Customer Reviews

The Hidden Life of Otto Frank

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

The Hidden Life Of Otto Frank is a lively new biography provides important new clues to the question of who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis. New documented information about Anne's father Otto and the individual who would claim responsibility makes for an involving study which is packed with excerpts from Frank's own secret journal and exhaustive research results. The Hidden Life Of Otto Frank is a 'must' for any library offering a definitive collection on the Frank experience in particular and Nazi survivors in general.

I echo the previous reviews in that I did find the writing to be very dry at times, to the point that it was difficult to get through all but the most interesting parts of this book. But, in saying that, I have to admit that the parts I did find interesting were worth the 4 stars in and of themselves.

In reading the Diary of Anne Frank one of the things that you don't realize (or at least I didn't) is how thoroughly it's been edited. Otto Franks took great liberties in deciding what would and would not be shared with the public and after reading this book those edits, and the truth they hid, really shine through.

More than that, I found that Otto Franks to be as fascinating a person as his daughter (even if he is not as likable) and that fact made this book very enjoyable for me.

I don't exactly like the title of the book but it's understandable as it unearthes many previously little known facts about Mr. Otto Frank. I found the latter stages of the book interesting as it talks about publication of the diary and its far reaching effects as it becomes a bestseller then a play then a movie and so on.

I got the feeling that the book tended to overpraise Mr. Frank as some kind of saint. I found some of the things he did disagreeable like losing interest in finding their betrayer and also barely leaving anything to the Gies in his will. He also curiously defended his arresting officer Karl Silberbauer a man who mercilessly arrested numerous Jews, sent them to their deaths and asked Miep Gies that had she no shame for protecing them.

The name of Tonny Ahlers barely rang a bell for me especially as the book kept talking about him and dragged it on. I eventually and conveniently skipped all the parts about him.

The book succeeds in bringing closure to Otto Frank's life and the history of the diary. It doesn't necessarily do that for Anne Frank herself. I think Gold's book "Memories of Anne Frank" does a better job of that. I also like to mention that it brings closure to another book that I read, "Eva's Story" an account of the Holocaust experiences of Otto's second wife Elfriede and her daugther Eva Schloss.

The Hidden Life of Otto Frank by Carol Ann Lee gives us a look at Anne Frank and her family from a different perspective, that of her father, Otto. The tragedy of Anne's short life is only heightened by the tragedy of her father's, who had to pick up his life and go on living after all of his family was destroyed by the Nazis. The fact that he was able to do so, and even become part of a new family is a real tribute to him. His absolute dedication to the memory of Anne and to the publication and promotion of her diary is laudable-- it is seen not only as a father's desperate attempt to retain some vestige of a daughter he obviously loved, but it is also his attempt to promote Anne's optimism and belief in the goodness of people.

Otto Frank's story is interesting enough; Ms. Lee did not need to spend so much time dwelling on the possible role of Tonny Ahlers into the betrayal of the Frank family. A short chapter would have been enough, but Ms. Lee keeps returning to her theory to hammer her point home. It is distracting from a book that has enough drama as it is. To me, the wonder is that the family was able to remain hidden for so long when it seems that there were actually many people on the outside who knew about the Secret Annex.

Generally children outlive their parents and hopefully become a credit to them. In the case of Otto Frank, however, it is he who is a credit to the memory of his extraordinary daughter.

While there are many things that are explained about the characters in Anne Frank already, this book goes into very deep detail about them, even more than what one would've thought possible. I will reinforce what has been said by saying that the text was a little dry at times, but still a good read.

Some of the complaints I have with this book are, the author tries way too hard to make Otto be the good guy. She contradicts herself when she does this. For example, she claims that Otto married Edith, Anne's mother because he was in need of money. She then goes into great detail about how he needed this for his business and his family, but leaves out that he married her for her money. There are several other little things like that in there, also.

Another thing is with Tonny Alhers. The entire book basically makes the case that Tonny Alhers turned the people living in the secret annex, but in the epilogue, she contradicts herself by suggesting that Tonny's wife did it.

Still, this is a very good and eye-opening book. It shows that there was a lot more issues that went on than is mentioned in the Diary.

The Hidden Life of Otto Frank is very well researched but quite readable. Carol Ann Lee proposes a new theory regarding the identity of the Frank's betrayer and provides detailed evidence in support of this theory. She also gives a detailed description of how Anne Frank's diary came to be published in its various forms and how the play and movie came about. There is also an eye opening description of the political climate in the Netherlands during and after the second world war. This book would be fascinating to anyone interested in the Anne Frank story.

Apparently the news that Otto Frank had sold some of his product for making jam to the Nazi Germany during the war caused quite a stir in the occupied country The Netherlands. What is really strange is how we create heroes out of people who do not choose to be heroes. Otto Frank was a remarkable man. The story of his life is equally remarkable. He was the father of one of the most famous people who ever lived, Anne Frank. If it were not for Otto, his daughter's diary would not have been published. The fact that he would want to edit things out that were personal to him and his wife is completely understandable. We will never know whether Anne would have published her diary if she had survived. This is a balanced portrait of a man caught in extraordinary times. If it had not been for the publishing of the diary we would probably never know about this survivor of the holocaust. I think he was quite remarkable.