Frank Meisler (30 December 1925 – 24 March 2018) was an Israeli architect and sculptor. Meisler was born in the Free City of Danzig and grew up in England, before moving to Israel in 1956. In 1953 he married Batya (Phillis) Hochman with whom he had 2 daughters: Michal Meisler Yehuda and Marit Meisler. He died in Jaffa in 2018.

Biography

Frank Meisler was born into a Jewish family in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), he was evacuated by the

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

in August 1939, travelling with other Jewish children via Berlin to the Netherlands and then to Liverpool Street station in London. His parents were later murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp. He was raised by an aunt, who lived in London. He attended school in Harrow, and then did national service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. He studied architecture at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

, and was involved in the construction of the Heathrow Airport. He moved to Israel in the late 50's, where he later opened a workshop and gallery in the Old City of Jaffa. he also erected public sculptures including a memorial to Ben Gurion in Israel, ''Eternal Kiev'' in Kiev, and a series of Kindertransport memorials: '' Kindertransport – The Arrival'' erected at Liverpool Street station in London in 2006, '' Trains to Life – Trains to Death'' erected at Friedrichstraße station in Berlin in 2008, ''The Departure'' erected at Gdańsk Główny station in 2009, ''Crossing to Life'' erected at the

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

in 2011 and ''The final parting'' erected at

Hamburg Dammtor station Hamburg Dammtor is a railway station for long distance, regional and suburban trains on the Hamburg-Altona link line, located in Central Hamburg, Germany. In front is a bus station of the same name for public transport. The railway station is one ...

. He also designed the interior of the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue in Moscow, and sculptures for Russia's National War Memorial. A memorial of the death march of Jewish prisoners (and subsequent murders at Palmnicken) was erected in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

(formerly Königsberg) in 2011. He published an autobiography. ''On the Vistula Facing East'', in 1996.

Architecture and art in general

* Sculpture in Stratford-upon-Avon * Israel: Monument to

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

* after 1987: Memorial in front of the Mannheim synagogue, a monument made of stones from the main synagogue blown up in 1938 commemorates the victims of the persecution of the Jewish people * 1998: Interior design of the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue (Moscow) * 1999: Foyer, prayer room and Torah ark in the Golden Rose Synagogue (Dnipro) * 2008: Statue of Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt at the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

in Sochi * 2009: The Eternal Kyiv,

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

* 2011, Memorial in Yantarny, Kaliningrad Oblast: hands raised to the sky to commemorate the Palmnicken massacre of around 3,000 Jewish female prisoners in the Stutthof satellite camps in January 1945 * Monument to

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

* Fountain in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Awards and recognition

The Czech Academy of Art awarded Meisler the 'Franz Kafka gold medal' in 1999. He was made an honorary academician by both the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAKh / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. RAKh is the public cultural Instit ...

and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts in 2002. He was awarded the

Federal Republic of 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 between ...

's Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit (''Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse'') in 2012, in recognition of his services to German-Jewish and German-Israeli relations. He was honored with ‘The Freedom of the City of London’ honorary award and dined at Prince Charles's table. In 2018, after his death, a street sign was placed by the late Mayor Adamowicz in Frank’s home town of Gdańsk on the house wall where he grew up.

Gallery

File:Kindertransport-Meisler.jpg, '' Kindertransport – The Arrival'', Liverpool Street station, London File:Berlin, Mitte, Dorothea-Schlegel-Platz, Denkmal Züge in das Leben, Züge in den Tod 1938-1945.jpg, '' Trains to Life – Trains to Death'', Friedrichstraße station, Berlin File:Gdańsk Główny pomnik.JPG, ''Die Abreise'' in front of Gdańsk Główny station File:Hoekvanholland kunstwerk channel crossing to life.jpg, Kindertransport Monument Hoek van Holland ''Channel Crossing to Life'',

File:Hamburg Dammtor Frank Meisler 2.jpg, ''Kindertransport – Der letzte Abschied - The final parting'',

Literature

* Frank Meisler, 1996. ''On the Vistula facing East''. London. . Autobiography. * Miłosława Borzyszkowska-Szewczyk, Uwe Neumärker (ed.), 2016. ''An der Weichsel gegen Osten. Mein Leben zwischen Danzig, London und Jaffa''. Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas mit dem Instytut Kaszubski w Gdańsku. Berlin, . * Marie-Catherine Allard (27 April 2020)
Modelling bridges between past and current issues of forced migration: Frank Meisler’s memorial sculpture Kindertransport – The Arrival
In: ''Jewish historical studies'', vol. 51 issue 1, p. 86-104.

References

External links

* http://www.frank-meisler.com/about.php * http://www.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/?artist=Meisler,%20Frank&list=M {{DEFAULTSORT:Meisler, Frank 1925 births 2018 deaths People from the Free City of Danzig 20th-century British architects 20th-century sculptors Kindertransport refugees Israeli sculptors Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Jewish architects Jewish sculptors Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany British emigrants to Israel