Margot’s Early School Days
Margot Frank’s early schooling provides a poignant record of a life uprooted by the rise of Nazism. Her formal education began in Frankfurt am Main at the Ludwig Richter Schule on April 6, 1932, when she was just six years old. A surviving photo shows her on that first day holding a traditional German ‘Zuckertüte’ (a large cone filled with school supplies and sweets).
Margot was placed in class 8b. Her first report card, a rare surviving document, shows her as a capable but not entirely stellar student. Her best subjects were Religion and Mathematics, for which she received a “good” (2), while her German and Writing were rated “sufficient” (3). The teacher’s overall remark was an affirming “War sehr fleissig!” (Was very hardworking!). The school records also indicate she was often ill, missing 13 and 16 days respectively in her two six-month periods there.
Her attendance at the Ludwig Richter Schule ended on March 16, 1933. A preserved public transport card shows her daily route from her home on Rosegger Strasse to the Eschenheimer Landstrasse, a normal, everyday detail of a life that was about to be turned upside down.
The family’s decision to leave Germany prompted several transfers. Margot attended the Varrentrappschule, another large public school in Frankfurt, starting on March 22, 1933, coinciding with the family’s move to a different apartment.
Finally, before emigrating to Holland, Margot and Anne stayed with their grandmother Holländer in Aachen. For a brief time, Margot attended the Isr. Volksch. Aachen (Jewish elementary school), which was conveniently located near her grandmother’s house. This final German school chapter ended on December 22 [1933], when she was transferred to Amsterdam, ready to begin her new life in the Netherlands.
