A Little Girl
Named Anne
New Photos of
Anne Frank,
celebrating
Jewish holidays,
and Judaism
and sexuality.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
ASSISTANT EDITOR
M
Anne Frank, above, in the
summer of 1940, on the flat roof
at the back of her house, where
she often sat and read. At right, a
postcard Otto Frank sent to his
sister just before the family went
into hiding: "It is a pity that we
can no longer correspond with
you, but that is how it is. You
must understand." At the top of
the card is a note from Anne
which reads, "I cannot write a
letter about the holidays now.
Regards and kisses."
argot often played
with her friends
out near the
street, but Anne
was never allowed
to leave the gar-
den. She was too
young.
So Anne Frank spent her
afternoons during the early
1930s in a sandbox — a stur-
dy, light wooden container at
24 Ganghoferstrasse in
Frankfurt.
In one photograph, Anne
wears a flower-print dress
with a white collar and sits
at the edge of the sandbox.
Beside her stands her moth-
er in a white dress and black-
and-white shoes with pointed
toes, the kind of shoes that
saw their heyday in the
1930s, then disappeared.
Anne Frank: Beyond the
Diary, just published by
Viking, is a photographic
remembrance compiled by
Ruud van der Rol and Rian
Verhoeven of the Anne
Frank House. It contains
hundreds of never-before-
seen pictures of Anne and
her family and speaks at
length of her life preceding
the family's move into the
secret attic.
Many of the pictures were
taken by Anne's
father, Otto, an avid
photographer who
loved nothing better
than focusing on his
family. There are pic-
tures of Anne and
Margot at their home
in Frankfurt, with
childhood friends, in
school and at the
beach, and at their
new residence in
Amsterdam, where
the Franks moved
after Hitler took
power in Germany.
Beyond the Diary
also contains accounts
of the last days of
Anne and Margot,
both of whom died in
Bergen-Belsen.
An old school
friend, Lies Goosen,
remembers talking to
Anne through the barbed
wire at the death
camp. Her hair had
been shorn; she was
emaciated and her
heart was filled with
agony: She was sure
her parents were dead.
"I always think if
Anne had known that
her father was still
alive she might have
had more strength to
survive," Lies said.
Historian David
Biale has managed to
come up with quite a
sexy topic for his new
Eros and the Jews,
published by Basic
Books.
Eros examines Jewish
tradition and writings in
relation to sexuality, con-
sidering everything from
Philip Roth's Portnoy's
Complaint to the Talmud's
view of desire. Mr. Biale also
discusses Zionism as "an
erotic revolution" and
American Jews' ambivalent
attitude toward sex.
Fans of Woody Allen will
want to check out Eros, as
will devotees of Isaac
Bashevis Singer, both of
whom Mr. Biale discusses at
length in his book.
Mr. Biale is a professor of
Jewish history and director
of the Center for Jewish
Studies at the Graduate
Theological Union in
Berkeley, Calif. He is the
author of Gershom Scholem:
Kabbalah and Counter-
History and Power and
Powerlessness in Jewish
History.
Also new from Basic Books
is A People Divided: Judaism
in Contemporary America by
Jewish Theological Seminary
history Professor Jack
Wertheimer.
A People Divided offers an
analysis of American Jewish
religious behavior — the
Jewish community's diversi-
ty and how it has been affect-
ed by fundamental changes
is the Jewish community of
the United States sustaining
itself? And how do patterns
within American Judaism
correlate with broader trends
in U.S. life?
Strange, fascinating rela-
tionships are the focus of the
latest work by Anne Roiphe,
whose previous books include
Up the Sandbox,
Lovingkindness and The
Pursuit of Happiness.
If You Knew Me, published
last month by Little, Brown
and Co., is the story of the
love between two older peo-
ple and the influence of a
young woman: Leah, a biolo-
gist; 011ie., a high school
English teacher; and 011ie's
sister, Sally.
The three end up on the
beach, where a chance meet-
ing changes all their
in American society at
large.
Among the groups
Professor Wertheimer dis-
cusses are Humanistic, gay
and interfaith congregations,
as well as Lubavitch and its
cable TV channel and
"Moshiach Times" comic
book. He considers such
questions as how American,
and how Jewish, is Jewish
religious behavior? How well
lives. Leah finds
her cool veneer fading, and
011ie's relationship with
Sally takes quite a different
turn as he falls in love with
Leah.
Scholar and Rabbi Joseph
Soloveitchik, as well as the
author's father, Rabbi
Eliyahu Chayim Greenberg,
served as the inspiration for
Rabbi Irving "Yitz"
ANNE page 126