Recollections of a Jewish Mathematician in Germany

Abraham A. Fraenkel was§a world-renowned§mathematician in Germany before World War II, whose work on set theory was§fundamental to the development of modern mathematics. He was a friend of Albert Einstein and personally§knew many of the era's acclaimed mathematicians. He moved to Israel (then§Palestine under the British Mandate) in the early 1930s. In his autobiography§he describes his early years growing up as an Orthodox Jew in Germany and his§development as a mathematician at the beginning of the 20th century. _This§autobiography, originally written in German in the 1960s, has now been translated§into English with an additional chapter by the editor, Jiska Cohen-Mansfield,§covering the period from 1933 until his death in 1965. §§Fraenkel§describes the world of mathematics in Germany in the first half of the§twentieth century, its germination, the systems influencing it, and its demise. He also provides a unique picture of the§intricate struggles within the world of Orthodox Jewry in Germany. In his personal life, Fraenkel merged these§two worlds during periods of turmoil including the two world wars and the§establishment of the state of Israel.§§Foreword by Menachem§Magidor.§§Foreword to the 1967 German edition by Yehoshua§bar-Hillel§