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Book

The last secret of the secret annex : the untold story of Anne Frank, her silent protector, and a family betrayal

Call Number

  • 940.5318 W662 (CEN, OSH)

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Edition

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

Publication Information

English language copyright ©2018, 2023

Physical Description

xvii, 263 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Summary

Anne Frank's life has been studied by many scholars, but the story of Bep Voskuijl has remained untold, until now. As the youngest of the five Dutch people who hid the Frank family, Bep was Anne's closest confidante during the 761 excruciating days she spent hidden in the Secret Annex. Bep, who was just twenty-three when the Franks went into hiding, risked her life to protect them, plunging into Amsterdam's black market to source food and medicine for people who officially didn't exist under the noses of German soldiers and Dutch spies. In those cramped quarters, Bep and Anne's friendship bloomed through deep conversations, shared meals, and a youthful understanding. Told by her own son, it intertwines the story of Bep and her sister Nelly with Anne's iconic narrative. Nelly's name may have been scrubbed from Anne's published diary, but Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen De Bruyn expose details about her collaboration with the Nazis, a deeply held family secret. After the war, Bep tried to bury her memories just as the Secret Annex was becoming world famous as a symbol of resistance to the Nazi horrors. She never got over losing Anne nor could Bep put to rest the horrifying suspicion that those in the Annex had been betrayed by her own flesh and blood. This is a story about those caught in between the Jewish victims and Nazi persecutors, and the moral ambiguities and hard choices faced by ordinary families like the Voskuijls, in which collaborators and resisters often lived under the same roof.

Notes

"Inspired by Anne Frank: The Untold Story, published in 2018 by Bep Voskuijl Producties BV, which was originally published in Dutch in 2015 by Prometheus/Bert Bakker as Bep Voskuijl: Hey Zwijgen Voorbij"--Title page verso.

Contents

  • Prologue: A letter from Belgium
  • Part I: Anne. The bookcase swings open ; Yellow stars ; Full secrecy ; Mouths to feed ; Concealment ; Sleepover ; One small act of carelessness ; Invasion fever ; All was lost
  • Part II: Nelly. The voice of a young woman ; Gray mouse ; Exile and return
  • Part III: BEP. Scraps ; Uncle Otto ; Denial ; A girl named Sonja ; The sweet peace ; The empty notebook
  • Epilogue: The things we leave behind.

Subjects

Added Authors

Jeroen de Bruyn