Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Added Pictures from Berta!
Top photo (the one with the arrows) is Anne's house. The other is just a general picture of one of the streets -- not Anne's street, but nearby -- and just shows one of the many(!!) canals with typical houses/buildings
That’s right, time for another virtual blog! So, as we said before, we don’t actually need to have read the book to have a discussion? My book is on hold waiting for pick-up at the library. But if you have read the Diary of Ann Frank (not to be confused with My Left Boob: The Diary of Ann-Being-Frank), please give us a word, a number, and your thoughts!
My big news is that I swam a mile (in one hour) yesterday… I have been taking a swimming class at the Y. Now to just keep it up.
Hi all -- Congrats to Deb on the swimming. I could never do that; I hate to swim.
Anyway ... onto Anne Frank ... I feel weird giving this book a number, because what are you supposed to say: "I give it an 7 and I would've given it a 10 if only she would have written more about [such and such]." My goodness -- she was 14(ish)! And it's her diary! So, obviously in some respects you have to give it a 10 just for the sheer magnitude of what this book is, and then whatever anyone might think about the writing or the style or the "plot" is a separate opinion.
My word is "spirit." How she or any of the people in that house could maintain any sense of life and spirit in that situation is beyond belief.
Some general thoughts:
1. I was in Amsterdam Jun 30 through July 4. I will e-mail Deb some pictures from her house (none allowed inside but from outside) and do a separate post all about that.
2. I thought it was so interesting in the book that you could see how her outlook/thoughtfulness(?) changed as time progressed. In the beginning, so much of it was concentrated on retelling events, facts, etc., like the names and descriptions of everyone in her class. As time progressed and she loses so much of that external stimulation we all have everyday out in the world, her observations also turn to be more internal. Like there is nothing else left to talk about in terms of environment so all that's left is what's in your head/heart. It's easy to see the value in exposing yourself to all kinds of experiences for the sake of enriching your life and thoughts.
3. I believe that when the book was first published, there was some suspicion about its authenticity, and it certainly sounds like that's all been confronted/dismissed through investigation and testing, etc. But I can completely see where that suspicion came from. I mean, what a gift and how PERFECT this diary is to "showcase" (poor choice of word, but you get my gist) the experience of a jew in hiding. Even down to the details that in the opening segments she provides such background detail or takes the time to be so descriptive of the house, etc. If today, sometime claimed to have found a diary of some young person who had lived, for example, under Sadam Hussein's rule and through horrific conditions and it was as thorough and comprehensive as this, I would probably be suspicious, too. I mean what are the odds. So, that makes it all the more incredible and really telling of the magnitude of the entire war environment for so many years and affecting so many people that this story emerged.
4. In some of the commentary written since/after, alot was made about the feelings about Anne toward her mom and her father was shocked that she ever thought such things or that she could feel so lonely in general. This struck me as more typical than an adult male would realize for a teenage girl.
--more on Amsterdam in separate post --
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Hi All--swimming..what better way to exercise in the summer desert! You don't sweat...well if you do, you don't really know it. Perhaps we should use the word "swimming" as an ice-breaker. (Also a cool thought). Do you have a swimming pool? Do you use it for swimming or just to cool off? Are you a good swimmer? I didn't learn to swim until I was in college and got one PE credit. I grew up on Lake Michigan but everytime we went to the Red Cross classes, the waves were so high, we played sand relays.
Now on to the discussion:
About 2 years ago I bought a book entitled Shadow Life, A Portrait of Anne Frank and Her Family by Barry Denenberg. The cover photo of the family appealed to me and I have always loved the diary itself. I finally read this book that has been on my shelf for years and it has left me feeling even more despondent than the diary did the first time I read it. I think the reason for this is it painted a rich portrait of their beautiful family life prior to the war and this made their loss even more heart-breaking and senseless. The author interviewed many people who knew the Franks but survived the Holocaust.
Some interesting information to share: Otto Frank, the father, once worked at Macy's in New York! A former classmate of his owned Macy's Dept. Store. Both girls had American pen-pals. (The father translated the letters for them)Anne's parents decided to put her in Montessorri school whose curriculum suited Anne's free-spirited personality better than a classroom of obedience and conformity. Anne had a trick shoulder which she would often purposely move in and out of its socket to amuse others. Her sense of humor bordered on the slapstick..her mischevious mind and cheerful personality made the other girls want to be with her....a contrast to her serious and studius older sister, Margot. Edith, the mother, tried to make Anne more like Margot and disapproved of Anne always wanting to be the center of attention. She was often described as rebellious, stubborn and headstrong in the extreme. Edith and Anne clashed often but Edith was having a difficult time of her own, resenting the move fromm their German home to Holland. The father's insistence on the move granted them a few years of safety but ultimately
there was no escape. In spite of resenting the move, the Franks' apartment became a social center for Jewish families with wonderful meals and baked goods. Their lazy Susan on the coffee table was a focal point of good times. Anne's childhood could have been any child in America...they played chalk games on the sidewalks, marbles, hopscotch, hide and seek and tag. They roller skated and ice skated. She became an excellent swimmer and biker. Anne was style conscious before most girls her age. At the dressmaker, she knew where the hemline should be. She loved movie stars with a huge collection of their photos.
This innocent child's lifestyle changed when the German army attacked neutral Holland on May 10, 1940.
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Comment continued: Part 2 Gosh, 3000 words go quickly! I wanted to add the following: The other part of Denenberg's book was an imaginary diary he created as might have been written by the sister, Margot, based on research of friends, family and letters. Margot, in fact, did keep a diary also, but for some reason it was never found. The other fact that gave this book credibility to me was that the author's first impression of Anne's diary was not favorable. It was only through a 1997 article in the New Yorker, "Who Owns Anne Frank", that he began to examine the diary further. The author has written many books for Scholastic's Dear America series on Lindbergh, Jackie Robinson and Elvis Presley, as well as Nelson Mendala. If anyone wants to borrow this book, let me know. Since I read this book instead of the diary itself, I skipped the word and number. However, as mentioned earlier, after reading of the HOlocaust again, despondent is what one feels.
