Tim Whittome – författare

“Meeting” Anne Frank: An Anthology captures the stories of some twenty of us who have walked with Anne Frank and her sister Margot as kindred spirits over the course of the many decades that have elapsed since both girls died from typhus and Nazi cruelty in Bergen-Belsen in 1945.None writing here actually “met” or knew Anne personally, but we have “talked” to her and “journeyed” with her kindred spirit. Anne Frank unites us at a time when so much of the world is riven by the familiar and divisive themes of partisan politics, anti-Semitism, and prejudice.You will, though, be meeting those who did know Anne’s “most adorable father” Otto, and they have kindly shared their vivid stories in this volume. You will be seeing how we cherish not just the loving father-daughter relationship that has come to mean so much for many of us, but also the inspiration of Anne’s patient mother Edith and her “ladylike” older sister Margot. Several of Anne’s surviving school friends also appear in the journeys undertaken by a number of my contributors. In the years since she died in 1945, Anne Frank has become variously the sister, mother, wife, daughter, girlfriend, or best friend to each of us writing for this anthology and to many in the wider world. We honor the happy and tragic story of Anne’s brief life and recognize the existence of, at least, “two Annes” in both her sense of fun and mischief and in her growing self-awareness while in hiding. Anne was only a child while she lived freely at Merwedeplein 37 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and barely a teenager when she died in a Nazi concentration camp for the simple “crime” of being Jewish.Anne wanted to “go on living after [her] death” in February or March 1945, and I hope we have honored her lasting wish in this work.

Whether on the seashore or on the trails between clumps of Haworth heather, let us walk with Anne Brontë and listen to her discussing the kind of truth “that always conveys its own moral to those who are able to receive it.”Join us in our academic and personal celebratory reflections on “gentle” Anne’s “core of steel,” sense of family duty, and enduring courage. Anne was the most underrated and least known of the three Brontë sisters for the better part of a century after she died in May 1849. Walking with Anne Brontë adds gravitas and personality to the growing chorus of academic and other voices honoring the youngest Brontë sibling’s inspirational life and literary legacy.

Now in full-color, our expanded, and updated version of "e;Meeting"e; Anne Frank: An Anthology continues our exploration of the personal influence of Anne Frank and her sister Margot.None writing here actually knew Anne Frank personally, but we believe we have met her in the eighty years since she died. She unites us here at a time when so much of the world continues to be riven by the familiar but divisive themes of extremist politics, anti-Semitism, and prejudice. To meet Anne requires one to focus both on who she was as a talented, lively, funny, and warmhearted daughter, and also on who she represents as an involuntary spokesperson for all the lost dreams and promise of the 1.5 million children who died during the Holocaust or Shoah.We will, though, be meeting four writers who knew Anne s most adorable father Otto, and they have shared their recollections in this volume. Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl, who has kindly written the foreword for us, is the son of Bep Voskuijl who was famously responsible for helping those in hiding in the Secret Annex, and for establishing a warm and close friendship with Anne.Many of our reflections will pay tribute to the beautiful city of Amsterdam. Anne Frank came to love the Dutch and the Netherlands, and she looked forward to becoming a Dutch citizen after the war. She died stateless instead.Anne Frank has become variously the sister, mother, wife, daughter, girlfriend, or best friend to each of us writing for this anthology and to millions across the world. We pay tribute to the many Annes who have survived in our thoughts and ideals. Sometimes we have wanted to talk to the Anne who was a gregarious, opinionated, impulsive, and fun-loving teenager, while at other times, we have wanted to listen to the Anne who was a talented and observant writer, or to the Anne who was serious, self-critical, and idealistic, and who grew in maturity and wisdom while in hiding. She was a child while she lived freely in the comparative safety of life in and around Merwedeplein, Amsterdam, and only a young teenager when she died with Margot in a Nazi concentration camp for the simple crime of being Jewish.Anne Frank wanted to go on living after [her] death in February or March 1945, and I hope Meeting Anne shows how her wishes and voice have been heard in unique, inspiring, and instructive ways. We may be walking where others have gone before us and where others will surely continue to do after, but I hope along the way we will have shown that you can always see something different if you want to