The footsteps of Anne Frank

by Ernst Schnabel

WW2, 1st edition paperback, vg++, true

Genres: Holocaust, History, Biography, Nonfiction, World War II, German Literature, Jewish

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neste livro, o autor Ernst Schnabel propõe-se seguir o "rasto" de Anne Frank, pelo caminho daqueles que a conheceram ou que tiveram com ela algum contacto. Identificou 76 pessoas nessas condições e conseguíu encontrar e falar com 42. A história de Anne Frank é assim contada através dos testemunhos dessas pessoas. Episódios, fragmentos, por vezes apenas pequenos objectos, fotos ou documentos, são aqui agrupados para ajudar a compreender quem foi esta menina tão especial que escreveu o Diário de Anne Frank.

Tratando-se de um livro de não-ficção e uma espécie de biografia, esperava algo mais estruturado, mais factual e de investigação. Mas apesar de documental, o livro é escrito com muita ternura, afecto e admiração por esta menina. Apesar de o próprio autor mencionar a dificuldade que é separar a Anne "criança como as outras" da Anne "lenda", nota-se que nem sempre consegue manter as coisas separadas no texto. Mas não vejo isso como um problema. Penso que foi um trabalho notável a procura e recolha de testemunhos das pessoas que se lembravam de Anne Frank, numa altura em que o passado era ainda bastante recente. Para todos os que não ficaram indiferentes à história desta menina, são sem dúvida de uma enorme importância e riqueza.

É no entanto importante que antes de se ler este livro se leia o Diário de Anne Frank. Sem esse conhecimento prévio será difícil entender e apreciar verdadeiramente este livro. Existem muitas menções a passagens do Diário e o autor incluíu outros textos de Anne Frank que não constam do Diário mas que foram escritos nesta mesma fase da sua vida. Gostei mesmo muito de conhecer mais sobre Anne Frank e sobre a sua vida.

Bastante terno e comovente este livro. Faz relembrar e reavivar a revolta sentida no final do Diário de Anne Frank, pela sua morte e a de tantas vidas, neste horror indecscritível que foi o holocausto.

Aconselho muito este livro a todos quantos tenham gostado de ler o Diário de Anne Frank.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great old book on the subject of Anne Frank and her diary! I've read a great deal about Anne Frank, but didn't even know this book existed until I found it randomly at a library book sale. I have an original copy too, copyright 1958, which makes it all the more special and rare. It was great to read the perspective this writer had in 1958, when her diary really began to gain notoriety and the plays based on it were being performed. The writer is German (and the book is translated into English from German), so I found this perspective to be an interesting and sometimes overlooked one. There are direct, eye-witness accounts from those who knew her from before she went into hiding, those who helped the Frank family while they were hiding, and those who knew or knew of her in the concentration camps. This book is a must for anyone interested in the topic of Anne Frank and the Holocaust.

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s difficult to review a book that simultaneously makes one smile, but also breaks the heart…
The subtitle is very apt, as it proclaims, “The Essential Companion to the Diary of a Young Girl”.

The author followed the faint trace of Anne Frank and in spring of 1957 interviewed a large number of people who had consciously or unconsciously crossed her path, as the Forward of this book explains. Based on the information gleaned from the witnesses, included former playmates, teachers, and the office workers who assisted those hiding in the Secret Annex, and on his own observations, a personal and passionate portrait of Anne Frank was created by Ernst Schnabel.

I’ve been to the Anne Frank house several times, and walked up the stairs and into the rooms where eight people lived for many months, hiding from Nazis, unable to venture outside or make noise, simply because they were Jews. In 1958, when this book was first published, the Annex was not yet a museum; just empty, silent rooms, in a building at risk of being torn down and lost to history. Anne’s little red-checked diary, and other papers, were being kept in a metal box in old green office safe somewhere in Amsterdam. Due to the interest about her diary, which came about largely because of the popular stage play in theaters of the 50’s, these precious documents, and the Annex building, have been preserved. Carefully and painstakingly, so future generations can visit, and ponder, and hopefully declare to themselves that “Never Again” will such atrocities be allowed to happen…

*If you’ve never read Anne’s diary, or read it long ago, please read it, along with this wonderful book, reissued in 2014 with updates and Forwards.*

[Karen Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this after finishing a novel about Anne's sister, Margot. I remembered visiting the Anne Frank house when I was a young teen and buying both a copy of her diary and this book while there. This book is a compilation of interviews with people who knew Anne and her family, and while plenty of research has been done since, this was published not long after the diary, when memories were closer to the events. It's sad but important to read these and similar accounts. Never forget.

[Emily Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Here I must speak of a child who was like countless other children. That must be so, for in truth she was so. Anne was a child, and not one of the witnesses claimed that she had been a prodigy, in any way out of the ordinary, moderate course of nature. She kept a diary. And she wished to love after her death.’

