NYT: The Singular Tragedy of Anne Frank
Dying more than one death — first, murdered, then robbed of her Jewish identity
Note: Here is the truth: she was murdered because she was a Jew, and yet now asking, how often must she die.
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Exodus 12:30 — A Visit from the Angel of Death
וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּחֲצִ֣י הַלַּ֗יְלָה וַֽיהֹוָה֮ הִכָּ֣ה כׇל־בְּכוֹר֮ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֒יִם֒ מִבְּכֹ֤ר פַּרְעֹה֙ הַיֹּשֵׁ֣ב עַל־כִּסְא֔וֹ עַ֚ד בְּכ֣וֹר הַשְּׁבִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית הַבּ֑וֹר וְכֹ֖ל בְּכ֥וֹר בְּהֵמָֽה׃
In the middle of the night יהוה struck down all the first-born, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle.
וַיָּ֨קׇם פַּרְעֹ֜ה לַ֗יְלָה ה֤וּא וְכׇל־עֲבָדָיו֙ וְכׇל־מִצְרַ֔יִם וַתְּהִ֛י צְעָקָ֥ה גְדֹלָ֖ה בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם כִּֽי־אֵ֣ין בַּ֔יִת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽין־שָׁ֖ם מֵֽת׃
And Pharaoh arose in the night, with all his courtiers and all the Egyptians—because there was a loud cry in Egypt; for there was no house where there was not someone dead.
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Here, below, an important essay, surprisingly printed in the NYT today, in which we are introduced to those who continue to attempt to dilute and steal the Jewish identity of Anne Frank while simultaneously attempting to stress her universality. Its rendition and its co-opting represent a subtle (but not insignificant) form of antisemitism, infuriating in its ugliness and now ever more important for those of us who have read and “understood” the rendition, thinking it to be hers. It is well past the time for us to be aware of those who either ignore or perpetuate this particular form of Jewhate, the denial of the legitimacy of Am Yisrael, the Jewish People.
Exceprt 1):
“Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes … Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find their parents have disappeared.”
Written by Anne Frank about the persecution of Jews by Nazis in Amsterdam, these words have gone viral . . . “Read this quote from Anne Frank in light of exactly what happened this week,” one activist urged.
Since 1947, when Anne’s diary was first published in Dutch (it appeared in English in 1952), her words and image have been harnessed to any number of political causes. It’s heartening to know that her story remains a touchstone for many, especially at a time when Americans, especially younger generations, are startlingly ignorant about the Holocaust. In one study, 66 percent of millennials could not correctly identify Auschwitz, the death camp liberated 80 years ago tomorrow, as a Nazi camp.
Still, as someone who’s spent years researching Anne and her world, I cringe to see her invoked in contexts far removed from her historical situation.
Excerpt 2):
With its essence as a document of Jewish persecution diluted, Anne’s diary could do little to counteract that prejudice, which Otto (her father) seems to have eventually realized. While he wrote in a letter to Levin that the diary was “not a Jewish book,” he went on to say that “in some way of course [the play] must be Jewish … so that it works against anti-Semitism.”
Since Anne’s name and image are still so often invoked, we might think that means her story remains unforgotten. But in fact, the opposite is true: The more she becomes a generic symbol of all historical tragedy, the less we remember who she was and what happened to her.
My note: Here the author is attempting to achieve yet another humanity-balancing act. I understand this essay while attempting to reclaim Anne’s Jewish message and identity as a thinly disguised attempt to universalize the Shoah — while not only inappropriate, let *us* understand this attempt at a white washing (i.e. to see it for what it is) as another attempt to universalize Anne’s Jewish message (of her identity), seeking to achieve nothing less than the perpetuation of the lie that her life experience is shared (or pwned) by all peoples, refugees and the downtrodden alike.
For our understanding, that is a lie — it is not.
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And now here below, in an Unlocked NYT Guest Essay from Deborah Lipstadt who sees all of this in political terms, interesting, to say the least. (Dr. Lipstadt was the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism abroad during the Biden administration).
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/opinion/antisemitism-left-right.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sE4.ahUs.K1LuMHSjL30J&smid=url-share
Except: 1) As the new administration begins and I leave this position, I have come to see, more clearly, that this oft-debated left/right question — that is, which side is worse — often serves as a political smoke screen.
The problem is that many on both the left and the right fail to call out antisemitism when it appears on their side of the political spectrum: Too many on the left are silent when it rears its head on university campuses. Too many on the right fail to condemn the overt antisemitism expressed by white nationalists. When I encounter this, it is clear to me that the intent is not to fight antisemitism but to use antisemitism as a cudgel against political opponents.
This is far too narrow a prism through which to acknowledge, assess and call out this hateful phenomenon. In the past few years, having witnessed the continued harm of antisemitism worldwide, I have become convinced that these double standards, which reduce the fight against antisemitism to partisan bickering, obscure the far greater threat that is Jew hatred.
Excerpt: 2) Anything that erodes the rule of law and undermines our national security must be confronted collectively. But when antisemitism is viewed through a left/right lens, we risk making it the subject of a partisan debate. In doing so, we obscure the global threat it poses.
