The Legacy of Anne Frank

311 Pages·2018·62.18 MB·English

by  Gillian Walnes Perry

The Legacy of
Anne Frank
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The Legacy of
Anne Frank
Gillian Walnes Perry
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First published in Great Britain in 2018 by
PEN & SWORD HISTORY
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
Copyright (c) Gillian Walnes Perry 2018
ISBN 978 1 52673 104 3
The right of Gillian Walnes Perry to be identified
as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying, recording or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset in Times New Roman 10/12.5 by
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Printed and bound in UK by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
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Contents
Acknowledgements �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������vii
List of Photographs ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������viii
Prologue Anne Frank is Here in the World �������������������������������������������x
Chapter 1 Anne Frank ����������������������������������������������������������������������������1
Chapter 2 Otto Frank ���������������������������������������������������������������������������19
Chapter 3 ‘Anne Frank in the World’ is Launched �������������������������������31
Chapter 4 The Anne Frank Trust is Born ���������������������������������������������36
Chapter 5 Anne and Eva Schloss – the Girl who
Became her Stepsister ���������������������������������������������������������45
Chapter 6 Anne Frank’s Role in the Transition
from Communism ���������������������������������������������������������������54
Chapter 7 The Woman Who Gave a Personal Pledge
to Otto Frank �����������������������������������������������������������������������73
Chapter 8 Anne Frank in Latin America ����������������������������������������������78
Chapter 9 Anne Frank and Audrey Hepburn ���������������������������������������95
Chapter 10 On the Road with Anne Frank ���������������������������������������������99
Chapter 11 Anne Frank and the Children of Bosnia ����������������������������110
Chapter 12 Anne Frank and Nelson Mandela ��������������������������������������120
Chapter 13 Anne Frank and her Protector Miep Gies �������������������������128
Chapter 14 Anne Frank goes into British Prisons ��������������������������������137
Chapter 15 Anne Frank and Stephen Lawrence�����������������������������������145
Chapter 16 Anne Frank Helping to Make Peace in Ireland �����������������151
Chapter 17 Anne Frank and her Secret Hero ���������������������������������������155
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Chapter 18 Anne Frank and Daniel Pearl ............................................160
Chapter 19 The Anne Frank Declaration .............................................163
Chapter 20 The Anne Frank Trust is Growing .....................................173
Chapter 21 Who Betrayed the Frank Family? ......................................188
Chapter 22 Anne Frank is Educating Millions ....................................194
Chapter 23 Inspired by Holocaust Survivors .......................................207
Chapter 24 Anne Frank and the Girl who was Kidnapped by
Sardinian Bandits ..............................................................219
Chapter 25 Anne Frank in the Far East ................................................223
Chapter 26 Anne Frank was a Real Person ..........................................237
Chapter 27 Anne Frank in the Indian Subcontinent ............................247
Chapter 28 The Strange Circle of the House
on Blaricummerweg ..........................................................262
Chapter 29 Anne Frank and her Fear ...................................................269
Chapter 30 Anne Frank and the Future ................................................272
References ...............................................................................................281
Index .......................................................................................................284
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Acknowledgements
I truly want to thank everyone I have encountered or heard about in the world of
Anne Frank for their dedication and for being an inspiration to me. But sadly I
can’t, or this chronicle will span a further 300 pages. So here are my thanks to a
few of the key players in a story that relates the lives and activities of hundreds of
fascinating people and spans a period of thirty years.
To all my wonderful colleagues, past and present, at the Anne Frank Trust, the
Anne Frank House, the Anne Frank Fonds and throughout the Anne Frank family
of educators and activists around the world. Too many to mention I fear, but they
all know who they are.
To Hans Westra, Rabbi David Soetendorp, Eva Schloss, the late Bee Klug, Jan
Erik Dubbelman, Dienke Hondius and the late Buddy Elias for the faith they placed
