Otto Frank collection to the Anne Frank Museum

The collection originates from the estate of the actor Joseph Schildkraut, who corresponded with Otto Frank in the early 1950s in preparation for his role as Otto in the stage version of The Diary of Anne Frank. The collection includes a number of unique letters and documents concerning Otto Frank’s attempts to emigrate to the United States with his family before they went into hiding. The Anne Frank House was able to acquire the collection through a contribution from the BankGiro Lottery.

The diary of Anne Frank became especially popular in the United States after it was adapted into a stage play in 1955. Otto Frank, the only one of the eight people who hid in the Secret Annex to survive the war, was closely involved in the creation of the play. In the correspondence between Otto Frank and the actor Joseph Schildkraut, Otto answers questions that Schildkraut had in preparation for his role. The correspondence forms an important source for the history of the creation of the play and its success in the United States and provides a wealth of information on the Frank family and the period in hiding. The collection also includes photos of the Frank family, the Van Pels family, and Fritz Pfeffer, who also hid in the Secret Annex, and their helpers, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler, Bep Voskuijl and Miep and Jan Gies.

The estate of Joseph Schildkraut also comprised letters and documents of Otto Frank that Nathan Straus, a good friend of Otto Frank from the United States, gave to Schildkraut to help him prepare for his role. In a letter from 1936, Otto writes to Nathan that his children are doing well, but that the threat of the Nazism is also tangible in the Netherlands. There are also various documents, including a letter from Otto to Nathan from 1941 that concerns Otto Frank’s attempts to emigrate to the USA with his family. These letters and documents are bitter testimony to the hopeless situation in which the Frank family found itself.

Among its other activities, Anne Frank House curates the Otto Frank archive. The archive contains letters on the publication of the diary and the creation of stage plays and films, correspondence of Otto Frank with readers of the diary, documents connected with legal actions against neo-Nazis and documentation on the history of the Anne Frank House. The collection from the estate of Joseph Schildkraut is a valuable addition to the Anne Frank House’s archives.