The inspiring and heartbreaking true story of two best friends torn apart and reunited against all odds.

When Hannah Pick-Goslar's family fled Nazi Germany for Amsterdam, she struck up a close friendship with her next-door neighbour; precocious, outspoken and fun-loving Anne Frank. Hannah instantly warmed to happy-go-lucky Anne and for seven blissful years, the inseparable pair navigated school, boys and coming of age in Amsterdam's Rivierenbuurt neighbourhood.

But in 1942, life quickly changed for the thirteen-year-old girls. The Nazi occupation of Amsterdam meant the friends were separated without warning. Hannah called on Anne, but there was no trace of her friend or her precious diary. Hannah was tormented over the fate of Anne, wondering if, by some stroke of fortune she had escaped danger and was alive and well elsewhere.

It wasn't until Hannah reached her darkest point, imprisoned with her family in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, that she had an astonishing chance reunion with Anne. Desperate to save her friend who was weak and struggling to survive, Hannah risked everything to toss packages filled with food and clothes over a barbed-wire fence.

Hannah only learned of Anne's death after her liberation, when Otto Frank came to visit her in hospital. From that day, Otto became a second father to Hannah, making sure that she was always looked after.

In this groundbreaking memoir, Hannah Pick-Goslar shares an intimate portrait of Anne Frank, the young Jewish diarist who has captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

Review

'Vivid and extraordinary' ― The Guardian

'Hannah's story finally completes what Anne could not. It is both heartbreaking and life-affirming, and we need its truth now more than ever.' ― Dr. Edith Eger, author of The Choice

'One of the most moving, profound and important books I've ever read.' ― Rangan Chatterjee

'An extraordinary story of love, loss, and the power of friendship in the darkest time. This book, like its author, is an essential companion to Anne Frank's life.' ― Jack Fairweather, Costa Prizewinning author of The Volunteer

'This miraculous wartime memoir is deeply affecting because it is the story of two normal girls' ― The Sunday Times

 

About the Author

Hannah Pick-Goslar, known as Hanneli to her friends and as 'Lies Goosens' in her dear friend Anne Frank's diary, was born in Berlin 1928, as the eldest child of Jewish parents, Hans Goslar and Ruth Judith Klee. In 1933, after the election of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, the Goslars moved to Amsterdam. After the Nazi occupation of Europe intensified, in 1943, Hannah and her family were arrested and sent to Westerbork transit camp, before being transported to Bergen-Belsen. Hannah survived 14 months of horrific conditions and hardship before the camp was liberated in 1945. She emigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1947 and trained as a nurse. Once retired, Hannah enjoyed the company of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She passed away in 2022 at the age of 93. sakriti opis