Anne Frank Remembered

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She is perhaps Hitler's|best-known victim.

Her book has sold more|than 25 million copies...

...and has been translated|into at least 55 languages.

She's become a symbol of 10|million souls murdered by the Nazis...

...Jews and non-Jews...

...and, in particular, the one and|a half million innocent children.

She was just 15 when she died.

A miserable and lonely death|in a concentration camp in Germany.

Yet she is remembered|for her faith in humanity.

This is the story of the life|and legacy of Anne Frank.

In Amsterdam, some of the remnants|of a once-thriving Jewish community.

Every person in this congregation,|like Jews throughout Europe...

...has a story of their own...

...of persecution, murder,|fear or betrayal.

The rabbi spent the first|2 years of his life in hiding...

...sheltered by a Christian family.

But one girl reaches|beyond all those memories.

Hers is not just a Holocaust story,|for the voice of Anne Frank...

...stands as a warning to those|who discriminate on the basis...

...of color, culture or creed.

Her message is as fresh today|as it was 50 years ago.

The notorious Nazi propaganda film...

...The Eternal Jew.

Distorted images portraying|an Aryan nightmare...

...of the Jewish threat|to European civilization.

And this, the family Frank:

Prosperous, cultivated,|sophisticated...

...and integrated.

In fact, they were a German family.|German to the core.

The antithesis of ghetto Jews.

Anne's father, Otto,|was an officer in the German army...

...in the first World War.

The family had lived in and around|Frankfurt for generations.

But Otto had traveled the world, even|working in Macy's store in New York...

...where a college friend,|Nathan Straus, was the owner's son.

In 1925, the 36-year-old Otto|married Edith Hollander...

...a 25-year-old Jewish girl|from Aachen, Germany...

...near the Dutch border.

They honeymooned in Italy.

Their first daughter, Margot,|followed 9 months later...

...and their second, Annelies,|better known as Anne, in June 1929.

It was a good life in Frankfurt|in those early years.

One could almost forget the long|shadow of National Socialism.

But beneath the idyllic surface...

...far removed from the children's world,|turmoil.

DANGER JEWS:

Their landlord turned out to be|a Nazi party member.

And in March 1931, they moved.

The bank owned by the family|also had serious problems...

...resulting in its complete|collapse in 1933...

...caused by Otto's brother|being the victim of a fraud...

...and the effects of the Depression,|particularly acute in Germany.

And, of course, the threat|of the gathering storm.

On the streets...

...at the rallies...

ONE RACE ONE NATlON

...and finally in January 1933...

...the ballot box.

ONE LEADER:

For it is often forgotten that Hitler|gained power in a democratic election.

For the Franks,|the German dream was over.

Some of the family|had moved to Switzerland.

Otto chose to try his luck in Holland...

...where he had|prior business connections.

In autumn 1933, the family settled|here in Merwedeplein...

...a modern housing development|in South Amsterdam.

They established a settled and full|existence amongst German refugees...

...and Dutch neighbors.

We moved into the same neighborhood|as the Frank family.

Many other refugees moved there.

And so there was a little bit|of a German-Jewish enclave...

...by no means a ghetto,|but just a little enclave.

Quite often parents would speak|German in the street...

...which annoyed us|children terribly, of course.

Hanneli Goslar

My father was a deputy minister|in the interior.

And he was the chief|of the press in Germany.

He had really a very high position.

And he immediately fled...

...when the whole|government stepped down.

And, okay, we went|to England before...

...but he didn't find a job where|he didn't have to work Shabbat.

And so we stopped here|in Merwedeplein.

Life for Jewish refugees...

...as I experienced it as a young|child, in a way had its charms.

What I particularly enjoyed was that|we adapted faster than our parents.

Our parents had to|turn to us and ask us...

...what's done in this country.

And I found this|tremendously democratizing.

I really enjoyed that part very much.

The Franks formed an active social life|amongst the other refugee families.

For visitors, Anne's behavior|made the Sunday gatherings...

...something of an ordeal.

She was just what|you could call naughty.

She had to sit on a table where|everything was very beautiful...

...in a beautiful dress and have|her chocolate not spoil it.

Isa Baschwitz

She just didn't want to.

She got up and she made fuss,|and she...

...drew attention.

And then she grew angry.

And that angriness...

...that was the problem|between the parents.

Mother Frank said, "You sit down."

And Father Frank said:

"Leave the child alone.|She's so small and she's so little."

So she was allowed to do|the things she wanted.

And that happened every time.

Every time that girl was naughty...

...was impertinent,|later on, really impertinent.

I remember very strongly|that Mr. Frank...

...was seen as an ideal daddy,|that he was the daddy...

...because he was so much involved|in his girls' education.

He fixed his wife breakfast on Sunday|morning and brought it to her bedside...

...which was unheard of in our circles.|So that news made the round:

"Mr. Frank does this for his wife!|How great."

Otto Frank|interviewed in 1979

We left Germany in 1933...

...because I didn't want to educate|my children with blinkers.

They were not allowed to see|Christian friends anymore.

In Holland, it was different.

Upon her arrival in Amsterdam...

...the 4-year-old Anne was sent|to the Montessori school...

...where Lies Goslar|became her best friend.

Years later, in her diary,|Anne wrote this of Lies:

"Hanneli Goslar, or Lies, as she's|called at school, is a bit strange.

She's usually shy...

...outspoken at home but reserved|around other people.

She blabs whatever you tell her|to her mother.

But she says what she thinks.

And lately, I've come|to appreciate her a great deal. "

Anne and Lies' friendship had begun|on their very first day at school.

Exactly in opposite of the door...

...I saw the back of Anne, and|she was ringing these little bells.

And she turned around, and she saw me,|I saw her, and hop...

...we run each into|the arms of another.

I think my mother went away.|I didn't look at her anymore.

And this was the first day.

Since then we were together|really till the end.

Of the two sisters, I was really more|impressed with Margot than with Anne...

...for rather obvious reasons.

Margot was a year and a half older|than I am, so she was a model.

She was ladylike.|She was always composed.

She always did her homework.|She was just the ideal young lady.

I was a tomboy, so I always thought|it would be great to be like Margot.

Anne was very lively, and I didn't|need any model for that.

I was lively myself.

Besides, she was younger. You never|model yourself after a younger child.

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