The last secret of the secret annex : the untold story of Anne Frank, her silent protector, and a family betrayal / Joop Van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen de Bruyn.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 2023Copyright date: ©2015Copyright date: ©2015, 2023Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionDescription: xvii, 263 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781982198213
- 1982198214
- Voskuijl, Bep, 1919-1983
- Frank family
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Netherlands -- Amsterdam
- Jews -- Netherlands -- Amsterdam -- History
- Betrayal
- Netherlands -- History -- German occupation, 1940-1945
- Frank, Anne, 1929-1945 -- Friends and associates
- Frank, Anne, 1929-1945
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands -- Amsterdam
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue -- Netherlands -- Amsterdam
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Dr. James Carlson Library | NonFiction | 940.5318 W662 | Available | 33111011060619 | ||||
|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 940.5318 W662 | Available | 33111011275241 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A riveting historical investigation and family memoir that intertwines the iconic narrative of Anne Frank with the untold story of Bep Voskuijl, her protector and closest confidante in the Annex, bringing us closer to understanding one of the great secrets of World War II.
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, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex 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.
Beautifully written and unsettlingly suspenseful, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex will show us the Secret Annex as we've never seen it before. And it provides a powerful understanding of how historical trauma is inherited from one generation to the next and how sometimes keeping a secret hurts far more than revealing a shameful truth.
"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.
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.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-248) and index.
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.