Naomi Frankel (20 November 1918 – 20 November 2009), also spelled Fraenkel and Frenkel, was a German-Israeli novelist. Born in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, she was evacuated to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
with other German-Jewish children in 1933. She became a member of Kibbutz
Beit Alfa
Beit Alfa ( he, בֵּית אַלְפָא; also Beit Alpha, Bet Alpha and Bet Alfa) is a kibbutz in the Northern District of Israel, founded in 1922 by immigrants from Poland. Located at the base of the Gilboa ridge, it falls under the jurisdic ...
, where she lived until 1970. She began writing novels in 1956 and achieved fame with her trilogy ''Shaul ve-Yohannah'' (Saul and Joanna), a three-generational tale of an assimilated German-Jewish family in prewar Germany. She wrote four other novels for adults as well as several books for children. In the 1980s Frankel abandoned her
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
convictions and adopted
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
ideology, settling in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
,
where she died in 2009, aged 91.
Early life and education
Naomi Frankel was born into an affluent, assimilated Jewish family in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on 20 November 1918.
Her mother died when she was two.
[ Her father worked in the family factory set up by her grandfather.][ In her youth, she joined the ]Socialist-Zionist
Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...
movement.[ Her father died in 1932 and she was taken under the care of a guardian, who helped her escape ]Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
with other Jewish children who were evacuated by the community and sent to British-administered Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
in 1933.[
Frankel initially lived in a girls' orphanage in ]Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.[ Then she moved to ]Mishmar HaEmek
Mishmar HaEmek ( he, מִשְׁמַר הָעֵמֶק, . "Guard of the Valley") is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council. Mishmar HaEmek is one of the ...
, a leftist kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
in Northern Israel.[ She attended an agricultural school for girls and went on to study ]Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
and Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
.[ During the ]1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
, she fought in the Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...
brigade.[
]
Literary career
After the 1948 war, Frankel divided her time between working on the kibbutz and writing.[ She achieved fame with the publication of her first novel, ''Shaul ve-Yohannah'' (Saul and Joanna), the first part of a trilogy published between 1956 and 1967.][ The trilogy is a fictionalized account of three generations of an assimilated German-Jewish family whose granddaughter joins a Zionist youth movement.] In depicting the rise and fall of prewar German-Jewish culture, Frankel concludes that only Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
and a strong Jewish state can protect the Jewish people from persecution.[ One of the first books published in Israel that dealt with Jewish life in prewar Germany, ''Shaul ve-Yohannah,'' aroused strong feelings among German-Jewish immigrants to Israel, and also met with critical success.][ Having returned to Berlin to do research for the first volume in the 1950s,][ in 1960 Frankel received a scholarship from the ]Anne Frank Foundation
The Anne Frank Foundation ( nl, Anne Frank Stichting) is a foundation in the Netherlands originally established to maintain the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. This foundation also advocates the fight against antisemitism and racism and publishes t ...
that enabled her to undertake an additional 18 months of research in Berlin for the second and third volumes.[
Frankel turned to other subjects in subsequent novels, including Israeli military heroes, Spanish '']marrano
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were Forced conversion#Spanish Inquisition, forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to Crypto-Judaism, practice Judaism i ...
s''—Christians of Jewish descent who practiced Judaism in secret—and the Jewish settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
* Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fin ...
of Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...
in the West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.[ She also published several novels for children. Many of her books were translated into German and English, and some were adapted for radio and television.][
]
Literary awards
Frankel received the in 1956 for ''Shaul ve-Yohannah''. She received the in 1962, the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works
The Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works, also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award, named after Israel's third Prime Minister, is an annual award granted to writers in the Hebrew language. The prize was established in 1969.
Abou ...
in 1970, the Walter Schwimmer Award for Journalism in 1972, and the in 2005.[
]
Other activities
Frankel left Kibbutz Beit Alfa
Beit Alfa ( he, בֵּית אַלְפָא; also Beit Alpha, Bet Alpha and Bet Alfa) is a kibbutz in the Northern District of Israel, founded in 1922 by immigrants from Poland. Located at the base of the Gilboa ridge, it falls under the jurisdic ...
in 1970 after her second husband's death (Yisrael Rosenzweig), and moved to Tel Aviv following her marriage to her third husband (Meir Ben-Gur). From 1970 to 1978 she worked for the Israeli Navy
The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...
, editing classified army and navy protocols from the period before and after the Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
, and attained the rank of ''rav-seren'' (lieutenant commander).[
]
Political views
In the 1980s Frankel abandoned her leftist convictions of many decades and adopted right-wing ideology.[ She began observing the ]Jewish Sabbath
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
and kosher dietary laws, and in 1982 moved with her second husband to the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba
:''This article is mainly about the modern Israeli settlement, not the biblical town''
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba ( he, קִרְיַת־אַרְבַּע, , Town of the Four) is an urban Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron, in the south ...
.[ She later lived in ]Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...
until her death.[ She frequently wrote and spoke out in support of the concept of a ]Greater Israel
Greater Israel ( he, ארץ ישראל השלמה; ''Eretz Yisrael Hashlema'') is an expression, with several different biblical and political meanings over time. It is often used, in an irredentist fashion, to refer to the historic or desired bo ...
. Her break with left-wing ideology caused the left-leaning arts community to shun her.[
]
Personal life
Frankel's first husband was Yeshayahu (Shaek) Beeri from Mishmar HaEmek, with whom she had two daughters. After divorce, she married Yisrael Rosenzweig, her literature editor and a teacher from Kibbutz Beit Alfa, with whom she had one daughter.[ After Rosenzweig's death in 1969][ she married Meir Ben-Gur, a journalist.][
Frankel died on 20 November 2009, her 91st birthday.] In accordance with her wishes, she was buried in Kibbutz Beit Alfa beside her second husband.[
]
Bibliography
Frankel wrote the following books:[
]
Adult novels
*''Shaul ve-Yohannah'' (Saul and Joanna) (Sifriat Po'alim, Vol. 1: 1956, Vol. 2: 1962; Vol. 3: 1967) Other editions: Am Oved
Am Oved ("A Working People") is an Israeli publishing house.
History
Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first Editor in Chief. It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publi ...
, 1976; Gefen
Gefen ( he, גֶּפֶן, lit. ''Grapevine'') is a moshav in central Israel. Located between Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The village was ...
, 1999
*''Dodi ve-Re'ee'' (My Beloved Friend) (Am Oved, 1973; Gefen, 2000)
*''Tzemach Bar'' (Wild Flower) (Am Oved, 1981; Gefen, 2000)
*''Barkai'' (Morning Star) (Gefen, 1999)
*''Predah'' (Farewell) (Gefen, 2003)
Children's books
*''Na'ar Tzamach Bi-Gdot HaAssi'' (A Boy Growing Up on the Banks of the Assi) (Ministry of Defense
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, 1977)
*''Racheli Ve-HaIshon'' (Racheli and the Little Man) (E. Lewin-Epstein, 1972; Am Oved, 1975, 1988)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankel, Naomi
1918 births
2009 deaths
Israeli women novelists
Israeli novelists
Israeli women writers
People from Berlin
People from Kiryat Arba
Hashomer Hatzair members
Kibbutzniks
Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine