Harry Franklin was born Hermann Harry Hirschbein in Vienna, Austria, November 13, 1920 to Charlotte Frankovitz, originally from Romania, and Moritz Hirschbein, originally from Poland. In the United States he changed his name to Franklin, a derivative of Frankovitz, to make life easier due to anti-Semitism and the difficulty of the name itself. He chose to go by the name Harry Franklin. Mr. Franklin passed away in Lenox, Massachusetts on November 14, 2015, one day after his 95th birthday.
“If you still have a dear mother, love her and cherish her.” Those are the words Harry recited to his mother on Mother’s Day as a 4th grade public school student in Vienna. He stood in the kitchen, his mom leaning against the kitchen cabinet, reciting her a poem and handing her the decorated card he made in school. As he finished, his mother erupted into tears of happiness and clutched him with hoops of steel to her bosom, kissing him. That moment became part of Harry’s soul and inner being for the rest of his life. On August 17, 2001, Harry’s sister, Johanna Saper, received the a letter from the American Red Cross stating that Charlotte Hirschbein, born June 22, 1890, had been deported to Malitrostinec, a killing field near Minsk in the Ukraine on May 6, 1942 where she was likely shot after arrival. Such was the fate of most deportees to Malitrostinec during that time. After the war Harry discovered his father had had a stroke and died in Vienna in 1942.
In Vienna Harry attended gymnasium, equivalent to high school in the United States. He was a handsome young man, good student, actor and athlete, with an interest in the arts and politics. He was active in the drama club and a Jewish sports club for boys called Hakoah (which means “strength’”). He was a Junior Champion in 80 meter hurdles and high jumping and was in rehearsals for William Tell when Hitler invaded. Prior to the invasion, in 1936, Harry was arrested and briefly jailed, falsely accused of being a Communist at a time when Austria was no longer a Democracy and all political parties were banned. As part of his English studies in gymnasium, Harry’s English teacher gave him an American pen pal, Lillian Wolfram, a non-Jew whose family in Glenside, Pennsylvania, offered to sponsor him if he could escape to America. At the railroad station on November 8, 1938, Harry’s friends and family lined up to say goodbye. That was the last time he saw his beloved mother, crying and waving as the train pulled out towards Holland and the boat to England, then to New Jersey Harbor to meet his American family, the Wolframs. In Harlem, New York, Harry took night classes to attain his American high school diploma.
During World War II, from 1942 to 1946, Harry served in the U.S. Army, including a year in Germany. He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant in Military Intelligence and First Lieutenant in the Army Reserves. Later, he attended Columbia University on the G.I. Bill, graduating with a B.S. in Economics. He became a C.P.A., a career he loved and practiced successfully for many years to come.
Toward the end of his military career, Harry’s sister Johanna introduced him to Evelyn Popper von Podhragy, a Viennese woman living in New York City who also had escaped the Nazis. Evelyn and Johanna were both studying occupational therapy at New York University at the time. Harry and Evelyn married in 1946 and moved to Long Island, New York. They had two children; a son, Michael, whose sudden death preceded Harry’s, and a daughter Susanne. Evelyn died in 1972, at age 47.
The whirlwind of Harry Franklin’s activity includes four years in a public accounting firm, serving as treasurer and controller of one and controller of the other; starting a private C.P.A. practice; purchasing and running an accounting firm; a stint in real estate sales; teaching accounting at a C.U.N.Y. college; taking graduate courses at St. John’s University in Queens, New York; and, developing and teaching accounting, as well as German courses at Berkshire Community College. He was a Mason for over 50 years, and Master of a Masonic Lodge in New York City. Mr. Franklin was President of the Queens B’nai B’rith Council and was a Tanglewood volunteer for more than ten years. He also loved cooking, crossword puzzles, playing Scrabble, acting, current events, reading, writing, music; he was passionate for all the arts.
In 1971 Harry and Evelyn, his first wife, divorced. He subsequently married Harriet Quaker. Harry and Harriet resided in Queens, New York. In 1981 they purchased a summer lakeside home in Housatonic, Massachusetts, where increasing amounts of time were spent over the ensuing years. His second wife died in 2007. Shortly after, he moved into an apartment at Kimball Farms in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Harry Franklin is survived by his daughter Susanne Franklin Alexander, sister Johanna Saper, a niece, Charlotte Saper and two nephews, Craig and Cliff Saper, as well as step daughter and step son-in-law Jan and Jack Halsbond and grandchildren, Emily and Douglas Halsbond.
The family invites everyone to join them for a graveside service on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015 at 11 a.m., at Ahavath Sholom Cemetery on Blue Hill Road in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
In lieu of flowers send donations to Financial Aid at Columbia University noting ALLOCATION #32216 c/o FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. To send remembrances to his family please go to www.finnertyandstevens.com.
