NOVEMBER 10 • 2022 | 69
The Anne Frank Foundation announced
the death of Hannah Pick-Goslar at the age
of 93. Hannah, or Hanneli as Anne called
her in her diary, was one of Anne Frank’s
best friends; they had known each other
since kindergarten.
On June 14, 1942, Anne wrote in her
diary: “Hanneli and Sanne used to be
my two best friends. People who saw us
together always used to say: ‘There goes
Anne, Hanne and Sanne.
”’ Hannah shared
her memories of their friendship and the
Holocaust into old age.
Hannah Goslar was born Nov. 12, 1928,
in Berlin-Tiergarten. When the Nazis
came to power in 1933, the family moved
to London and on to Amsterdam. There,
they came to live next door to the Frank
family at Merwedeplein. Hannah and Anne
were in kindergarten together and attended
the 6th Montessori School and later the
Jewish Lyceum. They became close friends
and were always in and out of each other’s
houses.
Anne Frank and her family went
into hiding in the Secret Annex on
Prinsengracht in 1942. In 1937, Hannah
had moved to Zuider Amstellaan, where
she continued to live until June 1943.
Then, she and her father (her mother had
died in childbirth), her grandparents, and
her younger sister Gabi were deported to
Westerbork and, in February 1944, from
there to Bergen-Belsen. There she met
Anne Frank in February 1945, shortly
before Anne died. Hannah and her sister
Gabi were the only ones in their family to
survive the horrors of the concentration
camps.
In 1947, Hannah emigrated to then
Palestine (present-day Israel), where she
became a nurse. She married Walter Pick,
and they had three children, 11 grandchil-
dren, and 31 great-grandchildren. She used
to say: ‘This is my answer to Hitler.
’
Hannah felt it was important to share
what had happened to her. She felt obligat-
ed to talk about Anne and the Holocaust
“because I survived, and Anne didn’t.
”
In 1997, Alison Leslie Gold chronicled
Hannah’s story in the book Memories of
Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood
Friend. Ben Sombogaart’s film My Best
Friend Anne Frank (released in 2021) was
based on the book. The film tells the story
of Hannah’s and Anne’s friendship during
World War II.
Source: Anne Frank Foundation
A Most Creative Life
G
eraldine Levit, 91, of Walled
Lake, died Oct. 30, 2022.
She grew up in the old Jewish
neighborhood in Detroit (Elmhurst,
Richton) in a loving home
with her parents and older
brothers, Jerome and Yis.
Geri graduated from
Cass Technical High
School, where she majored
in vocal music. After grad-
uation, she joined the very
first Habonim Workshop,
spending most of a year
in the new state of Israel,
visiting with relatives
while participating in the
program. Among them
were Yis and his wife,
Tzila, founding members
of Kibbutz Sasa in the
Galilee. Upon her return, she attended
Wayne University, where she studied
archaeology, among other subjects, an
interest she developed while working on
digs in Israel.
She met her future husband, Dan
Levit, on the bus to Wayne, where he
was a law student. He had been born
in the British mandate of Palestine and
grew up in Ramat Gan, a rural village at
that time. He enlisted in the U.S. Army;
before he was sent overseas, Geri and
Dan were married by Rabbi Morris
Adler in the Adlers’ living room.
They traveled together to Verdun,
France, where he was a
lawyer for the Army, and
she taught preschool to the
Army families’ children.
Upon their return, Geri
and Dan bought a house
on Beaverland in Detroit.
They had three children,
Lisa, Jonathan and Dona.
Later, when their two-bed-
room house became a bit
small for their family of
five, Geri and Dan moved
to the Churchill Commons
subdivision in Farmington
Hills.
Geri had a long career
as a preschool teacher, day camp
leader, popular Hebrew school teach-
er and teachers’ union organizer at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, the shul
her parents joined when they first
arrived in Detroit. For decades, former
students would approach her, and she
always recognized them, calling out
their Hebrew names.
She had a second career performing
folk and Jewish music for various groups
all over the Detroit area. In later years,
her daughter Dona joined the staff and
Geri loved having Dona as a colleague.
Geri also hosted a community access
cable talk show under the auspices of
Shaarey Zedek, interviewing people
whose stories were of Jewish interest.
Geri had many close friendships
throughout the years from Habonim,
Wayne, Shaarey Zedek, Beaverland and
Churchill Commons. She was a loving
wife, a supportive and accepting mother
to her children and a devoted Safta to her
grandchildren. The family misses her.
Mrs. Levit is survived by her children,
Lisa (Daniel) Newman, Jonathan Levit,
and Dona Levinson; grandchildren,
Sivon Levinson, Edon Levinson, Sonny
Newman and Vera Newman; sister-in-
law, Betty Stasson; nieces, nephews and
many friends.
She was predeceased by her beloved
husband, S. Daniel Levit; parents, Sylvia
and Bernard Stashefsky; brothers,
Jerome Stasson and Yisrael Stashefsky;
and sister-in-law Tzila Stashefsky.
Interment took place at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Contributions may be made to the
Jewish National Fund or to the Heschel
Center. Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.
Geraldine Levit
Anne Frank’s Best Friend Dies at age 93
ANNE FRANK STICHTING,
AMSTERDAM / PHOTO BY CRIS
TOALA OLIVARES
Hannah Pick-
Goslar, 2012