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The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation

The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation

by Rosemary Sullivan

Harper ·2022 ·400 pages
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
38/99
Bottom of the Pile

19/99

Critics' Rating Index

Near the Top

56/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

51/99

Volume of Reviews

92/99

Volume of Reader Ratings

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About This Book

Less a mystery unsolved than a secret well kept... Using new technology, recently discovered documents and sophisticated investigative techniques, an international team—led by an obsessed retired FBI agent—has finally solved the mystery that has haunted generations since World War II: Who betrayed Anne Frank and her family? And why? Over thirty million people have read The Diary of a Young Girl, the journal teen-aged Anne Frank kept while living in an attic with her family and four other people in Amsterdam during World War II, until the Nazis arrested them and sent them to a concentration camp. But despite the many works—journalism, books, plays and novels—devoted to Anne's story, none has ever conclusively explained how these eight people managed to live in hiding undetected for over two years—and who or what finally brought the Nazis to their door. With painstaking care, retired FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and a team of indefatigable investigators pored over tens of thousands of pages of documents—some never before seen—and interviewed scores of descendants of people familiar with the Franks. Utilizing methods developed by the FBI, the Cold Case Team painstakingly pieced together the months leading to the infamous arrest—and came to a shocking conclusion. The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation is the riveting story of their mission. Rosemary Sullivan introduces us to the investigators, explains the behavior of both the captives and their captors and profiles a group of suspects. All the while, she vividly brings to life wartime Amsterdam: a place where no matter how wealthy, educated, or careful you were, you never knew whom you could trust.


Reviews

"Sullivan's meandering narrative can be tedious when it focuses on the mystery's many red herrings ..."

Julia M. Klein· The Boston Globe Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Whatever the eventual verdict, it's clear that Sullivan's book struggles to find a form and style that serves her material."

Kathryn Hughes· The Guardian Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Worse, it offers little historical analysis of life in Amsterdam during the war years, particularly regarding the role of the Jewish Council, whose members made the fatal but understandable gamble of cooperating with the Nazi authorities, hoping that by doing so they could mitigate the worst of the persecution and buy extra time for the Jewish population."

Ruth Franklin· New York Review of Books Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"It agilely shifts the idea of 'collaboration' over eight decades and nearly 400 pages, from dark and insidious crime to noble quest with algorithmic transparency ..."

Alexandra Jacobs· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"She writes, memorably, of Otto's work after the death of their Judas ..."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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