The Legacy of Anne Frank
How has Anne Frank succeeded - where other initiatives have failed - in bringing together those from different sides in intractable conflicts and breaking down deeply held prejudices against ‘the other’? What are the often surprising long-term legacies she has left behind?
This fascinating study aims to answer these questions and many more.
From her secret hiding place in wartime Amsterdam, the Jewish teenager Anne Frank wrote heart-wrenchingly about the terrors of a captivity that would ultimately end with her death at the hands of the Nazis. In her world-famous diaries, she described with remarkable honesty her transition from childhood to a deep thinking, opinionated and passionate teenager.
The life she longed to live, during which she would help to create a more caring world, was tragically not to be. In August 1944, she and her family were captured and deported to Auschwitz. Two years after her death from starvation and disease in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, her diary was published. It quickly became an international sensation, going on to influence hearts and minds for over seventy years. Although many books and literary analyses have been written about Anne Frank’s life and diary, none have explored the surprising influence she has had on young people in countries all over the world, helping to shape their moral framework and giving them critical life skills.
This is due in part to the merits of a travelling exhibition created by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in 1985 which has so far been seen by over 9 million people. The Anne Frank exhibition, along with its innovative educational and cultural activities, has circumnavigated the globe many times.
In this fascinating study, Gillian Walnes Perry explores the various legacies of Anne Frank's influence. She looks at the complex life of Anne Frank’s father and the motivations that powered his educational philosophy. She shares new insights into the real Anne Frank, personally gifted by those who actually knew her. Global icons such as Nelson Mandela and Audrey Hepburn relate the influence that Anne Frank had on shaping their own lives. This book presents - all in one place and for the very first time - the inspirational stories of a diverse variety of people from all over the world, brought together by the words of one particularly articulate and inspiring teenage victim of the Holocaust.
Published by Pen & Sword UK: £14.99 US: $24.99 To request a signed and personalised copy email: [email protected]
'Writing with great passion, Perry takes the reader on the path that she covered, describing not just the travels of the exhibition, but the way in which the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the (Anne Frank) Trust, together with the establishment of satellites in other countries, became transformed into agents for peace and reconciliation around the world.' Rabbi Dr Charles Middleburgh, Dean of Leo Baeck College, review in the Church Times
'We might ask what purpose is served by another book on the life of Anne Frank? In the case of this book, a really important one. Gillian does not simply give us a biography of Anne’s life but she reflects more deeply on the ways in which Anne’s life has impacted on others and how that inspiration has helped to change lives in all sorts of contexts and situations around the world, from post-Apartheid South Africa to Bosnia and south London...As Gillian reminds us in approaching the legacy of Anne Frank, inspiring others is the first step in changing the world, and there’s heaps of such inspiration to be found in this book.' Rob Thompson, Common Ground, journal of the Council of Christians & Jews
I have written many articles for the media and conducted many interviews, here are just a few of them
Articles
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/we-will-never-know-the-adult-anne-frank-would-have-become/
http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/opinon-after-28-years-im-coming-to-terms-with-life-after-anne-frank/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gillian-walnes-/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/18/what-anne-frank-ambassadors-teach-chelsea-racists
http://www.jewishtelegraph.com/prof_212.html
http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/opinion-my-36-anxious-hours-facing-terror-on-the-gaza-border/
http://adoreum.com/news/thought-leadership-breakfast-with-gillian-walnes/
Media Interviews
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05077kb
For national Afternoon Tea Week, 14 - 20 August 2017, I conducted 5 BBC radio interviews with a total air time of 45 minutes. Here is the link to BBC Radio Cornwall, the Debbie McCrory Show on 15 August. Intro starts at 08.33 mins - 09.35 mins and my interview at 34.30 mins – 46.03 mins (you may need to log in to BBC iPlayer to access it as it is a BBC radio station):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05bfym4
Media Coverage
Appearing in the Channel 4 TV challenge show Child Genius, for which I set questions about Anne Frank
The section I am in starts at 16 mins 32 secs and finishes at 21 mins 40 secs.
