MA New York University, Educational Theatre MA University of Amsterdam, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (History) PhD University of Leicester, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (History) Supervisors: Dr. Paul Moore and Dr. Fransiska Louwagie
This thesis seeks to explore Anne Frank and her representation in theatre and how it has changed ... more This thesis seeks to explore Anne Frank and her representation in theatre and how it has changed over time. Anne Frank is one of the most well known victims of the Holocaust and is often used to represent the 1 million children who perished in the Nazi genocide. As such, numerous theatrical products have been created about her, including those that have been “allowed” by the official organizations who protect her memory (the Anne Frank House and Anne Frank Fonds) and those that are written by artists wishing to explore their own relationship to Anne. While the two Broadway products of The Diary of Anne Frank are often explored in literature relating to the Holocaust in theatre, as of yet, there has been no thesis exploring Anne in theatre as a whole. Speaking about only the Broadway productions severely limits the discourse and leaves out the question of why so many artists are compelled to create new productions about Anne Frank and why, when so many pieces already exist about her,...
NOTE: This paper has received a good deal of criticism in recent months, some 12 years after it w... more NOTE: This paper has received a good deal of criticism in recent months, some 12 years after it was turned in as a paper for a course at NIOD/University of Amsterdam. I will do my best to address some of the complaints.
These complaints are quite interesting, given that previously I have received emails from Grese’s “fans” (yes, they still exist, unfortunately) who used to tell me I was misrepresenting her character and that she was a victim of slander and libel. They would tell me how wrong I was to have written this paper. I almost took the paper down because of that. To now be accused of defending her horrific actions is a complete departure from that, and I must admit, feels baffling as it was never even close to my intention when I sat down to write this paper. I don’t think any professor in a Holocaust and Genocide Studies program would have passed the paper if they had thought this was a defense of Grese.
1) This is NOT a peer-reviewed paper. This is a paper for a class that I wrote in as a first semester student in the University of Amsterdam’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies MA. It’s not going to be perfect academia. It’s going to have spelling and logic issues. It is not fit for publication in a journal.
2) Some people have accused me of saying that Grese is innocent in this paper or defending her. This is not the case at all. Grese is, without a doubt, a horrific human being and there is much substantiated evidence of her violence and criminal behavior. Noting that something is unsubstantiated does not make it UNTRUE, it just makes it unsubstantiated. With all likelihood and what we know about her, this is mostly true, we just don’t know all the details. Grese has no excuses for her behavior and there is no defense.
Stating that sexually abusing Jewish prisoners was against her contract is NOT a defense. It is a fact. However, this does not mean that guards did not engage in this abuse, or that knowing this violation existed stopped them from these acts.
3) There have been complaints that it is lurid to discuss sexual abuse and the Holocaust. Sexual abuse and the Holocaust is still an extremely taboo subject and not a pleasant one. Focusing on these instances was not to be salacious or lurid, but to expose the gaps in research and knowledge. I have not touched this topic since it was written, so it is possible that some of the gaps have even been addressed.
4) Grese’s abuse toward her victims was not consensual. I thought that was very clear in the paper, but I have been accused of stating that she should be excused because the victims wanted to have sex with her. A prisoner cannot consent to sex with a guard, not in modern prisons and certainly not in a concentration camp.
5) Just because in 2011 there were no victims to come forward does not mean they did not exist. Grese was known to send victims of her sexual behavior to the gas chambers afterward, both because of her cruelty and likely because it would be a violation of her contract if anyone found out. If anyone did survive, as I mentioned, sexual abuse in the Holocaust is a very taboo subject. Many victims of rape and sexual assault during the Holocaust have kept silent their entire lives due to the shame they perceive surrounding it—which is partially a generational issue.
