24. Anne Frank’s Father Served Germany in World War I
Otto Frank was conscripted into German military service for World War I in 1915. He served in an artillery unit on the western front of the conflict. He also served in the incredibly brutal and bloody Battle of the Somme in 1916, in which over one million soldiers perished. In 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Despite this honorable service, the Nazi-led German government ultimately killed his entire family. Only Otto was “spared” the full brunt of the Holocaust.