Anne Frank Community Reading Project

The Anne Frank Reading Project is designed with families and communities in mind. Whether you are already familiar with Anne’s words, or are joining the millions already inspired by her Diary, we hope that you find value in collectively reflecting on the Annex at this time of isolation.

Each week for six weeks, Neuberger staff will meet on Friday afternoon (except for the second week’s meeting due to Shavuot), and broadcast their discussion about that week’s assigned readings. Participants in the Community Reading Project will be able to comment and ask questions on the weekly videos, which will be available after broadcast. Participants are also welcome to contact Neuberger staff taking part in this project if they have questions or comments.

This is a project that families and communities weathering isolation can do together. Newcomers to Anne Frank’s Diary will read the book fresh, while participants who know Anne’s story will be provided with external readings and videos selected to stimulate thought and discussion on key themes.

The Project will culminate on the seventh and final week with a Viewing Party of the 2014 documentary In Line for Anne Frank, viewable through Amazon Prime.

How can you get a copy?

The full text can be downloaded for free, in several formals, from Archive.org: Link
A free audio version can be found on YouTube: Link
A Kindle copy from Amazon is $2: Link
A mass market paperback copy from Amazon is $8: Link
Used copies are very affordable online, but may not make it in time to read along with the Project

Schedule and Reading Guide

Introduction and Launch

Introductory Material for First Time Readers:
- Who Was Anne Frank? – The Anne Frank House
Introductory Material for Repeat Readers:
- Cynthia Ozick – Who Owns Anne Frank? – The New Yorker, 6 October 1997
- Eli Rubenstein – Was Anne Frank Right? Are People Good? – The Canadian Jewish News, 11 March 2015

Week 1: 22 May @ 2 PM

Diary Readings:
- Begin book, stop at Wednesday, 14 October 1942
Guiding Questions for First Time Readers
- Are you keeping a diary during social distancing? Why or why not?
- If you are keeping a diary for school, why do you think your teacher wants you to do this?
Additional Material for First Time Readers:
- Anne, from Diarist to Icon – The Anne Frank House
Guiding Questions for Repeat Readers:
- Why do people keep diaries?
- Anne had ambitions to become a writer. Could this have influenced the way in which she recorded her life?
- Have you considered keeping a diary during this time? Why or why not?
Additional Material for Repeat Readers:
- Karein Goertz – Writing from the Secret Annex: The Case of Anne Frank – Michigan Quarterly Review
- Louis Menard – Woke Up This Morning: Why Do We Keep Diaries? – The New Yorker, 3 December 2007

Week 2: 28 May @ 2 PM

Diary Readings:
- Read to Tuesday 18 May 1943
Guiding Questions for First Time Readers
- What do you know about the Netherlands?
- What role did Canada play in liberating the Netherlands?
Additional Material for First Time Readers:
- The Netherlands – The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Guiding Questions for Repeat Readers:
- What does “authenticity” mean? Can an edited document be considered authentic?
- Are the differences between Anne’s original diary and the published versions important?
- Is it ever right to censor a historical document that is released to the public?
Additional Material for Repeat Readers:
- Herbert Mitgang – An Authenticated Edition of Anne Frank’s Diary – The New York Times, 8 June 1989
- The Two Versions of Anne’s Diary – The Anne Frank House

Week 3: 5 June @ 2 PM

Diary Readings:
- Read to Thursday 6 January 1944
Guiding Questions for First Time Readers
- Are there any similarities between your daily routine, and daily life in the Annex?
- What can you do that the residents of the Annex could not?
Additional Material for First Time Readers:
- A Typical Day in the Secret Annex – The Anne Frank House
Guiding Questions for Repeat Readers:
- Is it appropriate to adapt a personal diary into entertainment like plays?
- How much latitude should an artist have in changing narrative or representation?
- Do interventions with modern technologies and practices like selfies help or hinder our understanding of the past?
Additional Material for Repeat Readers:
- Nina Siegal – The (Video) Diary of Anne Frank – The New York Times, 22 April 2020
- Watch a few episodes of the Video Diary from the Anne Frank House
- Oliver Holmes – Instagram Holocaust diary Eva.Stories sparks debate in Israel – The Guardian, 8 May 2019

Week 4: 12 June @ 2 PM

Diary Readings:
- Read to Tuesday 14 March 1944
Guiding Questions for First Time Readers
- Can you imagine helping a family hide from soldiers?
- What do you think motivated the people who helped the Franks hide?
- What do you think motivated people who would have told the Nazis about the Franks?
Additional Material for First Time Readers:
- Online Exhibit – Some Were Neighbours: Collaboration and Complicity in the Holocaust – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Guiding Questions for Repeat Readers:
- Has the attention paid to Anne’s story ultimately trivialized the history of the Holocaust?
- Should Anne’s Diary continue to be used as a central text of the Holocaust nearly 75 years after its original publication?
- What are the shortcomings of using Anne Frank in Holocaust education?
Additional Material for Repeat Readers:
- Anne Frank’s image ‘prime target for exploitation,’ says professor – The Current, CBC Radio, 27 October 2017
- ‘Anne Frank’ children’s costume sparks controversy – BBC News, 17 October 2017
- Anger over Justin Bieber’s Anne Frank message – BBC News, 14 April 2013

Week 5: 19 June @ 2 PM

Diary Readings:
- Read to Tuesday 25 April 1944
Guiding Questions for First Time Readers
- What kind of risks was someone taking by helping hiding Jews?
- Why would someone help hide Jews if they weren’t Jewish?
Additional Material for First Time Readers:
- Alex Rose – The Canadian Who Helped Shelter Anne Frank – The Canadian Jewish News, 30 April 2019
Guiding Questions for Repeat Readers:
- Why do people want to visit the Anne Frank House?
- Why is it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe?
- Should the Anne Frank House be considered “Dark Tourism”?
Additional Material for Repeat Readers:
- Graham Busby and Helen Devereux – Dark Tourism in Context: The Diary of Anne Frank – European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 2015
- Robert Reid – Is ‘Dark Tourism’ OK? – National Geographic, 26 April 2016

Week 6: 26 June @ 2 PM

Diary Readings:
- Read to end of book
Guiding Questions for First Time Readers:
- At this point, isolation has been going on for around 14 or 15 weeks. The Frank family hid for 25 months, or 108 weeks. Can you imagine what it felt like to be in the Annex during this time?

Additional Material for First Time Readers:
- Was Anne Frank Betrayed? – The Anne Frank House
Guiding Questions for Repeat Readers:
- Why do so many people find it important to learn who betrayed the Frank family?
- Why has Anne’s story continued to resonate despite the existence of other diaries?
- Is constructing an exercise around Anne Frank and her diary during social isolation appropriate?
- Are any comparisons between present times and the conditions endured within the Annex ever appropriate?
Additional Material for Repeat Readers:
- Avshalom Halutz – In a World in Lockdown, Anne Frank is the Latest Social Media Influencer – Haaretz, 20 April 2020
- Sophie Levitt – No, your coronavirus quarantine isn’t comparable to Anne Frank’s – The Jerusalem Post, 9 April 2020
- PJ Grisar – In the time of coronavirus, the world looks to Anne Frank – Forward, 6 April 2020

Week 7 (CONCLUSION): 2 July @ 2 PM

In Line for Anne Frank