Margot Frank – Stepping Out of Anne’s Shadow
A tribute to ‘the sister of’
The Diary of Anne Frank may be the most famous book in the world, it has been translated into 70 languages. Anne’s older sister Margot also kept a diary. That diary never received the attention, as it was never found after the war. In Margot Frank – Stepping out of Anne’s Shadow , Janny van der Molen gives a voice to the young woman whose diary remained unknown.
Margot Frank enjoys a peaceful childhood in Germany until a wave of anti-Semitism casts a shadow over her life. After her parents move the family to Amsterdam, Margot, a bright and inquisitive soul who is much less boisterous than her sister, quickly finds her feet; she makes many friends and is an active member of the rowing club and the drama society. But everything changes in May 1940 when the Netherlands comes under German occupation and anti-Jewish laws place more and more restrictions on her daily life. In 1942, the family goes into hiding in the secret annex. On 4 August 1944, Margot, Anne and their parents are arrested. They are deported via Westerbork to Auschwitz; later, Margot and Anne are sent to Bergen-Belsen, where they die in February 1945, Margot shortly before Anne.
With imagination and empathy Van der Molen fills in the gaps in Margot’s story, and offers a moving portrait of her amazing yet brief life. Partly due to the countless photos from the Frank family archive and historical images the book is a unique and valuable expansion of our knowledge of Margot and the Frank family. Van der Molen has written it in close collaboration with the Anne Frank House.
Richly illustrated with historical images and personal documents
An accessible book about World War II
