MY FRIEND ANNE FRANK by Hannah Pick-Goslar
A Review by Monica West, who writes Monica Reads for InDepthNH.org
I encourage everyone of any age to read “My Friend Anne Frank.” But first please read “The Diary of Anne Frank” and of course the “Diary of Petr Ginz,” the story of a young Jewish boy who lived in Czechoslovakia during World War II and died in Auschwitz at age 16. You can find them in your local library.
You may wonder why at this time in history we should read or re-read all of these wonderful books. It’s because of all the misinformation/disinformation circulating relative to the Israeli/Hamas war.
We all need to know more about World War II and how the Germans wanted to dominate the world.
Everyone must read “My Friend Anne Frank” because it shows how the Jews of that time handled the horror of the holocaust, how it happened and why it could happen again.
The book, written by Hannah Pick-Goslar, is a look back at “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Hannah and Anne were the same age and their families had been uprooted from Germany and moved to Amsterdam to get away from the rise of fascism and Hitler.
Hannah and Anne were both in their early teens and one day, the Frank family seemingly disappeared leaving no word.
Hannah and her family ended up at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she last saw Anne, who was in dire straits begging for food. Hannah escaped with her sister.
Hannah wanted to honor her father and grandfather who always wanted to go the Jewish homeland and emigrated to Israel. Hannah lived, she moved, was educated, and became a nurse. She died in her nineties in 2022.
What they went through was unimaginable then, but has returned to us to view the possibility it could happen again. Please read these books to witness through the eyes of people who died so young the horrors of the holocaust.
Monica West reviews books for InDepthNH.org. Monica is known for her love of history and her lifelong love for reading. She has a bachelor’s degree in History, with a minor in English. “My years of reading for leisure and pleasure have given me the insight to read a book and analyze the author’s baggage, cargo and ability to write the language of his/her mind and utilize the gift of prose to educate and entertain the reader. Go get a book, read it and enjoy the adventure.”