AAARGH
Three rival biographers will next month
lay claim to the life of Anne Frank, half a century after the
death of the young Jewish girl who became "the human face
of the Holocaust".
In a big-money battle between three of Britain's most prestigious
publishing houses, each author claims to have "the definitive
story", with personal endorsements from the Frank family
and privileged access to unpublished documents.
But despite such sensational claims, the books have left many
Frank enthusiasts cold. They object to the revelatory tone of
the surrounding publicity and accuse the publishers of hype.
Although Anne Frank has become a universal symbol of the Holocaust,
there has been no full biography published since her death in
1945 at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Until now, she has
been known to the world only through her own words.
The attentions of the three biographers, whose books are published
to coincide with the 70th anniversary of her birth in June, marks
a recognition by the literary industry of the enduring appeal
of her tragic life story and its commercial possibilities.
Friends, family and Anne Frank scholars are deeply divided over
the relative merits of the three biographies: Viking's Roses
from the Earth by Carol Ann Lee, Bloomsbury's Anne Frank:
The Biography by Melissa Muller, and Macmillan's The Story
of Anne Frank by Mirjam Pressler.
Lee and Muller claim to throw new light on the identity of the
Frank family's betrayer. However, some who have read the books
say neither author has produced any fresh evidence. Others feel
that to turn Anne Frank's story into a murder mystery is to miss
the point.
"All of us who
lived through this time say 'who cares whether it was the cleaning
woman or not?'. This is sensationalism. This does not add anything
to Anne Frank and her value as a writer,"
said Laureen Nussbaum, 71, a retired professor of literature,
now living in Oregon, who knew Anne Frank before she went into
hiding and is regarded by scholars as the leading authority on
the diary.
Anne Frank was 13 when she went into hiding in Amsterdam. She
was not yet 16 when she was taken by the Nazis on the last train
from Amsterdam to the death camp at Auschwitz. After being moved
to Belsen, she was among the last of Hitler's six million Jewish
victims in the final days of the war. Her diary, written between
1942 and 1944, is the most widely read document about the Nazis'
crimes.
The three publishers are sparing no expense in the marketing of
their biographies. But it is Viking that is making the most extravagant
claims. Carol Ann Lee was born in Yorkshire in 1969, a self-confessed
fan and avid collector of Frank memorabilia turned "world
authority on Anne Frank". Her book is to be launched during
Jewish Book Week (7-14 March) as "the only biography fully
supported by the Frank family". Publicity material for the
book claims that Lee has "discovered a letter which points
towards the identity of the Frank family's betrayer".
Bloomsbury's book, meanwhile, is billed as "the biography for all those who seek a richer
understanding of Anne Frank and the brutal times in which she
lived and died". It is "full of revelations ... and
examines the enduring mystery: who betrayed the families". It is published on 25 March, the official publication
date of Roses from the Earth.
Thirdly, there is The Story of Anne Frank published by
Macmillan two weeks after its rivals. Its author, Mirjam Pressler,
has "impeccable credentials", according to the publisher. "There could hardly be anyone
better placed to write a biography of Anne Frank than Mirjam Pressler:
as a Jewish woman living in contemporary Germany; as the translator
of The Diary of Anne Frank from Dutch into German; as the
editor who, with Otto Frank, compiled the new expanded Definitive
Edition of the Diary."
Unlike the others, Pressler does not address the question of the
Frank family's betrayer, an omission of which Macmillan is proud.
"That is not something
we would countenance," said a
spokeswoman. "It
seems to be almost a diversion."
Viking is keeping Lee's book under lock and key prior to serialisation
in a national newspaper. However, a source who obtained a copy
said yesterday: "There's
nothing new in it. The angle is 'who betrayed Anne Frank?', but
Lee doesn't come up with a new answer. She just reiterates a suspicion
which is in Anne Frank's diary."
Professor Nussbaum said yesterday that she had not seen Lee's
book -- and was disinclined to do so. "[Lee] quoted me from a Dutch newspaper clipping.
She latched on to a section [of the
article] where there
were a few mistakes. She never bothered to contact me, so don't
take her too seriously. She could have found me, after all."
The Macmillan biography is given equally short shrift by Professor
Nussbaum. Of Pressler, she said: "This is an author I really distrust. Her
so-called Definitive Edition (of the Diary) is terrible.
Even the fact that it is called 'definitive' is aggravating. This
term is just a sales gimmick."
Indeed, in Professor Nussbaum's view, the Bloomsbury biography
by Melissa Muller is the only one worth bothering with. "Unlike Lee, she took the
trouble to interview me. Unlike Pressler she has tried to emphasise
Anne's writership."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Independent on Sunday, 28 février 1999. On remarquera
que la rédaction a confié cet article sur le panier
de crabe à son correspondant pour "les affaires religieuses".
Ce texte a été
affiché sur Internet à des fins purement éducatives,
pour encourager la recherche, sur une base non-commerciale et
pour une utilisation mesurée par le Secrétariat
international de l'Association des Anciens Amateurs de Récits
de Guerre et d'Holocauste (AAARGH). L'adresse électronique
du Secrétariat est <[email protected]>.
L'adresse postale est: PO Box 81475, Chicago, IL 60681-0475, USA.
Afficher un texte sur le Web équivaut à mettre un document sur le rayonnage d'une bibliothèque publique. Cela nous coûte un peu d'argent et de travail. Nous pensons que c'est le lecteur volontaire qui en profite et nous le supposons capable de penser par lui-même. Un lecteur qui va chercher un document sur le Web le fait toujours à ses risques et périls. Quant à l'auteur, il n'y a pas lieu de supposer qu'il partage la responsabilité des autres textes consultables sur ce site. En raison des lois qui instituent une censure spécifique dans certains pays (Allemagne, France, Israël, Suisse, Canada, et d'autres), nous ne demandons pas l'agrément des auteurs qui y vivent car ils ne sont pas libres de consentir.
Nous nous plaçons sous
la protection de l'article 19 de la Déclaration des Droits
de l'homme, qui stipule:
ARTICLE 19
<Tout individu a droit à la liberté d'opinion
et d'expression, ce qui implique le droit de ne pas être
inquiété pour ses opinions et celui de chercher,
de recevoir et de répandre, sans considération de
frontière, les informations et les idées par quelque
moyen d'expression que ce soit>
Déclaration internationale des droits de l'homme,
adoptée par l'Assemblée générale de
l'ONU à Paris, le 10 décembre 1948.