Anne Frank’s Father Sought U.S. Refuge
Newly released documents show that Otto Frank, father of famed diarist, Anne Frank, sought to emigrate with his wife, mother-in-law and two daughters to the United States.
Frank sought both a visa to the U.S. as well as $5,000 in related costs, from friend and former college classmate Nathan Strauss, Jr., son of the owner of Macy's department store in New York. Strauss was also the head of the U.S. Housing Authority at the time. The $5,000 was ultimately not needed, as the U.S. never granted Frank a visa. The island nation of Cuba did grant Frank a visa on December 1, 1941, but 10 days later that visa was cancelled when Germany declared war on the U.S.
The documents were made public for the first time by the YIVO Institute of Jewish Research when a volunteer staff member discovered the telegrams and letters in the institution's archives. Issues of copyright delayed the release of the papers.
The documents also show that Frank did not seek to emigrate until about a year after the Nazi invasion of Holland.