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Memories of Anne Frank's Friend
For young readers, a new book makes a perfect companion piece to a reading of Anne Frank's diary. This is the story of Anne Frank's childhood friend, Hannah Goslar. Remember Anne Frank's birthday (June 12) by sharing this moving and memorable story.
Hannah Goslar's story begins on the morning of July 7, 1942. School is out for the year, and Hannah is on her way to visit her friend, Anne Frank. On her dress, above her heart, is sewn a yellow star -- The Star of David. All Jews in South Amsterdam, where Hannah and Anne lived, are forced by law to wear the yellow star. The star identifies those people who are Jews to the Germans who have just conquered Holland.
Along the way, Hannah picks up another friend, Jacque. At Anne's home, Hannah rings the doorbell.
But there is no response.
The day is sunny, but Anne and her family couldn't have gone to the public pool -- because Jews are no longer allowed in the pool.
Again the girls ring the bell, but there is no answer.
They were about to leave when Mr. Goldschmidt, a man who rents a room from the Frank's, opens the door. Didn't the girls know? "They left yesterday in the rain. I think they went to Switzerland," he says.
A stunned Hannah and Jacque walk away. The Frank family had vanished!
A SENSE FOR LIFE IN AMSTERDAM
Hannah Goslar recently told her story to writer Allison Leslie Gold. That story is brought to life by Gold in the pages of a new book from Scholastic Press, Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend. We bring the book to your attention this week, just in time for the anniversary of Anne Frank's birth.
In this new book, Gold (also the author, with Miep Gies, of the 1987 book Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped Hide the Frank Family) shares Hannah's story with young readers. Gold fills the pages of this book with Goslar's penetrating recollections -- and with the history behind them. Goslar shares many memories, from her first contact (in 1933) with Anne Frank, when the girls were about four years old, to her reunion after the war with Anne's father, when she learns of Anne's death.
As a stunned Hannah returns home after learning of the Frank's escape to Switzerland, she is approached by another friend, Alfred. The panicked 16-year-old tries to put up a brave front as he tells Hannah that he's just been ordered by the Germans to report the next day for forced labor. He has no place to escape to, he tells her as they bid a tearful farewell.
Gold paints a poignant picture of life in South Amsterdam, where each day the Nazi presence is felt more. New laws have just been instituted, making it difficult for Jews to make a living -- or even to eat.
"Jews would only be allowed into shops for two hours each day, from three to five. By then all the fresh food would be gone."
The horror of the Nazi presence is felt in school too.
"At school each morning Hannah looked around her classroom. Not only Anne's chair but two or three more chairs were empty each week. …Who will be next? Will it be me? Will it be my family? Hannah wondered. All the children wondered…."
"All merriment had gone" from their lives.
THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR
Then the moment that Hannah had been fearing most … Before dawn on June 20, 1943, there was a banging at the Goslar's door.
"'Are there Jews living here?' a voice shouted in German.
"Mr. Goslar went to the door. 'Ja, there are Jews here,' he answered also in German.
"'You have twenty minutes! … Go down to the street! And hurry!' the Nazi soldier ordered, going on to the next door, where Hannah's grandparents lived…"
The Goslar family was transported to a camp at Westerbork. There Hannah volunteered for one of the worst jobs, cleaning the toilets, because the toilet area was near the barbed wire that separated she and her sister from their father in the men's camp. Her plan worked. She was able to see her father at work and to secretly talk with him from time to time.
Sickness and death surrounded the Jews held in Westerbork. And the Nazi came by frequently to call off lists of names. The people on those lists were taken away, transported to other prison camps -- camps with names such as Auschwitz, where it was rumored that large numbers of Jews were being put to death in gas chambers.
One day, it was Hannah's turn. Her name was on the list. She was transported to a camp called Bergen-Belsen. There Hannah would learn from Mrs. Van Dann, a Dutch-speaking woman who was a friend of the Frank family, that Anne was there -- in Bergen-Belsen, only feet away! Hannah and Anne surreptitiously reunite in the dark of night as the searchlight from the watchtower sweeps back and forth. Hannah learns that the Frank's had never gone to Switzerland. That story was a ruse to make the Nazis think they had gone. Instead, the family had been in hiding the entire time in a storage annex behind Mr. Frank's office. For two years Anne never stepped foot outside that hiding place.
A STORY FULL OF HEROES
This story of one of the saddest times in world history is also a story full of heroes. And those heroes are as much a part of Alison Gold's story as are the Nazi takeover, the torn-apart families, the brutal concentration camps, the sickness and death.
Gold introduces us to countless brave and unselfish people.
People such as Alfred, who faces hard labor.
Miep Gies, who shelters the Frank family in spite of its personal danger.
Mrs. Abrahams, who at Bergen-Belsen treats Hannah and her sister, Gabi, like her own.
And Hannah Goslar.
Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend, by Alison Leslie Gold, is available at bookstores everywhere. If you are unable to locate a copy of the book, ask your bookseller to order one for you. Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend is published by Scholastic Press (1997), a division of Scholastic, Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. (The book is 135 pages long, photos included; recommended for upper-elementary-grade students and above.)
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1998 Education World
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ADDITIONAL BOOKS TO READ
- Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped Hide the Frank Family by Miep Gies and Alison Leslie Gold (Simon and Schuster, 1988). The true story behind Anne Frank's days in hiding from the Nazis during World War II brings a fresh perspective and deeper poignancy to The Diary of a Young Girl. Includes 42 photos.
- The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank and (editors) Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler (Doubleday, 1995). This new translation of Anne Frank's classic diary -- including material omitted from previous publications -- captures the youthful exuberance, spirit, and tragedy of a girl whose words have given testament to the horrors of war.
- Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary: A Photographic Remembrance by Ruud Van Der Rol, Rian Verhoeven, and Rol Ruud Vander (Puffin, 1995). Excerpts from Anne Frank's original diaries and interviews with the last people to see her alive offer insight into her life -- from her happy childhood to the concentration camps after her family was captured and separated. 150 photos.
- The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank by Willy Lindwer (Anchor, 1992). This is the devastating "unwritten" final chapter of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, a book that has become a symbol for millions of the horror of the Holocaust. Anne made her last diary entry on August 1, 1944. Four days later she and her family were arrested by the Nazis and deported to concentration camps, where Anne perished some seven months later.
Related Sites
WEB SITES WORTH CHECKING OUT
- Anne Frank Online This site, developed by The Anne Frank Center USA, includes biographical information, a traveling exhibit, and tips for teaching about Anne Frank in the classroom.
- Anne Frank House The homepage of the Anne Frank House includes information about the house, about Anne, and about her diary.
06/08/1998
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