Frankophile

It was a blonde haired, blue eyed daughter of Israel from San Diego who led me up the narrow steps of the Anne Frank House when I visited Amsterdam in late 1988. Up to then, I'd never heard of Anne Frank. A Jewish teenager, she and her family were forced into hiding when German forces occupied the Netherlands in World War Two. They shared a concealed attic in the shop of which they had been dispossessed, according to Nazi policy, with another Jewish family, the Van Dammes. We toured the rooms. Anne's still had the pictures on the wall of her favourite movie stars from the period, cut out from newspapers and magazines. When I got back to Canada, one of the first things I did was to borrow her diary from the library. It included some photos of her that might have been of my own sweet mother from that time. I even drew one of them in ink and it turned out well. The book is an excellent read. There's a part in it where she mentions misdirected allied paratroopers landing in the street and being taken prisoner. I thought of my father, who marched into Amsterdam in 1945 with the Canadian army. She was highly sophisticated for her age, and this might be illustrated in a conversation with her young friend, Peter Van Damme, in which, as a way of overcoming despair, she advised him to practice religion. Right there is an astute observation of the contrast that often exists between believer and non-believer. Stemming from her faith, I think, was her celebrated belief in the basic goodness of all people. It's quite remarkable for a girl in her situation. (I didn't care for it as an atheist, however.) I think she was a serious artist, and I disagree with how she is sometimes depicted in YouTube videos. They don't get the voice right, to my mind. Too sappy sounding. I lampoon such perceived misrepresentations with my character, Jane Blank. As for Anne Frank, I can't think of a better inspiration for any artist who must endure prolonged confinement. If I cut out my favourite stars' pictures and put them on my wall, hers would be among them.
More Statements	Scripts	Songs
© 2010. Statements by David Skerkowski. All rights reserved.