have all died.
© Frank / Archive
Mr. Frank, in your new book you deal again with your family history. Has the Nazi era haunted you to this day?
For sure.
My father never let go of me.
I am confronted every day - mostly through newspapers - with something that has to do with the Third Reich.
That grabs me every time.
Are you grappling with the Nazi past in general or your father as a person?
There is indeed the creed that one should love and honor one's parents.
But I broke that - necessarily.
What strikes me the most, since then, has lived inside me and will never die, are all of his innocent victims.
Niklas Frank: "He knew what he was doing."
You were just a child then. When and how did you find out who your father was?
When my father was arrested on May 4, 1945 in Josefstal, I quickly sensed that we were a criminal family.
Hardly anyone wanted anything to do with us anymore.
In autumn 1945, newspapers published by the Americans came out that portrayed concentration camp victims - even when I was a child at the time.
Underneath was 'Poland'.
Until then, I always thought that Poland was ours, the Franks.
Suddenly my father was in contact with these terrible photos.
How do I handle this?
You had to be able to deal with that.
At that time there was hardly anyone who did not have war victims in their families or relatives.
When my mother told us after the execution that our father was dead, my siblings cried.
Not me.
The anger at him never stops.
He knew what he was doing.
You live in Schleswig Holstein. Is Schliersee part of home for you or just a dark past?
My first memories of my life are at Schoberhof.
I became aware there in Fischhausen.
It is my soul place.
Until today I am at Schliersee for a few weeks every year.
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The book author and journalist Niklas Frank is 82 years old today.
© Frank / Archive
In your book you can see a very broken marriage relationship between your parents. In general, your father was rarely with the family?
Even in the three months after his escape from Krakow, he was almost never with us.
He spent most of the time in "Haus Bergfrieden" in Josefstal, where his office was.
He was arrested there too.
He rarely visited us at the Schoberhof.
What is your last memory of him during this time?
The last time I saw him was when we drove to Nuremberg before the execution.
But I have the strongest memory of him from the time shortly before his arrest.
When he was at the Schoberhof again.
Everyone was waiting eagerly for him.
When he came, I took his glasses for no reason and bent the temples outwards.
I looked up at him.
I can still see his horrified face today.
Then he slapped me on the face.
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The Schoberhof in Fischhausen was from the 17th century: The courtyard has since been demolished.
Most of the Franks lived here until September 1945.
© Frank / Archive
Today there is nothing left of the Schoberhof where you grew up. Even if the 17th century building was actually a listed building. How is that for you?
That’s a good thing.
My father was a mass murderer.
He owned the house.
Something like that does not belong protected.
He doesn't deserve a monument.
Even if it was my home, it is right that there is none of it left.
In Schliersee today, very little reminds of that bad time. Is there a lack of historical awareness here?
I do think that everything that happened there during the Third Reich should be taken up in exhibitions or an honest chronicle, for example.
Besides my father, there were other top Nazis in the area.
For example, Himmler had a hut in Valepp, or Reich Minister Otto Meissner, or the Nazi war victims chief Hanns Oberlindober.
Basically it was a pretty brown nest there.
One could in fact wish for more educational work.
The interview was conducted by Felicitas Bogner.
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