BIOGRAPHY of Adolf Frankl

1903
Born 12 February in Pressburg | Pozsony, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, now Bratislava, Slovak Republic

1909-19
Attends elementary and secondary schools and graduates from high school

1920
Enrolls at the School of Arts and Crafts; studies under professors František Reichentál, Gustáv Mallý, Ľubo Fulla and Jozef Vydra in Bratislava, then Czechoslovakia.
Studies several semesters at the Technical University in Brno, then Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic
Works on a part-time basis as a posters artist and caricaturist

1921
Joins father’s interior decoration and upholstery accessories company

1933
Marries Renée Nachmias in Bratislava

1934
Birth of son Thomas

1936
Birth of daughter Erika

1937
Establishes his own interior decoration company

1939
After the proclamation of the First Slovak State, discriminatory acts and persecutions against the Jewish population in Slovakia

1940-41
Expropriation (Aryanization) of the firm, in accordance with the laws of the fascist Slovak State

1941 As of their sixth year, Jews forced by decree to wear a visible yellow Star of David outside their house. Likewise, a UŽ* proof of identity had to be produced on demand.

1944
28 September: arrested in Bratislava with his entire family
29 September: deportation of Adolf Frankl to the concentration camp in Sereď, Slovakia
3-4 November: deported from Sereď to the Oświęcim-Brzezinka camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Deutsches Reich, now Poland. Tattooed with the number B 14395

1945
18 January: evacuation of Auschwitz-Birkenau
Death march in the direction of Gleiwitz, then Deutsches Reich, now Gliwice, Poland
Survived the typhoid barrack at Althammer, an external camp of Auschwitz, then Deutsches Reich, now Stara Kuźnia, Poland
27 January: liberated by the Red Army in Althammer | Stara Kuźnia
24 April: Returns to Bratislava
Starts the cycle, ”Visions from the Inferno – Art Against Oblivion”

1946
Re-establishes his company

1947
Birth of son Ján

1948-49
Nationalization of his re-established company by the Communist regime

1949-50
Emigrates with his family to Vienna, Austria
Resides in Vienna, New York and, since the Sixties, in Germany

1983
Dies 18 August in Vienna, Austria

Between 1930 and 1982, and prior the cycle “Visions from the Inferno – Art Against Oblivion”, Frankl produced numerous drawings, aquarelles and caricatures. They show scenes from the Jewish life, coffeehouses, such as the Hawelka and l’Europe in Vienna, railway stations, courtrooms and the “Dorotheum”, the famous auction house in Vienna.


* Head office of Jews in Slowakia