By Eric George Tauber
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Films and series dealing with the Shoah (Holocaust) are streaming on Netflix.
My Best Friend Anne Frank
(Mijn Beste Vriendin Anne Frank, Dutch w/ subtitles)
The Diary of Anne Frank is a well-known story. It has been translated into more than 70 languages and is required reading in many schools. (Some right-wing groups are currently trying to ban books like Anne Frank and Maus from school and public libraries.) It seems they are “uncomfortable” with the portrayal of Nazis as the bad guys. The annex in Amsterdam where she hid has been turned into a museum that is popular with tourists. There is a movie version, a stage play and the Off-Broadway musical, Yours, Anne. So what is there to say that hasn’t already been said? Based on the book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend, by Alison Leslie Gold this film tells the story of Hannah Goslar, Anne Frank’s best friend before the Franks went into hiding.
The story goes back and forth between Amsterdam and Bergen-Belsen. The former is a world of bright sunshine, pretty colors and clean clothes. However, the Nazi occupation repeatedly intrudes into their lives, chipping away at their innocence like a hammer. Inside the camp, everything and everyone is a dirty gray, enshrouded in the Shadow of Death.
There were two sides to Bergen-Belsen. One side was simply a death camp. The other was an “exchange camp” where the Nazis would trade some of the Jewish prisoners for German POWs where people endured overwhelming hardships for that tiny carrot of hope. This was how Hannah and her baby sister Gabi survived whereas Anne fell prey to starvation and typhus. Though separated by a wall of hay, the two girls are able to call each other with a particular whistle and communicate very briefly.
Josephine Arendsen and Aiko Beemsterboer are charming as Hannah and Anne. As girls in their early teens, they are playful, petulant and mischievous, sneaking into the cinema and learning how to flirt with boys. There is a strong sense of affection and devotion between the girls even when they quarrel and just enough chemistry to make us wonder where their relationship might have gone.
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Eric George Tauber, a former San Diegan now residing in Cincinnati, is a teacher, performer, and a drama critic. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com
Some thirty years ago, when I was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, I was commissioned by the Cliff’s Notes publishing company (which was then located in the city) to write a ‘crib’ booklet on Anne Frank’s Diary, in order to aid pupils who were required to rea the diary. I summarised the sequence of events, described the individuals in the secret attic, gave the historical context, and traced the events that took place after the Frank family’s hiding place was discovered. I also gave an account of the fate that befell them, and Anne in particular. To the best of my knowledge the Cliff’s Notes booklet is still in print.