‘The Footsteps of Anne Frank’ is an incredibly valuable book, written just 12 years after the liberation from the Nazi regime and Anne’s death in Bergen-Belsen, following the publishers of her diary wishing to dispel the questions that were arising about her diary’s authenticity. Ernst Schnabel followed the ‘trace’ of Anne Frank and interviewed 42 people who crossed her path. It is a unique record that serves as an important appendage to Anne’s diary.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

A great companion book to The Diary of a Young Girl. Takes a closer look at Anne’s life before, during and after the years spent in hiding and contains interviews with the people Anne had known. There’s also a brilliant and charming story written by Anne about a little bear called Blurry who runs away to find the world which shows Anne’s great writing promise; I loved the short story and I could see it as a children’s book which made this book difficult to read because Anne had so much more life in her. Highly recommend, but with caution as it does go into detail regarding Anne’s imprisonment at Auschwitz-Birkenau and Belsen.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

We recently visited Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, which I have wanted to do for many years. I have already ready Melissa Muller's definitive biography of Anne Frank, but wanted to read something else in homage to my childhood hero. Schnabel's book is interesting because he interviewed people in 1957 who had known Anne throughout her life, but when memories were fresher and the war only about ten years over. The play about the diary was very popular and many of those interviewed commented on it. The Anne Frank House had not yet been preserved; it sat empty. Schnabel interviewed many people, including the helpers of those in hiding and Otto Frank, but also others whose memories of Anne had not been recorded at the time. So many of them--parents of Anne's friends, for example, said "she was just a child"; others remembered her as being both mature and childish in many ways. An interesting addition to one's collection of memories about Anne.

[Michael David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schnabel reminded me of a modern-day inverted detection story: most of us know what happened to Anne, as it could be found in her diary, but Schnabel provides the details from the other important characters in Anne's life. Schnabel retraces Anne's life through the lives of the living people Anne has left after the war, and asks them of their version of her story.

Heroism is not limited to nationalities: for example, people like Johannes Kleiman, known in Anne's diary as Koopfuis were lights of goodness against the overwhelming maw of Nazi evil. It's to Schnabel's credit that he illustrates the fact that occasionally, good is just as nameless as evil. A baker, for example, who didn't know of Anne or her family allowed Koopfuis to borrow bread even though he couldn't actually pay for the excesses.

It's a highly entertaining read.

[Carolyn Scarcella · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short book has only got 189 pages. The book is called “The footsteps of Anne Frank” by Ernest Schnabel. He is a German journalist. He had written two novels by the outbreak of WW2. He translates this book from German to English. He was asked by Otto Frank to write a book to help. He researched really excellent and interesting. He interviews brief information from people who knew Anne, and told what they knew and little interactions with her from the secret hiding, Westerbork transit camp, Auschwitz, and Bergen Belsen. It makes sense and gives more detailed information and more insight into the type of person Anne was. I’ve enjoyed the whole story about war and politics.

[Joana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esperava um bocadinho , mais história e mais enredo. Mas como tê-lo depois deste trágico terror?!
Apesar do sofrimento, ainda há pessoas que falam, que não se calam perante esta injustiça, há outras que se mantêm no silêncio como se nunca tivessem vivido este tempo, preferem esquecer e sofrer em silêncio.
Neste livro, encontramos 42 vozes, de pessoas que conheceram Anne Frank ou que apenas a conheciam dos campos de concentração. Foi uma pena ela ter falecido, uma criança que parecia cheia de vida, com certeza que as suas histórias e o seu diário hoje seriam mais histórias e algumas teriam finalmente terminado.
É a história de uma criança, entre tantas outras que sofreram tal como ela. Uma injustiça à humanidade.
Reforçou o sentimento de ir a Amesterdão, à Polónia e conhecer estes campos de concentração, visitar aldeias e espaços onde estiveram refugiados ou escondidos. Ver as condições e sentir o que eles sentiram (que não será tão vivido).

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Footsteps of Anne Frank by Ernst Schnabel is a book anyone reading it studying Anne Frank must read. It was written while those who personally knew Anne were alive. Fifty years after it was written, it has been translated and reissued. It was written by a German journalist who served in the German navy during WWII. He was asked by Otto Frank to write a book to help dispel the attempts to doubt the authenticity of her diary. He would have full authority to look at all documentation available and to interview those who knew Anne. Of the seventh-did people whose names he was given, he located and interviewed forty-two of them. He viewed many documents and photographs to follow her life. Twelve years after her death, he gives us a clearer picture of Anne as well as a clearer picture of those who occupied the Secret Annex. This book is a must-read for scholars of Anne Frank.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read quite a bit about Anne Frank and the other people in hiding. Maybe my expectations were too high going into this but the entire book felt very disjointed. It didn’t have a clear direction. I expected a question and answer interview format but the author inserted himself into the book way more than was necessary. He only included small quotes from his interviews with people who knew the Franks which made me wonder why he bothered to interview so many people if he didn’t intend to include their stories. It was just an odd choice for him to make. I will say that I found it interesting how soon after the war this was written. The memories were still very fresh for those involved.

