Remembering Walter Frankenstein: A Survivor of Nazi Berlin's Shadows

Walter Frankenstein's extraordinary story of survival during the Holocaust highlights the precarious existence of Jewish individuals in Nazi Germany, where evasion tactics were crucial for survival. After decades of bravery and resilience, he died in Stockholm at the age of 100.

Walter Frankenstein, who lived to be 100, is remembered for his incredible resilience during a harrowing chapter in history. Alongside his wife and infant sons, he navigated through the treacherous environment of Nazi-occupied Berlin for over two years, evading capture as part of the group known as "U-boats" - Jews who lived in constant fear of being discovered.

Resilience and resourcefulness defined their existence; he and his family took refuge in remarkable places, including bombed-out structures and even an opera house. Such extreme measures were necessary as Berlin was fraught with danger for the Jewish population.

Mr. Frankenstein recounted one harrowing encounter on a train in 1944. A military policeman demanded identification, leading to a high-stakes situation where he could have been exposed as a Jew, risking deportation to Auschwitz. Incredibly, after a tense exchange in which he claimed to be a forced laborer, the officer let him go, stating he was not searching for Jews at that moment, highlighting the unpredictable and precarious nature of survival during this dark period.

Historian Richard N. Lutjens Jr. emphasized that the average U-boat had to change their hiding spots frequently due to air raids and the threat of exposure, illustrating the constant fear Jews lived with during the war.

Walter Frankenstein was one of the few survivors of the estimated 6,500 human U-boats in the city, ultimately escaping the horrors of the Holocaust. He relocated to Stockholm in 1956, living there until he passed away peacefully on April 21. His life serves as both a testament to human endurance and a reminder of the historical atrocities faced by Jewish communities.