Book Review: The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation

 

The Betrayal of Anne Frank is the end result of an extensive investigation by a group of cold-case investigators who tried to determine who provided the tip to the police that led to the capture of Anne Frank, her family, and four other people who were hiding in an Annex to Otto Frank's (Anne's father) old business in Amsterdam in August of 1944. The book is in part a history lesson, detailing the experience of the Jews living in Amsterdam during World War II, and in part a detailing of the extensive investigation that the team of researchers undertook to figure out who tipped off the police that people were hiding in the building. While the author does not claim to provide an absolute answer, she does present a hypothesis based on the best available evidence (which included tracking down documents scattered throughout Europe, going through past interviews of the people with firsthand knowledge of the events, and interviewing as many living relatives of the people involved as possible).

The substantive part of the book is about 300 pages long, and then in the paperback version, there are a couple of epilogues, including one in which the author defends the work of the investigative team against the pushback against their conclusions and the criticism that the book received, especially in the Netherlands. Then there are several pages of footnotes. It is a very interesting read, and if you are into history, especially European history during World War II, this is definitely worth your time.