in me all those years ago. I followed an unforgettable path with them, and they have
guided my life with wisdom and love.
To Penguin Books, to Michelle Rosenberg and to Jon Wright, Laura Hirst,
Stephen Chumbley and the team at my publishers Pen & Sword who have so ably
and supportively helped to realise this dream.
It has been a true privilege to have worked with you all.
To my late husband Tony Bogush, who was behind me every step of the way
from the start and left a huge mark on the Anne Frank Trust.
To my children Joe and Tilly, who lived throughout their teenage years with the
Anne Frank Trust taking over their family home. Having survived the experience,
they grew up to make me the proudest mother in the world from their remarkable
achievements and a doting Nana to Ewan, Emily and Jonah.
Finally, to my amazing husband Elon Perry, who brought his talent and many
years of experience as a celebrated Israeli journalist, writer, poet and editor, to help
bring the manuscript into such shape that the publishers had no need for editing.
Also, for his love, devotion, endless cups of tea, beautiful Sephardic meals, and his
support along the way.
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List of Photographs
1. Cover image: Anne Frank aged eleven in April 1941. Photograph taken at the
Frank family apartment on the Merwedeplein, Amsterdam. Photo by Anne
Frank Fonds – Basel via Getty Images.
2. Happy and normal family life. Edith Frank takes seven-year-old Margot and
three-year-old Anne on a trip to Frankfurt city centre in March 1933. Hitler has
been in power for two months, and life for Germany’s Jews is about to change.
Photo by Anne Frank Fonds – Basel via Getty Images.
3. In May 1941, the photographer Frans Dupont took a series of exquisitely
posed studio images of eleven-year-old Anne. Photo by Frans Dupont/Anne
Frank Fonds – Basel via Getty Images.
4. (a) The front cover and (b) inside of Anne’s original diary with photos she
pasted inside it. From the Anne Frank House collection.
5. The first Anne Frank traveling exhibition Anne Frank in the World 1929-1945
was monochrome and huge in scale. Here it is on show in Glasgow in 1990.
From the Anne Frank House collection.
6. Otto Frank and his wife Fritzi visiting Audrey Hepburn at her home in
Switzerland, circa 1957. A copy of this photo was given to me in Los Angeles
by Audrey’s son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. It was taken by his late father, the actor
Mel Ferrer.
7. Anne Frank’s cousin Bernd ‘Buddy’ Elias reads the Anne Frank Declaration
to United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan at UN headquarters in New
York in January 1999. Those watching include (from left) footballer and
UN Ambassador John Fashanu; my late husband Tony Bogush; the UK’s
Ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock; Eva Schloss; myself and
at back right, Barry van Driel, who composed the Declaration. Photo: UN
photographer, from the Anne Frank Trust collection.
8. A very special memory of attending the 1996 Academy Awards in Hollywood
with Miep Gies. Jon Blair, the writer and director of the Oscar winning
documentary feature Anne Frank Remembered is at the back on the right.
Photo: Jerome Goldblatt.
9. Anne Frank House International Director Jan Erik Dubbelman greets Japanese
children coming to the exhibition in Tokyo in 2010 Photo: Aaron Peterer,
Anne Frank House collection.
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List of PhotograPhs
10. Latvian and russian teenagers performing together in The Dreams of Anne
Frank riga, 1998. for some it was their first opportunity to interact socially.
from the anne frank house collection.
11. student peer guides in the south african township of orlando West with aaron
Peterer of the anne frank house education team (centre right back). Photo:
gift Mabunda, 2009 from the anne frank house collection.
12. Eva schloss with a prisoner guide (face obscured) at Wormwood scrubs
Prison in London. on the right is steve gadd, the anne frank trust prison
tour manager. Photo: Mark McEvoy for the anne frank trust.
13. Dutch foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen (with red tie) is shown around the
Anne Frank, A History for Today exhibition at the CEU Paraisopolis school in
sao Paulo, 2010. his enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides are as young as
ten and eleven. Photo: riccardo sanchez for the instituto Plataforma Brasil.
14. anne frank ambassadors show schools and members of the public around the
Anne Frank + You exhibition at Bradford College in West Yorkshire in 2013.
With thanks to Bradford Metropolitan District Council and the anne frank
trust.
15. anne frank peer guides at the forest gate school in London. from the anne
frank trust collection.
16. after the thirty-year-long sri Lankan civil war, the Anne Frank, A History
for Today exhibition gave students in Jaffna an opportunity to reflect on their
recent past and future. from the anne frank house collection.
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