Graphic Version Of Anne Frank Book Removed By Florida School

ORLANDO, Fla. A high school on Florida’s Atlantic Coast pulled a graphic novel based on Anne Frank’s diary after a conservative advocacy organization leader contested it, claiming it diminished the Holocaust.

After an objection by an Indian River County Moms for Liberty representative, “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation” was removed from a Vero Beach High School library. The book was removed last month after the school’s principal agreed with the protest.

The protagonist walks through a park, charmed by female nude statues, and later proposes to a buddy that they display each other their breasts.

If someone disagrees with the book’s removal, the decision can be appealed to a districtwide committee, according to school district regulation. However, no one has contested the removal, and no record of the book ever being checked out, according to Cristen Maddux, a spokesperson for the Indian River County School District, on Monday.

Other publications about Anne Frank and copies of her published diary.

Vero Beach is located southeast of Orlando, 105 miles (169 km).

Other publications about Anne Frank, as well as copies of her published diary recording her time hiding from the Nazis with her family and other Jews in German-occupied Amsterdam, are still available in school libraries. The Diary of a Jewish Teenager was released in 1947, several years after she died in a concentration camp, and it has become a classic read by tens of millions of people worldwide.

Florida schools are mandated by law to educate about the Holocaust, and nothing has changed in that regard, according to Maddux.

“The feedback that the Holocaust is being removed from the curriculum and students aren’t aware of what happened is completely false,” Maddux added. “It was just a challenging book that the principal took away.”

Moms for Liberty in Indian River County likewise complained about three books in the “Assassination Classroom” series, which were also deleted.

Moms for Liberty organizer Jennifer Pippin claimed that the Anne Frank graphic novel broke state criteria for adequately teaching the Holocaust.

“Even in her version, the entries about sex were edited out,” Pippin remarked, referring to the original diary. “Even the book’s publisher refers to it as a ‘biography,’ implying that it writes its interpretive spin.” It is not the job itself. It quotes the work. However, it is not the entire diary. It chooses to present a distinct perspective on the subject.”

Ari Folman translated Anne Frank’s diary for the graphic novel, published in 2018, while David Polonsky provided the images. Folman’s parents survived the Holocaust.

When reached by email, the book’s publisher, Pantheon Graphic Library, sent the request to Yves Kugelmann, a board member of a charity established by Anne Frank’s father, Otto, dedicated to distributing Anne Frank’s diary and other topics. Kugelmann did not answer queries right away.

The American Library Association said last month that there were more than 1,200 requests to censor library books in the United States last year, the most since the organization began counting more than 20 years ago.

SOURCE – (AP)