Anne Frank's Best Friend Says Anti-Semitism Is Still Rife

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Anne Frank's Best Friend Says Anti-Semitism Is Still Rife

Anne Frank’s Best Friend Says Anti-Semitism Is Still Rife
The Jewish woman who, as a child, was Anne Frank’s best friend has warned that the shadow of anti-Semitism still hangs over Europe. Speaking at a press conference to mark the translation of her memoir, “My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank†into English, Jacqueline Van Maarsen, 78, said:

“I am not optimistic. There is a current of anti-Semitism. It is not as bad as it used to be, but I don’t think it will ever stop. I don’t think children know much about the Holocaust. That’s why a book like mine is important.â€

Van Maarsen survived the war because her mother was a Catholic and managed to persuade an official to change her family’s papers. She was the model for Anne Frank’s letters addressed to the fictional “Jopie.â€

She said that she had been reluctant to publish her own account but decided to do so in 1990 after a number of false claims were made about the authenticity of Anne Frank’s diary. “I felt I must do something. I wrote for my friend who couldn’t write for herself.â€

(World Jewish Congress, August 14, 2007)

Editor’s Note: For more on this topic, go to our Web site www.bridgesforpeace.com and click on “Listen†to BFP Audio/Israel Mosaic Radio program: “People We Meet—Dr Susan Kokkonen.â€

Prayer Focus
Pray that God will move on the hearts of people to show love and acceptance to one another without the evil stain of racism.

Scripture
“In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that com against Jerusalem†(Zechariah 12: 8–9).
 
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