The Hidden Life of Otto Frank

If you know me well, you know that I have an intense fascination with the Holocaust, particularly the story of the Frank family. I remember as a young girl in elementary school reading Anne's diary and any other book I could find about her. I think it was hard for my little 10-year-old brain to comprehend that a girl just like me had to hide in one room with her whole family for 2 years, only to die in a concentration camp 3 weeks before the Allies liberated their camp. At this point, my 25-year-old brain is still captivated by the story and will read anything that will shed more insight into the lives of these extraordinary people.

Next up: 'The Hidden Life of Otto Frank' by Carol Ann Lee.

I happened upon this book one day on one of my random Barnes & Noble stops. I don't remember what I was looking for, but I just happened to see this one. I pulled it off the shelf and was instantly mesmerized by the claim that was made on the back of the jacket. This book was going to reveal the name of the person that had betrayed the Frank family, something I had been curious about for 15 years. Naturally, I immediately went to the cash register and bought it. Due to the crazy work load of my last semester of seminary, I was only just able to read this book a few weeks ago, but it was well worth the wait.

From the moment I began reading, I was completely engrossed. I hadn't ever read much about Otto, Anne's father, seeing as most of the literature about their family is focused solely upon Anne. However, this book proved to be an absolutely fascinating read, providing much needed background and insight into family dynamics from an adult perspective that helped to understand significance of events that I had read about previously in other books. The book begins with Otto's childhood in Germany and follows him through his life at a rather quick pace, slowing to really dig in after the family moves to Amsterdam in the 1930's when Hitler was rising to power in their native Germany.

The story follows Otto through his entire life, including very closely detailed accounts of his time in Auschwitz and his journey back to Holland after the war was over. Through all of it, a man named Tonny Ahlers plays a very key role, as it seems he blackmailed Otto Frank from very early on in the war until seemingly the day he died. Ahlers was a well-known anti-Semitic and friend of the German occupiers in Holland, well know in Amsterdam for betraying Jews he knew to be in hiding. Throughout the book, it would seem that Tonny Ahlers was the man who betrayed the Frank family, knowing early on about their hiding place and only letting them stay in order to continue to blackmail Otto. However, the final chapter in the book drops a starting bombshell, revealing that the person that called the SS that day in August of 1944 to betray the Frank family was actually a woman. That woman was Tonny Ahler's wife.

If you are at all interested in WW2, the Holocaust, or history in general, read this book. It's fantastic.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 bookmarks