The Hidden Life of Otto Frank [Paperback]

Carol Ann Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2003

In this definitive new biography, Carol Ann Lee provides the answer to one of the most heartbreaking questions of modern times: Who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis? Probing this startling act of treachery, Lee brings to light never before documented information about Otto Frank and the individual who would claim responsibility -- revealing a terrifying relationship that lasted until the day Frank died. Based upon impeccable research into rare archives and filled with excerpts from the secret journal that Frank kept from the day of his liberation until his return to the Secret Annex in 1945, this landmark biography at last brings into focus the life of a little-understood man -- whose story illuminates some of the most harrowing and memorable events of the last century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anne Frank and her family are hallowed symbols of all the lives lost in the Holocaust, but the identity of the person who revealed the "secret annex" in which they hid for two years from the Nazis has always remained a mystery. Lee (Roses from the Earth: The Biography of Anne Frank) has, through vigorous, dedicated detective work, uncovered his probable identity. More important, she has uncovered a startling aspect of Otto Frank's life. According to Lee, the Franks were betrayed by Tonny (Anton) Ahlers, a young, troubled, even thuggish, Dutch youth and Nazi informer. But there is more: in 1941, Ahlers saved the Frank family from deportation, but he also began blackmailing Otto after discovering that Frank's food and spice business was selling to the German army. Ahlers's blackmail continued until Otto's death in 1980, during the years when Anne's diary became famous and Otto could not risk being seen as a war profiteer. Lee's plain but compelling reporting style suits this material, which is presented as part historical analysis and part mystery. The power of the book, however, resides in her rich, human portrait of Otto Frank, who can now be seen as more than simply "Anne's father." Lee's instinct for displaying the humanity of her subjects is best attested to by her portrayal of Tonny Ahlers, which is so engaging and frighteningly complex that readers will want to know more about him.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Anne Frank's father, Otto, was the only member of the famous Amsterdam family to survive the concentration camps, and his postwar years were devoted to preserving Anne's memory by publishing her diary--perhaps the most widely read Holocaust work ever--and establishing a charitable foundation in her name. Life after Anne was as surrounded by controversy as it was filled with sorrow. Otto was criticized for his editing of his daughter's diary, chastised for dramatic adaptations downplaying the family's Jewishness, and even accused of wartime opportunism because of his company's contract with the Wehrmacht. The question of who betrayed the Franks to the authorities continues to be a hot topic in the Netherlands. This selection attempts to clear Otto's name while filling in the details of his life. Incorporating new interviews and previously unpublished fragments of Otto's own diary, Lee fingers a previously unsuspected informer, and her convincing detective work may, 60 years later, finally be the last word. Perhaps more important, her biography illustrates the complicated entanglement of resistance and complicity that still haunts Amsterdam. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060520833
• ISBN-13: 978-0060520830
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #797,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing and well-researched, but slightly dry at times, February 22, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hidden Life of Otto Frank (Hardcover)

From the horror of the Holocaust there has arisen an incredible cannon of informative, evocative and always powerful literature. From THE TIN DRUM to SOPHIE'S CHOICE to NIGHT, the list is as long as it is impressive. But one author's name is mentioned most often and most indelibly in connection with Holocaust literature, a girl who didn't even survive through her concentration camp experience.

That girl, of course, is Anne Frank. Somehow her father did survive and, upon returning to Amsterdam, discovered the diary his youngest daughter kept during the Frank family's two years in hiding from the Nazis. Thusly, Anne's words were published and soon became the world's most widely read account of the Holocaust. The experience of a young person's climb to maturity, told in the extreme context of quietly battling for her life, universalized the situation in a way nothing else has before or since.

There have been several Anne Frank biographies published, as well as books about the Frank family's Dutch "helpers," who hid them in the secret annex. But little has been written, at least in book form, about Anne's beloved father, Otto, the man who published the diary. Carol Ann Lee's THE HIDDEN LIFE OF OTTO FRANK tackles this topic, four years after her literary debut ROSES FROM THE EARTH: The Biography of Anne Frank.

