Bernhard Frank was born in Prichsenstadt on August 2, 1865. His father was the cattle dealer Baruch Frank, his mother was Babette Frank, a native of Prichsenstadt and daughter of Löw and Adelheid Fleischmann.
Bernhard had eight other siblings. Three of them, brothers Isaak and Oskar and sister Julie, married name Hahn, also lived in Prichsenstadt. The brothers Jakob and Leopold lived in Würzburg, Leopold later in Cologne. The other sisters lived in Thuringia. Theresa and Ida were married in Apolda, their sister Sophie in Pößneck.
Jakob Frank died in Würzburg around 1940, Isaak Frank in Prichsenstadt in 1938, Julie Hahn died in Bendorf-Sayn in 1940 and Oskar Hahn was able to emigrate to the USA with his wife Frieda, née Löwenberger, and his son Bruno in July 1941. Like Bernhard, all of Bernhard Frank's other siblings - Therese Kälbermann, Leopold Frank, Ida Fleischmann and Sophie Benjamin - were murdered by the Nazis.
Bernhard Frank bought the Freihof from his future parents-in-law Jakob and Fanny Fleischmann in 1887. On April 18, 1890, he married Bertha Fleischmann in Prichsenstadt, the eldest daughter of the couple who had died shortly before. However, the marriage remained childless.
Bernhard Frank ran a cattle and horse business at Freihof - partly together with his father Baruch and his brothers Isaak and Oskar - but this was forcibly deregistered on September 30, 1938.
Bernhard Frank was heavily involved in the town's social life. It is not known exactly when he joined the gymnastics club - today's TSV 1861 Prichsenstadt. What is certain, however, is that he was even a board member of the club from 1899 to 1903 - a few years before and a few years after that, he worked as a committee member in the management of the club. Bernhard Frank was made an honorary member of TSV Prichsenstadt on April 28, 1923. In gratitude, he donated 6,000 marks to the club.
Bernhard Frank joined the Prichsenstadt volunteer fire department, which was founded in 1874, in 1881 and was an active member for many years. He provided horse-drawn vehicles for fire drills and operations, including a fire in Wiesentheid in 1891. Bernhard Frank became a fireman in 1901.
The fact that Bernhard Frank was a widely respected citizen is shown by the fact that he was elected to the Prichsenstadt town council twice between 1919 and the end of 1932. From 1919 to 1924, he was also a member of the town's council for the poor.
Bernhard Frank is also likely to have held various positions in the Jewish Community of Prichsenstadt. From 1938, he was the last chairman of the Jewish community, succeeding the late Moritz Hahn II.
Bernhard Frank lived in Prichsenstadt until 1942. On September 18, he was taken, together with his wife Bertha and Pauline Künstler, first to Schweinfurt and then to Würzburg. From there, the three were deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp on September 23, 1942 - they had probably had to "buy" their way there with a large sum of money.
We even know the exact date of Bernhard Frank's death. He died in Theresienstadt on December 24, 1942.
On November 23, 1942, the furniture, household goods and linen of Bernhard and Bertha as well as Oskar and Frieda Frank, who had lived in the Freihof until 1941 - together with the estates of Pauline Künstler, Helene Künstler (née Maier) and Ilse Hahn - were sold or auctioned off by Mayor Heinrich Sauer.
The estimated value of the Franks' household effects amounted to 1962.00 Reichsmark, that of the agricultural inventory in the Freihof to 1227.50 Reichsmark. These amounts were transferred to the Gerolzhofen tax office in December 1942 and April 1943 respectively. From the surplus, "wages for the utilization of the Jewish furniture" were paid to the helpers, the rest went to the Prichsenstadt town treasury.