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I would be interested in reading that book, Vy. I had also seen another book about Otto Frank that I was curious about. T/F?...Otto was in love with someone else, affair fell thru and he married Edith (not a love match). Could explain his coolness towards his wife. I'm very anxious to see Berta's pictures and hear her impressions!
I remember when Carrie was reading Diary in school, she asked me how it ended and I, assuming she kind of knew, told her. She refused to finish it. She could not bear to read further. So, I understand the agony of going through it; I almost couldn't attempt it again, but I was so in awe of Anne and her insights.
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You guys have such great insights! I must admit that I'm finding it hard to tackle this story because of its overall sadness. I mean, I know the writing itself is so lovely and direct. But its very innocence is depressing. I mean, it's like ... I know how it ends, and she DIES. Although I guess we are spared the actual death in the story. But the story carries a pall of sadness because of the overall situation, as well as our knowledge of what happens to Anne.
Has anyone else had that problem? How did you get past it?
-Karman
P.S. Berta, can't wait to see your photos!
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Responding to Karmen...how does one overcome the depression that follows a book like this...I don't think you can and perhaps that is the point that we never do learn of something so horrendous and not feel appalled. One thing it told me was that of course Anne had no idea anyone would read her diary but how important it is to take time to record our thoughts and feelings somehow for posterity...perhaps not for a nation but for our own families. There were probably hundreds/thousands of stories like Anne's but we might have never known the lengths people went to to escape the nazi's had we not read hers...I think there was one entry where she wrote, "I refuse to be insignificant"--well, she certainly wasn't. The book I read interviewed people who were in camp with Margot and Anne and described their final days. More depression. I had to wonder what Anne would have written at that time. Would she still have believed her famous quote, "In spite of everything, I believe that people are good"--somehow I want to think so. A great movie to rent if you haven't seen is Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank, based on a true story of high school kids in LA ghetto...The Dairy of Anne Frank plays a large part in the movie and the actual lady who kept them hidden is in it (now in her 80s's or 90's). Very inspirational. Vy
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Thanks Deb for posting the photos! On the top photo, I tried to use some arrows to point things out, but they're not very obvious -- sorry. And Anne's house (which is the subject of this whole photo) is the little sliver of a thing EXACTLY behind that tree. Why didn't I move a bit to have that tree not be in the way?? Anyway ...
Anne's house is on one of the main canals in Amsterdam -- Prinsengracht. The second photo shows what one of the canals looks like (though it's not the one in front of her house), but there are multiple "rings" of canals all around the city, with then cross canals also. Think of a spider web. But the point is her father's business (and their house) was really on a main thoroughfare (probably good for business, bad for hiding.)
Her house as it existed is just the width of those three windows. The teal colored arrow is pointing to the main door (has a small plaque there). The purple arrow is pointing to the "alternate" door that she mentions (I think it goes directly to the second floor.)
Today, the building just to the right (with the taller windows) and the one just to the right of that (with the curtain/shading-looking things over the 1st/2nd floor) is all part of the Anne Frank museum/experience. When you go through it, you visit the house just as it was, but then there are some exhibits and things in these two extra buildings.
1. You start on the first floor, which was the warehouse. When they said "warehouse" I'm picturing this big cavernous (sp?) space -- NOT! You and I would just think of this as a long room. When she mentions being above it and having to be quiet, it would be like someone just living right in your own second story of your house -- very close by. And the entire "footprint" of the house is so small. You can see -- just more than 3 doorways wide, and probably 40-50 feet deep?
2. If I have this right ... the area with the green arrow would've been the business office and that old laboratory/kitchen they talked about. The floor with the yellow area would've been the level with Anne’s room and her parents’ room. The floor with the blue arrow would’ve been where the other family slept (aka big communal room), and the boy’s room.
3. Despite the “surprise” of how close the warehouse and offices really were to their hiding place, my biggest shock was that the hiding place itself was bigger than I imagined. I feel bad about saying that, because obviously, it’s horrific to have been locked in there, but to be honest, the rooms were more spacious than I’d pictured. I think I’d imagined them basically stuffed in a closet, always bumping into each other. The room where the other couple slept and where they all ate was quite large – maybe the size of Vy’s living room? The biggest thing that made it seem more spacious was that the ceilings were very high. And there is no furniture in it now. And they had all their possessions with them. And no air conditioning. And they were annoying eachother.
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4. Although the furniture was gone, the posters Anne had in her room were still on the walls. And I think the toilet fixture (porclein) was probably original. Amazingly, it was beautiful -- white with some blue floral pattern all over it.
5. There is also a spot on one of the walls where they had taken measurements of the girls as they were growing (the way you would mark in pencil on a chart). That was a bit eerie.
6. All the staircases in the house (and in particular the one behind the hidden bookcase) were SO narrow and steep! I'm assuming that's just typical in those houses, but any aging person in Holland must be some kind of acrobat to still go upstairs. We actually saw on many of the houses big hooks hanging from the tops that I'm sure they use to transport stuff to upper floors.
7. The whole experience was pretty sobering. Lots of people there, some explaining things to their kids, etc. Back in the "museum" portion, there were items related to the holocaust in general.
8. The gardens behind the house were inaccessible but you could see them out the window.
9. In the gift shop, they had copies of the book in EVERY language imaginable. That was kind of cool.
I know I'm forgetting things to mention -- will talk about it more when we meet live!
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Thanks Berta for the great tour via blog...good observations.
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