My Friend Anne Frank

(Hardback)

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In this never-before-seen memoir, Bergen-Belsen survivor Hannah Pick-Goslar shares incredibly powerful words on the final untold portrait of her childhood friend, Anne Frank. THE LONG-AWAITED, MOVING MEMOIR OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR HANNAH PICK-GOSLAR, WHO SHARES AN INTIMATE LOOK INTO HER LIFE AND FRIENDSHIP WITH ANNE FRANK. 'As a girl I witnessed the world I loved crumble and vanish, destroyed by senseless hatred, and with it, my best friend Anne' Two best friends' lives were about to change for ever, neither would ever be forgotten... When Hannah's family flee from the Nazis to Amsterdam, she soon strikes up a friendship with a girl just like her freshly arrived from Germany. Precocious and outspoken, the girl's name is Anne Frank and for seven blissful years the inseparable pair navigate school, boys and coming of age. Then one day in 1942, as the Nazi occupation intensifies, they are separated without warning. Hannah calls on Anne and can't find a trace of her, breakfast dishes still in the sink, beds unmade. Anne and her family have seemingly vanished. They are told the Franks have fled to Switzerland. As Hannah is tormented by the fate of her friend, hoping she is alive and well elsewhere, her own family's fate unfolds. After attempts to flee themselves, the SS finally come for them and they are taken to the transit camp Westerbork. Eventually Hannah, her father and younger sister Gabi are transported to Bergen-Belsen. Amid horrific conditions with death all around, it is during Hannah's darkest point at the concentration camp that she hears astonishing of news of Anne. Desperate to save her friend who is weak and struggling to survive, Hannah risks her life to help her. In an incredible memoir of hope, strength and defiance, Hannah shares the intimate, loving portrait of her friendship with the young diarist who would go on to capture the hearts of millions around the world.

Reviews

The real Anne Frank, by her best friend * Daily Telegraph *
[A] beautiful and complex friendship * New York Post *
Hannah's story finally completes what Anne could not. It is both heartbreaking and life-affirming, and we need its truth now more than ever. * Dr. Edith Eger, author of The Choice *
An extraordinary story of love, loss, and the power of friendship in the darkest time. This book, like its author, is an essential companion to Anne Frank's life. * Jack Fairweather, Costa Prizewinning author of The Volunteer *
A heart-wrenching memoir of friendship and survival. By telling her story, Hannah Goslar pays tribute to her best friend Anne Frank and the millions of others who did not survive the Holocaust. But she also shows us how to preserve our humanity in the face of evil. * Ronald Leopold, Executive Director of the Anne Frank House *

Author Bio

Hannah Pick-Goslar, simply Hanneli to her friends, was born in Berlin 1928, the eldest child of Jewish parents Hans Goslar and Ruth Judith Klee. In 1933, after the election of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, the Goslars moved to Amsterdam. Hannah attended the 6th Montessori School, where she became best friends with Anne Frank. Hannah is referred to as 'Lies Goosens' in some of the tales in Anne Frank's diary. In June 1943, Hannah, her father, her maternal grandparents, along with Hannah's younger sister Gabi, were arrested and sent to Westerbork transit camp, and then eventually to Bergen-Belsen. Hannah survived 14 months until the camp was liberated in 1945. She emigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1947, shortly before it became Israel, and trained as a nurse. Once retired, Hannah enjoyed the company of her 3 children, 10 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. She passed away in 2022 at the age of 93.