I hope this clears up some of the problems people seem to have with this paper moving forward. On to the paper itself
This thesis seeks to explore Anne Frank and her representation in theatre and how it has changed ... more This thesis seeks to explore Anne Frank and her representation in theatre and how it has changed over time. Anne Frank is one of the most well known victims of the Holocaust and is often used to represent the 1 million children who perished in the Nazi genocide. As such, numerous theatrical products have been created about her, including those that have been “allowed” by the official organizations who protect her memory (the Anne Frank House and Anne Frank Fonds) and those that are written by artists wishing to explore their own relationship to Anne. While the two Broadway products of The Diary of Anne Frank are often explored in literature relating to the Holocaust in theatre, as of yet, there has been no thesis exploring Anne in theatre as a whole. Speaking about only the Broadway productions severely limits the discourse and leaves out the question of why so many artists are compelled to create new productions about Anne Frank and why, when so many pieces already exist about her,...
NOTE: This paper has received a good deal of criticism in recent months, some 12 years after it w... more NOTE: This paper has received a good deal of criticism in recent months, some 12 years after it was turned in as a paper for a course at NIOD/University of Amsterdam. I will do my best to address some of the complaints.
These complaints are quite interesting, given that previously I have received emails from Grese’s “fans” (yes, they still exist, unfortunately) who used to tell me I was misrepresenting her character and that she was a victim of slander and libel. They would tell me how wrong I was to have written this paper. I almost took the paper down because of that. To now be accused of defending her horrific actions is a complete departure from that, and I must admit, feels baffling as it was never even close to my intention when I sat down to write this paper. I don’t think any professor in a Holocaust and Genocide Studies program would have passed the paper if they had thought this was a defense of Grese.
1) This is NOT a peer-reviewed paper. This is a paper for a class that I wrote in as a first semester student in the University of Amsterdam’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies MA. It’s not going to be perfect academia. It’s going to have spelling and logic issues. It is not fit for publication in a journal.
2) Some people have accused me of saying that Grese is innocent in this paper or defending her. This is not the case at all. Grese is, without a doubt, a horrific human being and there is much substantiated evidence of her violence and criminal behavior. Noting that something is unsubstantiated does not make it UNTRUE, it just makes it unsubstantiated. With all likelihood and what we know about her, this is mostly true, we just don’t know all the details. Grese has no excuses for her behavior and there is no defense.
Stating that sexually abusing Jewish prisoners was against her contract is NOT a defense. It is a fact. However, this does not mean that guards did not engage in this abuse, or that knowing this violation existed stopped them from these acts.
3) There have been complaints that it is lurid to discuss sexual abuse and the Holocaust. Sexual abuse and the Holocaust is still an extremely taboo subject and not a pleasant one. Focusing on these instances was not to be salacious or lurid, but to expose the gaps in research and knowledge. I have not touched this topic since it was written, so it is possible that some of the gaps have even been addressed.
4) Grese’s abuse toward her victims was not consensual. I thought that was very clear in the paper, but I have been accused of stating that she should be excused because the victims wanted to have sex with her. A prisoner cannot consent to sex with a guard, not in modern prisons and certainly not in a concentration camp.
5) Just because in 2011 there were no victims to come forward does not mean they did not exist. Grese was known to send victims of her sexual behavior to the gas chambers afterward, both because of her cruelty and likely because it would be a violation of her contract if anyone found out. If anyone did survive, as I mentioned, sexual abuse in the Holocaust is a very taboo subject. Many victims of rape and sexual assault during the Holocaust have kept silent their entire lives due to the shame they perceive surrounding it—which is partially a generational issue.
I hope this clears up some of the problems people seem to have with this paper moving forward. On to the paper itself
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Papers by Anna Scanlon
These complaints are quite interesting, given that previously I have received emails from Grese’s “fans” (yes, they still exist, unfortunately) who used to tell me I was misrepresenting her character and that she was a victim of slander and libel. They would tell me how wrong I was to have written this paper. I almost took the paper down because of that. To now be accused of defending her horrific actions is a complete departure from that, and I must admit, feels baffling as it was never even close to my intention when I sat down to write this paper. I don’t think any professor in a Holocaust and Genocide Studies program would have passed the paper if they had thought this was a defense of Grese.
1) This is NOT a peer-reviewed paper. This is a paper for a class that I wrote in as a first semester student in the University of Amsterdam’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies MA. It’s not going to be perfect academia. It’s going to have spelling and logic issues. It is not fit for publication in a journal.
