UCSB Oral History Project Homepage > Research and Teaching Homepage > Anne Frank: The Controversy in Education : Annotated Bibliography

Newspaper Articles:

Millions Worldwide Have viewed ‘Anne Frank in the World’ Exhibit, Santa Barbara News-Press 13 October 199a 7, sec. A14.
Article about the Anne Frank exhibit which came to Santa Barbara in 1998 and the impact it had on the community.

Bernstein, Richard, 50 Years Later, the Jewishness of Anne Frank Blooms, New York Times, 24 December 1997
Fifty years after the diary was published, Bernstein argues that new image of Anne Frank appears. Previously he argued that Anne Frank Jewishness had been hidden, but with the emergence of several books and films, the importance of Anne’s Jewishness is restored.

Cohee, Camilla, Frank Exhibit Offers Life Lesson, Santa Barbara News Press, 13 October 1997, sec. A14, Monday edition

Blair, John, Compulsion, Los Angeles Times, 27 September 1997, sec. Book Review

Ozick, Cynthia, Who Owns Anne Frank? New Yorker, 6 October 1997, 76-87
This article is a critique of how the diary and it message has been distorted and twisted to serve certain ideals of American’s beliefs. She proposes that history would have been better served if the diary had been destroyed.

Rich, Frank, Betrayed by Broadway, New York Times, 17 September 1995, Late Edition.

Schultz, Connie, Anne Frank’s Prospector Speaks Out in Effort to Help, Again, The San Diego Union Tribune, 14 April 1996, sec. D-2.
This article is about Miep Gies and her travels to schools to talk with students that were Anne’s age.

Whitley, Sharon, A Famous Diary Turns 50, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 1992, sec. Opinion

Tugend, Tom, Anne Franks Changing Image, Jewish Journal 18 May 2001

Books:

Barnett, Victoria, Reflection on Anne Frank, In Rittner, Carol, Anne Frank in the World, Essays and Reflections, (New York and England: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1998).
Victoria Barnett’s essay is about her personal experience with teaching the diary. She discusses the negatives and positives for teaching the diary. She overwhelmingly believes the diary is a positive tool of education for the Holocaust.

Bolkosky, Sidney, Voices of Anne Frank, In Rittner, Carol, Anne Frank in the World, Essays and Reflections, (New York and England: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1998).
In Bolkosky’s essay he states that the Holocaust has been manipulated in movies to show a less tragic side and to bring out heroes. This is important for teachers to read because Bolkosky addresses important issues in films such as "The Anne Frank Movie" that are important for teachers to take note of before they show a film to their students.

Cole, Tim. Selling the Holocaust: From Auschwitz to Schindler, How History is Bought, Packaged and Sold. (New York: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd, 1999)

Flanzbaum, Hilene. The Americanization of the Holocaust, (Baltimore and London: John Hopkins University Press, 1999).

Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, (New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc: 1967, by Otto Frank in 1952)
This diary is the first edition that was published by Otto Frank in 1952.
It is edited from Anne’s original version A and version B diaries. This version is the most appropriate when teaching middle school students.

Langer, Lawrence, The Uses and Misuses of a Young Girls Diary, In Enzer, Hyman and Solotaroff-Enzer, Sandra, Anne Frank Reflections on her Life and Legacy, )Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000), 203-205
This is a compiled book that uses diaries, documents, newspapers, articles and reviews to show the importance and impact Anne Frank’s life has on today’s world. The specific article by Langer gives a very negative view of teaching Anne’s diary in the classroom. He feels that teachers shield students from the real tragedies of the Holocaust.

Rittner, Carol. Anne Frank in the World, Essays and Reflections, (New York and England: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1998).
This book was designed with classroom use in mind. It gives an extensive timeline of chronology to place Anne Frank in historical context. It offers a complete bibliography, videography and a list of teaching resources.

Praag,, Henri Van, Diary as a Challenge to Education, In Stanmeijer, Anna. A Tribute to Anne Frank, 1971, 70-72
In Stanmeijer’s book she compiles various essays on the topics of Anne’s Diary. Included are letters from students who have read or watched the film and their reactions to Anne.

Articles in Journals:

Alter, Robert, The View From the Attic, The New Republic (1995): 38-42

Bettelheim, Bruno, The Ignored Lesson of Anne Frank, Harpers Magazine, V221 NO1325 (1960): 45-50

Kunczt, Kim, Beyond Anne Frank, Educational Leadership V51 N3 (1993): 35
This article answers many questions that teachers may have about teaching the Diary of Anne Frank. Such questions answered are: What age is too young to teach the diary? And will students be too horrified?

Mayer, Peter ed, Lessons and Legacies, (vol. 1, 243-78)

Rochman, Hazel, Should You Teach: The Diary of a Young Girl? Book Links V7 N5 (1998): 45-49
This article addresses the positive and negative ways teachers have taught the diary. This article is definitely worth the time for teachers to look at for the reasons that they may be teaching the diary ineffectively.

Page, Max. The Life and Death of a Document: Lessons from the Strange Career of The Diary of Anne Frank, Public Historian V21(1) (1999) 87-97

Interviews:

Michelle Britton, Interview by Jessica Landfried, 21 February 2002. web write-up

Melanie Jacobson Interview by Jessica Landfried, 26 February 2002

Joyce Hazelkorn Interview by Jessica Landfried, 22 February 2002

Teaching Resources:

Mager, Susan, Teaching the Diary of Anne Frank: An In-Depth Resource for Learning About the Holocaust Through the Writings of Anne Frank, (New York: Scholastic Professional Books, 1998).

Myers, Kathleen, Latitudes: Resources to Intigrate Language Arts & Social Studies, Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl, (Iowa: Perfect Learning Corporation, 1993).

Strom, Margot Stern, Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior, (Massachusetts: Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc. 1994).