[Chris Mercado · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title suggests, it's definitely a "portrait" and not a biography, although it does contain a lot of information about Anne Frank's life.

A lot of the book is a combination of interviews with survivors who actually knew Anne Frank, before the Holocaust, while she was in hiding, and while she was in the camps.

It also contains some samples of Anne's other writing, besides in the infamous diary. It's a nice peek into her life, other than what everyone knows from the diary.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "companion" book to the famous diary adds context - basically highlighting just how awful Anne's life was when she reached the camps.
No matter how many things I read or see about the holocaust, it never stops being shocking. It's always beyond comprehension that such terrible things were carried out on such a huge, organised scale.

[Carolina Caires · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este livro reúne os testemunhos de algumas das pessoas que se cruzaram com Anne Frank desde os seus tempos de escola, aos que a ajudaram no esconderijo, até aos que se cruzaram com ela em campos de concentração.
Podemos encontrar excertos de algumas histórias que Anne escrevia (o seu sonho era ser escritora).
Foi uma leitura interessante.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This an odd and rather touching book. It's more an impression, or a number of impressions, of Anne Frank than a biography. The author, during the decade after the war, found and interviewed scores of people who had known Frank and her family, including, of course, their one survivor, her father. A roughly chronological narrative is punctuated by some of Anne's writings.

[Kharmino Artbook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un diario póstumo que refleja los pensamientos de una adolescente sometida al encierro y que vive alguna carencia. Pero no refleja la realidad del contexto porque a ella no la golpeo tantísimo como ha muchos otros.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been drawn to the story of Anne Frank. Sad to think that this book came about because when Anne Frank’s Diary was first published some people felt that it was a work of fiction! This book, which had been out of print for many years, is heartbreaking but well worth the read!

[Rachel Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing and premise of this book was hauntingly beautiful. I will never forget some of the things I read in this book. A picture of the severe atrocities humans are capable of. But also of the beauty in humanity, in simple kindness, resiliency, hope, and in the bravery of an “ordinary person”.

[Brett Bosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

1958 book of interviews with survivors and acquaintances of Anne Frank. The story of what happened after the Gestapo came, and what is known of the fates of the dwellers of the "Secret Annexe." Definitely worth a read.

[Jennifer Desloover · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful companion to The Diary of Anne Frank. It fills in a LOT of the holes that the diary cannot explain. I highly recommend reading this book, if you have read the diary.

[Mk]

Don't know.

[Karleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I watched the movie “my best friend Anna frank” before I read this editions, damn it was so sad how her friend had to throw food over for her before she dead.

[Lindaburkart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning more about Anne’s life before, during and after the Secret Annex. Loved hearing from the people who knew her.

[Jennifer]

what a weird book. very disappointing

[Susu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originalausgabe ist von 1959 - der Autor folgt Anne Franks Leben und interviewt Menschen, die ihr begegnet sind - Schulfreundinnen, Lehrer, die Helfer des Hinterhauses - sehr berührend zu lesen

