Anne Frank's Cousin Donates Family Files

Almost everyone in the world has heard the name Anne Frank. Anne Frank has become a symbol of the Holocaust, capturing everyone's hearts with her writings in a diary. Now a lot more detail will be revealed about the young girl. According to the Associated Press, on Monday Anne Frank's cousin donated thousands of letters and photographs, along with documents that according to archivists will reveal more detail about Anne Frank's background.

Monday marked the 60th anniversary of the first publication of" The Dairy of Anne Frank", and in a touching gesture Bernhard "Buddy" Elias at the age of 82 permanently loaned the material he had kept in his attic all this time to the Anne Frank House. The Anne Frank House incorporates the tiny apartment where the family had hid out during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

The Associated Press reported that among the items donated are Otto Frank's 1945 letter informing his mother who was in Switzerland that both of his daughters Anne and Margo along with his wife Edith had all died in the Nazi concentration camp. Also included among the items such as photographs of the Frank family, was the letter that Otto's mother had wrote in response to diary excerpts that he had sent to her.

Now with the newly loaned material from Elias, the Amsterdam museum now holds almost all of the known historical material about the family. Included in the Amsterdam museum's collection is the postwar years when the only survivor, Otto Frank had assembled and promoted his daughter Anne Frank's diary.

"They spoke four languages. They were interested in art, in theater. When they went to a concert or play, they wrote about it. That's in all these letters. My grandmother wrote deep, wonderful poems." Elias told the Associated Press.

There is nothing really new added to the collection about the 25 months the Frank family along with four other Jews had been in hiding. The value of the collection is more in really understanding the family's cultured background along with the background for Anne Frank's talented writing.

According to archivist Peter Toebak, the collection may contain some surprises that historians could discover when they begin to dig into the files. Toebak had spent two years putting the papers together and states that there is a literary tradition in the family, showing that they are close and remained in close contact.

The blood line linking Bernhard Elias to Anne Frank comes from Anne Frank's father Otto Frank. Elias was born to Otto Frank's younger sister Leni. Leni lived in Basel with the family matriarch Alice.

Sources:

Arthur Max," Anne Frank's cousin donates family files" Associated Press
URL:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070625/ap_on_re_eu/anne_frank_archive;_ylt=As2ITnI4PvdvLpQ40QiYH9jMWM0F

Arthur Max "Anne Frank House's gift" Associated Press, globeandmail.com
URL:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070625.wannefrank0625/BNStory/Entertainment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070625.wannefrank0625