Understanding Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" is the most widely read text about the Holocaust, yet it reveals only one example of the tragic consequences of the Nazi policy to eliminate the Jews. This casebook enriches Anne Frank's remarkable personal account with a variety of historical documents that illuminate the political and social context of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism in Germany. It includes an account of the Frank family's life in Germany before emigrating to Holland; first-person accounts of Anne's last seven months in deportation and concentration camps; other Holocaust narratives in the form of memoirs, letters and children's diaries; an excerpt from "Zlata's Diary", the story of a young girl caught in the war in Bosnia which has been compared to Anne Frank's; official Nazi pronouncements on "The Final Solution" to the Jews; and newspaper reports and editorials of the horrific events occurring between 1939 and 1945. All of these materials should help the student to better understand the historical context of Anne's experience, and the teacher to select appropriate materials to sensitize students to this period in history. Documents and discussion materials are organized into chapters on the Frank family history, including a chronology; the Jews in Holland; children in the Holocaust and their rescuers; a narrative overview and chronology of anti-Semitism in modern Germany; the Holocaust; and other Holocaust stories. Kopf also addresses the psychological issues of adolescent development so dramatically illustrated in Anne's diary and looks at her writing as carefully crafted literature. Each chapter contains study questions, topics for research papers and class discussions, and lists of further reading for exploring the historical as well as the personal issues leading to and culminating in the Holocaust. This is a source for interdisciplinary, English and world history classes.

Reviews

The author writes compassionately yet objectively, and her moving prose helps carry readers through the rich collection of materials....Students researching Anne Frank or the Holocaust will make extensive use of this resource.-School Library Journal
This is an excellent resource for interdisciplinary courses, especially in the humanities.-The Book Report
"This is an excellent resource for interdisciplinary courses, especially in the humanities."-The Book Report
"The author writes compassionately yet objectively, and her moving prose helps carry readers through the rich collection of materials....Students researching Anne Frank or the Holocaust will make extensive use of this resource."-School Library Journal

Author Bio

pf /f Hedda /i Rosner/b HEDDA ROSNER KOPF teaches in the English department at Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Connecticut./e She is also a scholar/facilitator for public library book discussions in libraries throughout the state and lectures extensively on women writers.