Lot 116

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Description:

Otto Frank Makes Requests Concerning Brazilian Elementary School & Library Named After Anne, Both Still in Operation Today!

A 1p typed letter in English signed by Otto Frank (1889-1980), father of teenaged German Jewish diarist Anne Frank (1929-1945), as "Otto Frank" at center. Frank has also corrected a handful of typographical errors in blue pen. Written in Birsfelden, Switzerland on August 13, 1962. Pencil docketed in Portuguese in the upper right corner. Double hole-punched along the left margin, and with minor staple marks in the upper left corner. Expected light paper folds, else near fine. 5.75" x 8.25."

Otto Frank wrote this letter to representatives of Livros de Brazil, the Portuguese publishing house distributing his daughter's translated works since the late 1950s. In part, with unchanged spelling, grammar, and typography:

"Dear Sirs,

I suppose that you are exporting the Portuguese edition of the 'Tales' also to Brazil. In any case I want to tell you, that there is in Rio de Janeiro an 'Escola 14-3 'Ana Frank' Rua Pinheiro Machado 190. It seems to be a wonderful school and they did sent me a beautiful album, in which all [16 struck-though] classes participated. I would like to have sent to this school 16 copies of the tales in my name (one for every class) and you would oblige me, in attending to the matter at my expense. I suppose that you have a representative in Rio. Is that so?

I also read in a paper just yesterday, that in a park in Sao Paulo a childrens library has been opened bearing the name of Anne, and do not know more, so I have no address. Perhaps you will know. Are you satisfied with the success of the book?

Hoping to hear from you I am
very sincerely yours

[signed] Otto Frank."

The Escola Municipal Anne Frank (Anne Frank Elementary School), located at 190 Rua Pinheiro Machado in the Laranjeiras neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is still in operation today. It is situated in a section of the city dotted with other schools named after famous individuals, like Albert Schweitzer and Maria Leopoldina. The school was established in 1965 by Governor of Guanabara Carlos Lacerda. Pupils in an average class size of 25 are instructed in English, theater, music, dance, and physical education.

The library to which Otto Frank referred may have been the Biblioteca Anne Frank (Anne Frank Children's Library) located on the Rua Cojuba in the Itaim Bibi neighborhood of Sao Paulo steps away from the Parque de Povo. Mayor Prestes Maia renamed an existing library the Anne Frank Children's Library in the spring of 1962. At the time of this writing, the library is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 concerns.

Otto Heinrich Frank was the sole survivor of his 4-person family, comprised of wife Edith (1900-1945), daughter Margot (1926-1945), and Anne. The Franks, along with four others, hid in a secret annex located in the back upper stories of an Amsterdam business between July 1942 and August 1944. The Franks were discovered, arrested, and sent to Auschwitz in September 1944. Edith died of starvation at Auschwitz in January 1945; her two daughters died of typhus in February or March 1945 at Bergen-Belsen. Otto was released after the Soviets liberated Auschwitz in late January 1945.

Anne's writings had been collected and preserved by Otto's coworker Miep Gies, who had sheltered the families in the annex. Otto had initially transcribed Anne's diaries in order to give them to family members, but was eventually persuaded to seek publication. The final manuscript was a combination of two versions of the diaries Anne wrote, with Otto's edits and redactions. The book was first published in Dutch on June 25, 1947 as "The Secret Annex: Diary Letters from June 14, 1942 to August 1, 1944."

In early January 1958, the Portuguese publishing firm of Livros do Brazil, Ltd. wrote notifying Otto of their first 3,000 limited edition printing of "The Diary of Anne Frank." The book's popularity was such that it had already been published in German and French in 1950, and then in English (for both the US and UK markets) in 1952. The Portuguese publishers had been eager to acquire the publication, and worked closely with Otto Frank during the process. Livros do Brazil, Ltd. collaborated with Frank over the next twenty years, as they sought to publish similar and complementary works about Anne Frank and the Jewish war experience.

Anne Frank's "Tales from a Secret Annex" was originally published in the Netherlands in 1949, and appeared in an expanded edition in 1960.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" received both critical and popular acclaim. As of 2015, the book has been translated into over 60 different languages. Both its literary and historical importance cannot be overlooked. Dutch historian Jan Romein put it this way: "To me, however, this apparently inconsequential diary by a child... stammered out in a child's voice, embodies all the hideousness of fascism, more so than all the evidence at Nuremberg put together."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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