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