Don't let the somewhat salacious title fool you. There's no Mr. Frank mistress hidden amongst the Jews in the attic, or any particularly outrageous diary passages that have never been seen before. In her extremely knowledgeable and competent, if never particularly florid, writing style, Lee presents a straightforward portrait of a man who tried to harness his pain for the greater good. Otto is a sympathetic character. He's not saint material, but he appears to have been the good and just man that Anne portrays him to be in her adoring writings. Lee traces his life, from his German roots to his family's immigration to Holland to his second, more loving marriage. Her many sources include excerpts from Otto's pre-, post- and wartime letters; the ones dating from just after his Auschwitz internment become particularly interesting and heartbreaking. Readers already know that his daughters will not return. But it takes Otto a painfully long time to discover this.

The book's only truly new revelation is the accusation of a new Frank family betrayer. Past theories have abounded, including the new warehouseman, burglars looking for extra money, or suspicious neighbors. According to Lee's theory (and this is not giving anything away, as she voices it in the introduction), ne'er do well Tonny Ahlers did it. Ahlers, an early Nazi informant, actually saved the Franks from the Germans once. He turned over an incriminating letter that accused Otto of anti-German sentiments in 1941. Otto paid off Ahlers twice for giving Otto the letter instead of sending it along to his superiors. Lee believes there was a larger blackmail scheme ongoing and that Ahlers eventually turned in the Franks (and the four others living with them) because he needed the money.

This theory certainly tracks as well as any others that have been introduced with regard to the Frank betrayer. But it is also the only part of this book that seems forced. Lee tries very hard to link Otto and Ahlers together, when there is minimal evidence that they crossed paths beyond once or twice. Though two of Ahlers' immediate relations confirm that their brother/father turned the Franks in, this is not conclusive. Lee struggles to make Ahlers a focal point when he seems more like an interesting sidelight. Since this is the only truly new revelation, it seems understandable. But the sections still read a bit stilted.

Our international interest in Anne Frank shows no signs of ebbing. When this book was published in the Netherlands last year, it drew national attention. And it is an engrossing, well-researched, if at times slightly dry, read. As always, it seems an impossible shame that Anne is not here to see the many legacies she left.

--- Reviewed by Toni Fitzgerald

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Touching, but Scrambling, December 6, 2005

By 

F. R. Robinson (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hidden Life of Otto Frank (Hardcover)

I first saw this book while browsing through the bookstore, and was shocked by the title. It reminded me of too many tabloid books seeking to expose specious and degrading rumors. As someone who has read Anne's diary many times and who has had a great appreciation of her father from what I had read, I was curious as to what 'hidden life' would be brought against him. I started reading the book at the store, and luckily, it turned out better than what the title proclaimed it to be.

While I thought that the parts detailing Otto's life and his experience's with his family were interesting and well researched, I also felt that the parts about Tonny Ahlers were not so interesting. A lot of times I felt as though she was scrambling for a connection between Otto Frank and Tonny Ahlers when none was to be found. In all, I am not convinced by the proposition she put forth that Ahlers was the one who betrayed the Franks.

I often hated it when she finished talking about the Franks and moved on to Ahlers. If she had left Ahlers out, the book would have been a lot more enjoyable.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting thesis, February 21, 2003

By 

Cecelia E Connally (Cleveland, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hidden Life of Otto Frank (Hardcover)

I'm sure that there are many other readers who have a great deal more expetise on the subject of Anne Frank than I do. As a result, I'm sure that there are persons who will question aspects of Carol Ann Lee's thesis about Otto Frank, his relations with the Germans her theory on who turned the Franks in.

Many years ago in high school I read the diary and have read the recent biography of Anne. So I certainly don't claim to be an expert. But the story has always intigued me and when I heard The Hidden Life of Otto Frank on public radio I ordered the book.

Lee makes an interesting argument and gives a facinating view of Otto. She makes him come to life and you see him outside of the attic and feel the pain that he suffered. Those interested in Anne's story, Otto's life and the way Otto marketed the diary will enjoy the book. It's also interesting to see the conflicts that arose as to what the emphasis of Anne's story should be.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has read the diary. It's a quick read and very interesting.