lope. He gave it to Sujik when a
Margot and Edith are similar in tem-
court investigating the authenticity of perament, while Anne has natural
the diary,_ in the wake of neo-Nazi
charm, liveliness and an uncanny abil-
claims that it was a falsification,
ity to get what she wants.
requested all the hand-written docu-
Mailer was 13 when she first read
ments he had in his possession. Frank
the diary, the age when Anne went
died 6 months later in 1980.
into hiding and began writing to
Muller suggests that he might have
"Kitty" "I identified with Anne's
destroyed these pages "as a way out of
struggle for self-actualization," the
his dilemma" but that he could not
author writes. "The resentment she
bring himself to do that." He
felt toward her mother was something
instructed Sujik not to release the
I felt, too. And I was deeply affected
pages until after his death, "wishing
by the knowledge that the diary had
to spare himself and his second wife
been written by the victim of persecu-
unwanted questions."
tion, by a girl hunted
Muller contends
in a reign of terror; I
that Otto did a "dis-
could not forget that
I
V"LsS
service" to both Anne
she had died eight
and Edith, for "this
months after writing
entry is not only a
her last diary entry."
portrait of a problem-
From her parents
atic marriage but also
and teachers, she
a record of Anne's
received no satisfacto-
growing sympathy for
ry answers" to her ques-
),
her mother.
tions of "Why? "
Along with the
After reading the
headline-making
definitive edition of the
material, the book,
diary published in
written with under-
1995, which included
stated power and clar-
personal material edited
ity, also presents a
out of the earlier ver-
N- more textured picture
sion, she was beset with
of the Frank family than formerly
more questions and inspired to inves-
available.
tigate "the person behind the myth."
Through interviews with more
She intends the biography as a supple-
than 20 contemporaries of Anne and
ment to the diary, connecting the dots
others who knew her father after the
in Anne's brief life.
war, unpublished letters, photographs
She tracked down people who
and handwritten notes, Muller por-
knew Anne and her family in
trays the family's upper-class back-
Holland, Israel, Germany, the United
ground and social life in Frankfurt in
States, Canada, Austria, Brazil and
the early 1930s and then in
Switzerland. "No detail or anecdote in
Amsterdam before they went into
this book is invented," she writes. 1-1
hiding. Anne emerges as a spirited
soul, even as a young child, who
Jewish Ensemble Theatre's (JET)
managed to get people's attention"
production of Anne Frank & Me
even before she could speak.
will
be performed 10:30 a.m.
Otto and Edith are portrayed as
Monday-Friday,
through March
parents trying to shield their daughters
26,
for
middle-
and
high-school
Anne and Margot from knowledge of
students at Southfield's
the Nazi terror, providing some sem-
Millennium Theatre Center: A 2
blance of normalcy with lavish birth-
p.m. matinee on Sunday, March
$1
day parties and travel.
21, is open to the public. The
In Amsterdam, although they were
play tells the story of a contem-
no longer well-off as they had been in
porary girl, studying The Diary of
Frankfurt, they had more than most
Anne
Frank, who suddenly finds
refugees from Germany, and they
herself transported back to Nazi-
never hesitated to share food or to
occupied Paris in 1942. Tickets
loan money, recognizing that it was
for weekday performances are $5.
unlikely they would be paid back
4
Tickets for the Sunday matinee
anytime soon.
are
$5
children/$10
adults.
For
Previously, there has been little
school and group bookings and
information about Edith and here she
more information, call Mary
is seen as a dedicated mother, more
Davis, JET's school outreach
quietly attuned to her daughters than
coordinator, at (248) 788-2900.
demonstrative in her love. In fact,

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3/5
1999

Detroit Jewish News

79