Why do you think that Anne Frank is one of the most remembered Jews from the Holocaust, when thousands survived and thousands more were killed?
Great question and I will add to that and say that we’re not just talking about thousands here, we’re talking about millions. You know, you’re right, Anne Frank was one of 6 million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust and 1.5 million Jewish children. And beyond the 6 million Jews, there were also, if we talk about total number of people who were killed because of differences or perceived differences, that number is 11 million people. And yet, you’re right, her story has definitely endured, and I think the reason for that, you know there’s a few reasons for that. One is that she was a young person writing in real time about her experiences and writing from a teenage perspective, and her diary was initially published in the Netherlands in 1947, which was only 2 years after the end of the war. It was at a time when people weren’t talking about their experiences. It was very unusual. After the Holocaust, people on both sides really wanted to move on and not talk about what happened about things, and the fact that her experiences were published, for a point in time, her’s was the only piece you could really find about first hand experiences of what someone went through during the holocaust. So that’s one reason, is because it was the only work like it for so long. What happened was it was originally published in 1937 in the Netherlands, then it was published in the United States in 1952 and at that time, in 1952, the diary was then was written about. There was a New York TImes piece written about by a man named Meyer Levin and that really sparked its popularity in the United States. It was turned into a play in 1955, and a movie in 1959. So her popularity really grew with being able to see her her story portrayed, first live on stage, and then in a movie where anyone could really accesses her story. It’s endured because of what I mentioned before: the fact of her being a teenager. And she starts her diary just talking about regular life and school and boys. So I think that is a reason why people really identify with her story; they see the humanity in her. And then the other thing is now that the other Holocaust survivors have been writing about their experiences. And each one is unique and amazing and if you read about it and get the chance to meet a Holocaust survivor, everyone’s story is different, about split second decisions or some piece of chance that saved their lives. Yet, the memoirs that exist today are just that, memoirs and there are many of them that are amazing to read, and it’s written by someone who is looking back on their experiences and the ones in Anne Frank’s diary, which with her, writing at that time. And there have been other diaries that over time have been found and written and published; because her’s was really the first, and became so well known and because she was such an incredible writer, her work has really endured.
Who then betrayed Anne Frank while she was in hiding?
Good question, and that’s probably the most common question we get asked. And the short answer is that we’ll probably never know. And the truth is that technology back then is nothing compared to what it is today. There was no such thing as caller id so there was no way- it was an anonymous phone call that called the men. And there is no way now for them to go back and be able to track the phone call. There have been several theories that have been put out as to who betrayed them. And the newest one just surface, like last month, but we’ll probably never know who it was and Otto Frank Anne’s father, he was the only one of the 8 people to survive, and he was often asked, ‘Don’t you wanna know who betrayed you?’ and his answer to that was, ‘There were probably a hundred people who knew and didn’t say anything, and I prefer to think about those people who protected us rather than dwell on the person who turned us in’.
(Quick little input, I also asked her about a theory and got a more detailed response which I am, sadly, not adding.)
When did the members of the Annex join the Franks?
When did they join the Franks. Umm… you should probably double check these dates specifically, Anne Frank and her family went into hiding July 6, 1942 which was the morning after Margot received her call up notice on July 5. The van Pels joined them, I wanna say about 10 days later on the 16. I’m not 100% sure, I bet if you looked in the diary, you might see the exact time they came, I’m sure you could find it and double check. The plan had always been to go into hiding together, Hermann van Pels was Otto’s business partner. They were very close and they made the arrangements together, of course they didn’t share all the details with their family and they didn’t find out until just before and they didn’t know where it was or where it was going to be. In all cases with Jews in hiding, everyone was as secretive as possible they didn’t want anyone to say anything until the whole thing was done. So the van Pels came about a week and a half later. That had been the plan for the Franks to go in later, too, but once Margot received her call, that made them know that they immediately had to go into hiding or people would come after her. Fritz Pfeffer came in November of 1942. I don’t know the exact date, but he did come in about 4 months later. (I did and they were fairly close so I left them.)
Why were multiple versions of Anne’s diary written instead of just keeping the one?
Great question. So when talking about the versions of the diary, basically she received the diary for her 13th birthday, and as it starts at the beginning it talks about school and boys and 13-year-old things, and then she went into hiding 3 weeks later and that’s what the diary is about. She continued to write in her diary, and then in 1944, after being in hiding for almost 2 years at that point, she heard a Dutch radio broadcast that said that diaries kept during the war would be published after the war. And it was at that moment when she heard that radio broadcast, that she started to really think about turning her diary into a book, something to prepare for publication. So she actually went back and edited it back for publication. She went back and added an exposition, and information to really help out a reader and have it read like a book. I think that is another reason why the book has endured so much because it is so well written and she really did think of it as something for public consumption and not just her own kind of thoughts. So when we look at those versions, the original version has become known as version A, which she just wrote in real time. Version B is what I refer too when we talk about her own edited version, when she was just about through rewriting the entire thing, when the arrest happened. She also continued to keep up her diary in real time keeping in mind that she wanted to publish it. When it was then actually published and Otto Frank put it together for publication, what he did is combine some of version A which is her original version and some of version B which were her edits, and also he did make some cuts of his own, some significant cuts. That whole compilation that was published is known as version C. And when Otto Frank had it published and made cuts he essentially cut out 2 categories of things. Anne does not speak very well of her mother. She was a teenager and did not get along well with her. This was not long after the war ended and this was Otto Franks wife, and he really didn’t want anything published that spoke badly of the recently deceased. Especially when killed in a such tragic way. So a lot of what she had to say about her mother was edited out. She also wrote a lot about her developing body and her sexuality and that, in 1947, was not something that was very commonly published particularly when written by a 15-year-old girl. A lot of that stuff got edited out as well. That was the version that was published and then translated. It was published in the next century as well, and all over the world and known as The Diary of a Young Girl. And that version existed for decades. And then Otto Frank died in 1980. He was 91 when he died. In the mid-90’s another version of the diary came out and added in those passages that he left out. So like 30 pages of more material. That is what’s known as the Definitive Edition. That’s the version, especially for high school students, to read cuz it has all the juicy bits in it and really get the full on picture. The Diary of a Young Girl was the diary that virtually everybody read before the Definitive edition came out. The Definitive does tell us much more. There was also one passage that actually wasn’t published until after the late 90’s. It was given to a friend of Otto Frank for safe keeping and told him not to do anything with it until- Otto Frank remarried after the war and he married a woman who was also a Holocaust survivor from the Netherlands, was originally from Germany like Otto Frank, was someone he had known before the war, and he decided he didn’t want that passage surfacing until after his second wife had died. That was the section Anne wrote essentially about her parents marriage. So he didn’t want that to come up. He waited and waited and it was published later. The other edition that exists is the critical edition that has versions A, B, and C, all side by side and annotated so that you could really see her development as a writer, how she chose to edit her own work. And it also had Otto Frank’s choices, editing the work as well.
Thanks Guys. That all There is. I'll be back with more later.
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