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read Anne Frank's diary I think I was about sixteen and even then I thought what an amazing human being. Much has been said about her diaries. When they first came out under the editorship of her father he made some omissions, however, subsequent editions have been published in full. More recently there has been the debate about the public access of her diary. Does copyright still apply or not? At different times there has been some debate about young people reading her diary. But that's just it. This was written by a teenaged girl, not quite child and very far removed from adulthood. Considering her age the author of this book and others call her a child. Her winning smile on the front of this book will certainly make many readers think she is a child. And isn't the loss of innocence for a child more damning in our minds? But although she could apparently have moments of being childish she was more on the cusp of adulthood. She was a young girl full of wonder and curiosity. She was fully aware of her changing body and how she felt towards the only boy in the Secret Annexe. When I read of her diary as a teenager this was very clear to me that she was no child and no child could ever understand about what she wrote about. What also struck me as I read this how clearly in my mind was the sight of her in the death camp. Despite her slow murder she still had this enigmatic smile in my mind. On one of the editions of the diary I read she had a side profile of a very pensive and serious look, however, it was the smile that came out in my mind. In this book both Annes came out. Smiling, serious, the child, the young woman, the dreamer, forever youthful. Otto Frank said that no guardian angel would leave a man without a family, hence there couldn't be one for him, why would he live and they didn't? He had to live in order to make Anne live again, horrendous though that is, without him we wouldn't have the diary and the story of Anne wouldn't have been told. It's too easy to fall into the usual that this is a clear reminder that something as monstrous as the holocaust on countless millions of people of varied backgrounds should never happen again. While that would be the only thing to say on the memory of Anne Frank, however, it wouldn't do her justice and it wouldn't be truthful on her memory. She opened a window on the existence of her life and the Secret Annexe, she didn't write a treatise on dos and don'ts. She simply wrote life as she saw it and that smiling, haunting face I saw while reading her diary was not for the clichéd "lest we forget". Ernst Schnabel walked as best he could where she walked and so to show another aspect of this girl. He talked to people that knew her and loved her. But he didn't talk to those that were party to her slow murder. For he said what could they add? Someone would say they were merely following orders. Well I disagree with his assessment that there was nothing further they could add. If only he could have asked why did those involved not see the Frank family and countless other families as not being humans? How could they have swallowed that poison that Jews, Roma, disabled, Communist, homosexual and so many others were not people like themselves? The writer knew the names but he said nothing. Indeed by asking these men it wouldn't have brought the families back from the dead. However, it would at least remind us again and again that the Nazis were not just freaks of civilization. They weren't just pure evil from the start, bad guys vs. good guys like in Hollywood movies. That men like them should not just to be ignored and assume they will go away. Fascism and Nazism didn't end with Hitler's death and it hasn't stayed in Europe. Everyday where a country is under occupation and oppressed there are Anne Franks struggling to survive. Many have already died as children and as youngsters and they're not all female. Not all have or can write a diary and so not all will be remembered through history. What shall we do for her legacy and all the others like her? For those of us that never met Anne Frank we can read her diary, we can visit her museum and yet so much more besides. When we know of oppression and genocide we can speak out, we won't look the other way and we will always question. Why to this exclusion? Why to this mass identification? Why to this mass hysteria against a people that are seemingly different and yet are no different to others? When Anne Frank wrote in the Secret Annexe it wasn't just another bad patch in history. Those times are not exclusive to the history books. It can happen anytime, anywhere and frequently does. Owe it to the memory of Anne Frank, she was a young girl that tried to live in a time of ignorance, wilful ignorance that is being mimicked in the 21st century.

[Kristian Wachter · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book I chose was Anne Frank: A Portrait in Courage. This book was chosen at random, but it reminded me of the lessons in which we learned about Hitler and the unfair treatment and discrimination of the Jews. This time was crucial for the Jewish people because of the KKK, possibly and because of the terrorist groups and Hitler, Adolf Hitler. He was the start of it all. Hitler and the other terrorist groups were taking Jews out of homes and schools and putting them into concentration camps. Anne Frank may have been one of them.
The story goes into detail about all of the things that happen both to Anne and her family and friends back in her hometown. In those times Adolf Hitler would kill the Jewish people and also kill their families if they were Jewish. That was so unfair. Trickery and foolery! That must have been brutal. However, Anne and a few Jewish friends from her town had found a way to escape without being detected. As it turns out, Anne Frank was also a writer. In former research in this book, there is also tell of more stories written by her and short poems. She did not write just a diary.
Her bravery was one thing I would’ve been proud of had I thought of it before. She made history and history sometimes is a good thing. It gives you or another person a place or time in the world to be who you are and not get in trouble for it. The book was a deep, historical flashback to the time of rebellions against countries and enemies. People were special if they followed rules, but people were milestone makers if they did not follow the rules and went in their own directions. That is important. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to compare a personal accomplishment to a type of event in history.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an interesting read. It's said to be "the essential guide to The Diary of a Young Girl". For the most part I would actually agree with that statement. This version of the book is one of the first reprints in about 25 years, and was first published in German in 1957. Because of this the book uses the pseudonyms chosen by Anne by the people in the Annex and her Helpers, as well as many people related to her and the people she knew. This was a tad bit of a shock to me and took a little getting used to because I'm so used to reading books about Anne published nowadays, where we know the true identities of the people in Anne's life and their stories.

Anyway, I do agree that this book is a good companion to Anne's diary, and is a quick and simple read for anyone who wants to know more about what happened to Anne and what she was like before, during her time in hiding, as well as what she was like after the arrest. A good add to my collection.

[Ye Yao · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old book that gave a glimpse of Anne's life and few others'. They are just a group of ordinary people that eat, sleep, talk, read love and hate like all others. They have children, parents, grandparents, relatives and friends as you do. Yet they were made victims in one of the biggest genocide in human history, the hell beyond the measurement of words. Anne's voice is preserved out of millions that were kept silent. And the idea of thinking about the amounted despair, loneliness, hatred, hopelessness of millions is beyond imagination. What have they done to deserve it?
To anyone still process a fascist mind of the old Germans and Japanese, you might think ur race is superior to others', you might dislike others' religion, language, food, colors, thoughts, looks, but you are given no right to deprive other people's lives