Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times had a featured essay entitled, “80 Years Later, Remember the Singular Tragedy of Anne Frank,” written by Ruth Franklin, the author of The Many Lives of Anne Frank. It is a thoughtful piece that posits that Anne Frank’s contribution to the world society is first and foremost one of antisemitism and

“Universalizing the experience of a victim of Nazi persecution has the effect of diluting her life and example.”

Franklin goes on to comment:

“I cringe to see her invoked in contexts far removed from her historical situation.”

Franklin cites Nelson Mandela:

“In 1994, when an exhibition about Anne Frank came to South Africa, several of those former prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, spoke publicly about the diary. While acknowledging the historical uniqueness of the Holocaust, they celebrated Anne’s book as a personal inspiration. It “kept our spirits high and reinforced our confidence in the invincibility of the cause of freedom and justice,” Mandela said. Rather than simply equating Nazism with apartheid, they recognized Anne as an individual experiencing extreme discrimination. They could sympathize with her while avoiding the distortion of identification without context.

In an age of sound-bite-length opinions and viral hot takes, nuance is difficult to achieve. But we owe it to Anne to try. Without also appreciating her individuality, to say that today’s Anne Frank is a refugee from the Middle East, a Latin American migrant or whomever else we might imagine her to be plays into the hands of those who persecuted her. The erasure of the specifics of Anne Frank’s life and death risks implying that antisemitism is no longer a destructive force.

To do Anne justice, we must learn to see her as both a symbol of all persecution and a target of antisemitism — an icon and a human being.”

Amen!

Tony