My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne
Frank: The Memoirs of Anne Franks
Best Friend by Jacqueline van
Maarsen
Outstanding Contribution To (Further) Understanding Anne Frank
A touching and intimate autobiography, this account recalls the author’s
remarkable childhood friendship with Anne Frank while attending a special
school for Jewish children in Amsterdam during the late 1930s. With the
story of her initial meeting and bonding with Anne Frank, Jacqueline van
Maarsen’s memoir recollects her family’s near escape from the
Netherlands only months after the Frank family went into hiding—or moved
to Switzerland, as van Maarsen was lead to believe—and provides a
revealing look into life under Nazi occupation. Written by a one-time friend
who only discovered the truth about Anne’s fate after the war ended, this
memoir is a moving, firsthand recollection of a youthful friendship in the
foreboding days of World War II.

Personal Review: My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank: The
Memoirs of Anne Franks Best Friend by Jacqueline van Maarsen
Jacqueline van Maarsen is a contemporary of Anne Frank, and only in
recent years has begun speaking out more and more about her
experiences and interaction with Anne Frank. This book was originally
published in the Netherlands in 2003, and now is finally available in the
US.
"My Name is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank" (176 pages) is structured in 3
parts: Parts 1 and 3 deal with her mom and dad, respectively, and Part 2,
by far the longest, deal with her own experiences living in the years leading
up to the war, the war time itself with the occupation of Amsterdam by the
Germans, and the aftermath of the war. The author, who is half-Jewish,
brings us fascinating insights on what life really was like in those dark days
of the late 30 and the 1940s. The author became best friends with Anne,
and spent a lot of time with her in the years until Anne and her family went
in hiding in the summer of 1942. There are some descriptions in the book
regarding her friendship with Anne that I felt were almost too close for
comfort. The author never saw Anne again after the Frank family went into
hiding (and eventually was betrayed--it's still not clear by whom), but brings
us touching, even heart-breaking, descriptions on her post-war dealings
with Otto Frank, Anne's father (and the sole survivor of the Frank family).
She writes: "He often wept when he was with me. I didn't know how to deal
with that." Wow... how could a 16-17 yr old child bring comfort to Anne's
dad?
Anne Frank's contributions to history and her influence continue to this
day, not only through the on-going sales of her diaries, but also as a result
of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam (which I've had a chance to visit
and will readily recommend to anyone). Meanwhile, "My Name is Anne,
She Said, Anne Frank" is a nice addition to understanding not only the
context of Anne Frank better, but even more importantly, to also better
understand what life was really like, and the unspeakable crime that was
the holocaust, which nevertheless must be spoken about for the sake of
our children and our children's children. Highly recommended!
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