2) Some people have accused me of saying that Grese is innocent in this paper or defending her. This is not the case at all. Grese is, without a doubt, a horrific human being and there is much substantiated evidence of her violence and criminal behavior. Noting that something is unsubstantiated does not make it UNTRUE, it just makes it unsubstantiated. With all likelihood and what we know about her, this is mostly true, we just don’t know all the details. Grese has no excuses for her behavior and there is no defense.
Stating that sexually abusing Jewish prisoners was against her contract is NOT a defense. It is a fact. However, this does not mean that guards did not engage in this abuse, or that knowing this violation existed stopped them from these acts.
3) There have been complaints that it is lurid to discuss sexual abuse and the Holocaust. Sexual abuse and the Holocaust is still an extremely taboo subject and not a pleasant one. Focusing on these instances was not to be salacious or lurid, but to expose the gaps in research and knowledge. I have not touched this topic since it was written, so it is possible that some of the gaps have even been addressed.
4) Grese’s abuse toward her victims was not consensual. I thought that was very clear in the paper, but I have been accused of stating that she should be excused because the victims wanted to have sex with her. A prisoner cannot consent to sex with a guard, not in modern prisons and certainly not in a concentration camp.
5) Just because in 2011 there were no victims to come forward does not mean they did not exist. Grese was known to send victims of her sexual behavior to the gas chambers afterward, both because of her cruelty and likely because it would be a violation of her contract if anyone found out. If anyone did survive, as I mentioned, sexual abuse in the Holocaust is a very taboo subject. Many victims of rape and sexual assault during the Holocaust have kept silent their entire lives due to the shame they perceive surrounding it—which is partially a generational issue.
I hope this clears up some of the problems people seem to have with this paper moving forward. On to the paper itself
Thesis Chapters by Anna Scanlon
These complaints are quite interesting, given that previously I have received emails from Grese’s “fans” (yes, they still exist, unfortunately) who used to tell me I was misrepresenting her character and that she was a victim of slander and libel. They would tell me how wrong I was to have written this paper. I almost took the paper down because of that. To now be accused of defending her horrific actions is a complete departure from that, and I must admit, feels baffling as it was never even close to my intention when I sat down to write this paper. I don’t think any professor in a Holocaust and Genocide Studies program would have passed the paper if they had thought this was a defense of Grese.
1) This is NOT a peer-reviewed paper. This is a paper for a class that I wrote in as a first semester student in the University of Amsterdam’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies MA. It’s not going to be perfect academia. It’s going to have spelling and logic issues. It is not fit for publication in a journal.
2) Some people have accused me of saying that Grese is innocent in this paper or defending her. This is not the case at all. Grese is, without a doubt, a horrific human being and there is much substantiated evidence of her violence and criminal behavior. Noting that something is unsubstantiated does not make it UNTRUE, it just makes it unsubstantiated. With all likelihood and what we know about her, this is mostly true, we just don’t know all the details. Grese has no excuses for her behavior and there is no defense.
Stating that sexually abusing Jewish prisoners was against her contract is NOT a defense. It is a fact. However, this does not mean that guards did not engage in this abuse, or that knowing this violation existed stopped them from these acts.
3) There have been complaints that it is lurid to discuss sexual abuse and the Holocaust. Sexual abuse and the Holocaust is still an extremely taboo subject and not a pleasant one. Focusing on these instances was not to be salacious or lurid, but to expose the gaps in research and knowledge. I have not touched this topic since it was written, so it is possible that some of the gaps have even been addressed.
4) Grese’s abuse toward her victims was not consensual. I thought that was very clear in the paper, but I have been accused of stating that she should be excused because the victims wanted to have sex with her. A prisoner cannot consent to sex with a guard, not in modern prisons and certainly not in a concentration camp.
5) Just because in 2011 there were no victims to come forward does not mean they did not exist. Grese was known to send victims of her sexual behavior to the gas chambers afterward, both because of her cruelty and likely because it would be a violation of her contract if anyone found out. If anyone did survive, as I mentioned, sexual abuse in the Holocaust is a very taboo subject. Many victims of rape and sexual assault during the Holocaust have kept silent their entire lives due to the shame they perceive surrounding it—which is partially a generational issue.
I hope this clears up some of the problems people seem to have with this paper moving forward. On to the paper itself