ANNE FRANK Q & A with Marisa Kilgallen Part One

Here, is Part One of four of an interview with Marisa Kilgallen of the Anne Frank Center in New York by Susan Schnitzer.  If you are interested in the Anne Frank story made famous by the publication of "The Diary of Anne Frank," you will enjoy reading this interview.  Thanks to Susan for allowing me to post her interview article here. - Armand.

Guest Article

“People who give will never be poor” – Anne Frank

ANNE FRANK Q & A with Marisa Kilgallen

Interview conducted at the Anne Frank Center, 44 Park Place, NYC,

212 431 7993,

info(at)annefrank.com

As told to Susan Schnitzer

SS: How did you get interested in the story and life of Anne Frank?

MK: I first got interested in the story and life of Anne Frank when I was 9. My class was doing reports on famous women. I remember my classmates and I had to choose a famous woman’s name from a hat. I did not get Anne Frank, but JK Rowling. Once the projects, which consisted of a one paragraph biography on a famous woman and that woman’s picture besides it, were done, they were displayed outside my classroom. One day, while I was on my way out of school, I came across one of those projects that had been done on Anne Frank and that’s how I met her. This is the first picture I ever saw of her.

SS: What was your impression when you saw her for the first time?

MK: I thought she was really young compared to the other pictures on the wall of women who were middle aged, elderly or in their late 30s. When I read the short biography on Anne Frank, which was next to her picture, I was very fascinated, but confused. I remember that aside from learning, from the biography’s information, the date of her birthday and where she was born, she was famous for writing a published diary which recounted the experience of Jews in hiding. The biography also informed me that she had died at the age of 15 in a concentration camp. I didn’t know that Jews were in hiding, I didn’t know what a concentration camp was, and I really didn’t have any experience with death at that time. By the time I was nine, I already had that experience about 2 times. The first experience was when my dad’s dad died. Even though I had been close to him, it really didn’t have such an effect on me. He was rather old at the time – he was in his 70s. Then my great grandmother passed away 4 years later. She was also very old – she was in her 90s. In my mind only elderly people died, not children-that’s the reason why Anne Frank’s young death confused me.

SS: So when you met Anne Frank, were you around the same ages?

MK: The first picture I saw of Anne Frank was taken in 1941- when she was about eleven. I was nine going on ten when I viewed that photograph.

SS: – That’s not much difference. That could have been your best friend – it could have been you. So you automatically felt a connection between yourself and Anne?

MK: I’m not sure if it was an immediate connection. What struck me was not only her death at the age of 15, but the fact that her diary was published. When I first learned of her death, I remember thinking “that’s not much older than me.” I was turning 10 that year and that was a difference of only 5 years. In terms of her diary, I was surprised someone’s diary was actually published. As a young girl who kept a diary herself, I could’ve never imagined anyone reading my personal thoughts. So, due to my curiosity, I wanted to read the diary, but my mother didn’t want me to read it right away. So I read it at the age of 13. It’s kind of strange. She (Anne Frank) kind of kept on coming back to me in a way because I remember seeing signs of her book on school walls when I went to middle school. My first introduction to the Holocaust, however, was the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry-a historical fiction book I read in 5^th grade. This novel depicts the story of a Christian family trying to rescue Jews and get them to Sweden from occupied Denmark. Still, as I read the book, I was very confused about what was happening –“Why are they [the Nazis] after these people [the Jews]?” I wondered. I eventually learned about the Holocaust in 7^th grade. I remember watching a film on a concentration camp and being very dumbfounded that such a place could exist. Anne kind of came back to my mind then and I remember thinking “Oh my God – was she here?” (I found out at a later point in time that she was) and I also wondered, “Was she gassed?” At that time, I didn’t know how she died. As I said, when I was 13, I read the book. I loved her work and admired her character right away. Yes, I did read the play first, but the play encouraged me to read the book and I thought the book was better than the drama. As I read the book, I discovered that Anne and I were rather similar to one another. She kind of had views that I had and still hold because I tend to think, like Anne, that people are innately good. I think that they come into the world as a clean slate and whatever happens to them happens to them. What a person experiences in her/his lifetime makes her/him who she/he is. On another note, while I was reading the novel, I also began to admire Anne’s character. I found her ability to withstand the strain of hiding and her acceptance to be grateful for what she had to be admirable signs of strength. Anne’s choice to be grateful for the beautiful things in the world, such as nature (which she could view from an attic window), rather than to wallow in her misery has left an impression on me. Like you, when I find myself complaining, I think “What am I going through compared to the situation Anne and her family were forced to experience?” So, when I’m in a difficult situation, I compare my difficulty with Anne’s experience. Then, like Anne, I look on the bright side of things and I refuse to let a minor difficulty stand in my way. Therefore, the depiction of her strong character is one of the reasons why I’m a fan of her book, but I’m not really fond of the way the play portrays the story and Anne’s character.