It's always in the back of my mind that it can happen again.

— Karola Epstein

Biography

Karola Frankenthal Epstein (nee Rosenfeld) was born on September 20, 1925, in Schopfloch, Germany. Her family enjoyed excellent business and social relations in this small Bavarian village. In 1936, anti-Semitic legislation by the Nazi Party forced Karola to attend a school for Jewish children in a different town. After experiencing anti-Semitism in that town, she felt unsafe. Karola convinced her parents to allow her to accompany her sister, Sofie, to the U.S to live with relatives. The two teenaged girls arrived in Chicago in August 1937.

Karola's expectations about life in America were shattered when she was forced to keep house and babysit for her relatives. In September 1938, Karola's parents immigrated to Chicago. The family worked hard to make a living. Before the war's end, Karola had finished high school and worked as a bookkeeper. She also met her first husband, Siegfried Frankenthal, a German-Jewish refugee. They met through her sister and brother-in-law, Herbert Zimmern, who were living in Green Bay. The couple married in September 1946 in Green Bay, where they established a cattle business.

From humble beginnings, Karola and her husband built a large commercial empire, which included farm real estate and four meatpacking plants. At the time of Siegfried's death in 1976, they were the fifth or sixth largest employer in Green Bay. They also raised four children, all born in Green Bay. After Siegfried's death, she married Aaron Epstein of Madison in 1979.

Pictures

• View more information by clicking the link below each picture.

  See more Karola Epstein pictures in our Wisconsin Historical Images collection.