An 8-line poem handwitten by Anne Frank in 1942 is expected to fetch up to €50,000 ($55,100) at auction.
The lines were written in the “poezie album” or friendship book of Christiane van Maarsen (nicknamed CriCri), the elder sister of Frank’s classmate and best friend Jacqueline. It is Jacqueline van Maarsen, now aged 87, who is putting the poem up for sale now, following her sister’s death in 2006. In a letter accomanying the poem, she explains the choice to sell:
“My sister (Christiane) tore this page out of her poezie album and gave it to me around 1970. I know that my sister was not as attached to this verse from Anne to her as I am to the verse Anne addressed to me, and that is the reason that I am now putting it up for sale.”
The original manuscript consists of 8 lines of poetry, titled “Beste Cri-Cri” and signed “Ter herinnering aan Anne Frank,” the latter of which loosely translates to “In memory of Anne Frank.” According to the Dutch auction house Bubb Kuyper, the first four lines of the poem can be found in a 1938 periodical, whilst the next four are not traceable.
Source: Yahoo News
As for the contents of the poem, the actual meaning is explained as “a typically edifying poem of the sort that was often written in poezie albums, exhorting the owner to do her best and be diligent at work, so that anyone who reproves her is answered in an honourable manner” by the auction house.
The handwritten text is reportedly only the fourth time that something in the young diarist’s handwriting has gone up for sale, explaining the substantial estimate of $30,000 to $50,000 for the item. The poem is also signed by Frank, which only adds to it’s value. According to the auctioneers,“autographs by Anne Frank are excessively rare and have come onto the market only sporadically in the past 35 years.”
The demand to own any item connected to Frank is clear, with millions of people throughout the decades having been touched by The Diary of a Young Girl, which Frank wrote while hiding from the Nazis during WWII. The diary- published posthumously by Frank’s father- has sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into 67 languages, demonstrating a universal interest in the enigma and tragedy of Frank’s life.
The poem in question is dated 28 March 1942. By July that year, Frank and her family would enter into hiding in the famed annex of Otto Frank’s Amsterdam office, where they would remain until 1944- after which the famiy were arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Anne Frank died at age 15 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in February 1945, two months before the camp’s liberation on April 15th.
So if you’re yet to discover The Diary Of A Young Girl, why not pick up a copy today and help Anne Frank’s story live on through us all?
YouTube Channel: Tobey Krafft
Featured image via Stylist
h/t The Guardian
