Is it Just Us?

Now that the election is over, we have time to catch up on other news. There is a very moving story in the Telegraph about Hélène Berr, whose rediscovered journal is now an international besteller (we'll be having the NYC book launch here on November 19, which will include a discussion with her niece. Join us!). I think it is wonderful to have such a compelling and well-written narrative of occupied France available, but I can't help but be a little put off by the moniker of "the French Anne Frank," as some people are calling her (not the publishers, read more about her on their site).

The reasons why Anne Frank and Hélène Berr's accounts are so important and moving are that they were unique individuals, not prototypes. Their thoughts, along with survivor testimony, helps us to understand that six million is more than just a number. Grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, brothers, and friends were lost. Shouldn't we stop using Anne Frank as an adjective and a marketing tool?