Hannah Goslar's story

Mihaela has told me about Martisor when we went to American Book Center in Amsterdam to pick up this book.

Gold, Alison Leslie, Memories of Anne Frank-Reflections of a Childhood Friend, Polaris

From Coisas Minhas

I had ordered it at the American Book Center in Den Haag and after 4 weeks they sent it to Amsterdam because it would be easier for me to pick it up. Very nice service!

Remember Hannah Goslar? Hannah and Anne Frank were friends since childhood and later they met in Bergen-Belsen.



"Hannah 'Hanneli' Elisabeth Goslar (born 12 November 1928) is best known for her friendship with diarist Anne Frank. Both Hannah and Anne attended the Sixth Public Montessori School (now the Anne Frank School) in Amsterdam and then the Jewish Lyceum. Hannah was deported to Westerbork transit camp in June 1943 and then to the exchange camp of Alballalager in Bergen-Belsen on February 15, 1944. While there she met Anne, who had been transferred to Belsen from Auschwitz, shortly before her (Anne's) death. Hannah and her little sister Gabi survived the concentration camps and later emigrated to Israel in 1947. She married Dr. Walter Pinchas and has three children and ten grandchildren." (Wikipedia)

To read more about it, please click here.

Reading the book, I found a brave and courageous girl, focused on her own survival and her family's.

Some examples...

When the Germans arrived at her house...

" Hannah's rucksack had been packed and ready for months. She'd packed it herself, because she had no mother now,..." (p. 44)



When Hannah and her family arrived at the camp of Westerbork...

" Very quickly Hannah figured out where the men's barracks was in relation to the orphanage. When she learned that she would be given a work assignment, she volunteerde to clean the toilets. (...) The reason was that Hannah knew the washroom and toilets were close to the fence that separated them from men's barracks. She hoped that she could catch a glimpse of her father while she worked." ( p.49)

I could give you more examples, but I think it is better to read the book! ;-)

A brave girl! A great story!