Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn: Pathways of Connections | Page 21

People and Happenings
the more special.”
The Walters’ choice to make Mount Auburn their final
resting place stemmed from Ruth’s genealogical research
of her family. She discovered she had relatives buried at the
Cemetery and felt that this is where her roots were. It was
also a very special place to her because of her avid birding,
a hobby that both Matt and Jenni continue today.
The Ruth and Henry Walter Fund has been generous in
their support to Mount Auburn Cemetery in recent years,
awarding funds towards the development of the Wildflower
Reinhard Frank:
Meadow, the publication of our Birds & Birding Guide,
and to preservation efforts, specifically the rejuvenation of
the old technique of lead pointing to repair monuments.
Henry was a modest man who lived practically and favored
thrift and long-term planning in lieu of excess or indulgence.
Jenni concludes, “He was a loyal friend and husband, and
always ethical, and he was always a man of moderation;
he abhorred excess and waste of any kind. He wanted to
instill his spirit of philanthropy and his love of learning and
nature in his children, and I think he has.”
Photo courtesy of Mount Auburn Hospital
Holocaust Survivor and Lifelong Philanthropist
(September 16, 1928 – December 12, 2010)
Born in Leipzig, Germany in 1928, Reinhard Frank was a
young teenager when he and his sister, Anita, were imprisoned
in the Theresienstadt concentration camp near Prague in
1943. He was sent to Auschwitz in 1944 and remained there
until 1945 when he and six other prisoners escaped from a
death march as the camp was being evacuated. Anita died in
Bergen-Belsen, and his mother, Hilde, died in Switzerland
where she had traveled after the war broke out in an attempt
to save her children. Reinhard had lost his father at the age
of four. After the war, he lived in England where he completed
his education, earning a degree in engineering. In 1956, he
came to the U.S., eventually settling in Cambridge. He lived
about a mile away from Mount Auburn and chose this as
his final resting place because of its beauty and serenity.
Despite his wrenching childhood, Reinhard kept a posi-
tive outlook throughout his life, using his experiences
to speak to children about oppression while putting his
wealth toward education. Peter Lowy, family friend, met
him as a young boy, as his own parents were prisoners with
Reinhard at Theresienstadt; the three later reunited in the
U.S. “Reinhard had a remarkably healthy and enlightened
outlook and did not express resentment toward the German
people. As an active, part owner of a family-owned com-
mercial real estate company in Hamburg, he developed
many relationships with Germans, particularly those who
grew up after the war,” says Lowy.
As a result of Reinhard’s own education being interrupted,
he spent his life supporting students, who, due to extenuating
circumstances in their personal lives, could not achieve early
in life. He established a program at the prestigious Tech-
nion-Israel Institute of Technology that allowed students
who fell into this category to work to upgrade their skills
so they had a chance at a top tier education. This support, in
addition to encouraging collaboration between German and
Technion scientists and students, garnered him an honor-
ary degree from the institution. “Reinhard was one of the
finest human beings I’ve ever met,” says Joel Berkowitz,
New England Region Director of the American Technion
Society. “He was quiet,
self-effacing, knowl-
edgeable. Even with his
childhood experiences,
he still had an interest
in Germany. Jewish
tradition doesn’t hold
the belief that the sins
of the parents come
down on the children,
but instead
that people
“An Open, Accepting Life”
should be
judged on their own merit.”
Reinhard also established the Anita Day-Care Center in
Or Yehuda, near Tel Aviv, in his sister’s memory. “He lived
unostentatiously and generously used his resources to help
others,” remarks Lowy. “If there was a theme to his philan-
thropy it was educating youth. He knew what a difference
an opportunity could make.” A passionate supporter of
Mount Auburn Hospital as well, Reinhard had close-knit
relationships with those who cared for him.
Though he never married nor had children, Reinhard Frank
left a remarkable legacy to his many friends and relatives
around the world. “Some of my fondest memories of him
include meeting him in other places while traveling with
my wife,” Lowy recalls. “He knew people everywhere and
was only too happy to connect them together.” Charac-
terized by open-mindedness, Reinhard was not someone
who looked at a situation with preconceived notions, but
instead displayed a willingness to listen and engage. “He
had a remarkable ability to connect with people. Reinhard
absolutely loved life,” says Lowy. “He always exhibited a
positive view about people and the world in general, which
reflected the way he lived his life–by being open, accepting,
supportive, and giving.”
Spring/Summer 2011 | 19