In 1945, close to the end of World War II, Anne Frank died at the age of fifteen. However, her
diary and her close friend Hannah Gosler survived to tell her story. Hannah lived next door to
Anne until the day when the Frank family seemed to abandon everything and disappear.
In Memories of Anne Frank, Alison Leslie Gold recounts Hannah Gosler's memories of her
friendship with Anne, and writes of Hannahs' own struggles during the war. Hannah tells of a
young, funny, bright Anne Frank who had sleepover parties, and flirted, and wanted to be
famous, a girl just like any other girl.
Ms. Goslar's heart-wrenching story takes the reader one step beyond The Diary of Anne Frank,
describing Anne and Hannah's last tearful meetings at Bergen Belson soon before Anne's death.
Gold brings to life Hannah's remembrances of two teenage girls who, despite the utter hopelessness
of their situations, kept hoping anyway.
Excerpt:
On Tuesday morning, July 7, 1942, after a day of heavy rain, the sun
came out in south Amsterdam, Holland. Hannah Goslar was dressed for
summer in a light cotton dress. The school year was finished, the
graduation ceremony had been the previous Friday. The days were now
long and the sky was probably filled with big puffy Dutch clouds.
Hannah’s mother had sewn the yellow six-pointed star—which all
Jewish people had been ordered to wear—to the front of Hannah’s dress
above her heart. The Star of David usually made Hannah feel proud to
be Jewish, but because Jews were now being arrested and persecuted
by the Germans who had conquered Holland, it made her conspicuous,
like a target at a shooting range.
At age thirteen Hannah Goslar was fun-loving but also quite
religious. She went to Hebrew school two times a week and to
synagogue. She was gangly, tall, had creamy skin, and brushed her
mahogany-brown hair so fast that electric sparks crackled. Hannah’s
best features were her hair and her soft, brown eyes.
This morning she was going to call for her friend Anne Frank. Anne
was outspoken, even impudent: she loved having fun. She was more
interested in socializing and boyfriends than Hebrew lessons. Lately the
differences between Hannah and Anne had become more pronounced.
With the war raging and both of them being thirteen, life was not as
simple as it used to be when they were little girls sitting side by side at
school.
Hannah had kissed her father before she left the house. Because of
a new law that Jews were forbidden from working in most professions, Mr.
Goslar was no longer allowed to work as a professional economist. This
meant it was difficult for him to support his family