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Jacqueline van Maarsen

Jacqueline van Maarsen was a friend of Anne Frank.

Person

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  • Jacqueline Yvonne Meta Sanders - van Maarsen
  • Born on: Jan. 30, 1929
  • Born in: Amsterdam, Nederland
  • Died on: Feb. 13, 2025
  • Died in: Amsterdam, Nederland

Jacqueline van Maarsen, rond 1941

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Jacqueline (Jacque, Jopie) van Maarsen was a daughter of a Dutch-Jewish father, Samuel van Maarsen (1884-1952),[1] and a French non-Jewish mother, Eulalie Julienne Verlhac (1891-1992).[2] She had a two-year older sister Christiana Huguette Julia van Maarsen (1927-2006).[3] Her parents had married in Paris in 1925. After the birth of their first daughter, the family had moved to Amsterdam in 1927.

Jacqueline and Anne Frank[4] met in the first year of the Jewish Lyceum and became good friends.[5] Anne regularly wrote about Jacqueline in her diary. For example, she wrote about the ping-pong club they founded, 'De Kleine Beer, minus 2' (The Little Bear minus 2).[6] On Sunday 1 March 1942 they organised a film screening at Anne's home together, with tickets they had made themselves.[7] On 23 March 1942, Anne wrote a rhyme in Jacqueline's poetry album.[8]

Jacqueline's mother converted to Judaism in Paris, because of her intended marriage. After moving to Amsterdam, the very orthodox Jewish Congregation there initially refused to acknowledge the marriage. This only happened in 1938.[9] In 1942, under the pretext that her husband had registered her and the children as Jews without her knowledge, Mrs Van Maarsen managed to get herself and her daughters registered as non-Jews. Jacqueline dropped out of the Jewish Lyceum and was no longer required to wear a star.[10]

Jacqueline and Anne promised to write each other a farewell letter should they not see each other again. From 6 July 1942, Anne was in hiding in the Secret Annex. Jacqueline remembered visiting the Frank family's abandoned house with Hanneli Goslar to see if she could find a farewell letter from Anne, but there was none.[11] On 25 September 1942, Anne wrote that ‘promised farewell letter’ to Jacqueline in her diary. Of course, she could not send that letter; that was too dangerous. She wrote among other things:

"... I hope we will see each other again soon, but it will probably not be before the end of the war anyway... Your 'best' friend Anne

P.S. I hope that until we see each other again, we will always remain 'best' friends."[12]

On the same day Anne wrote a second letter, replying to an imaginary farewell letter from Jacqueline, which she never wrote: ‘Your letter has delighted me very much, (...). I think of you so often."[13] It was only after the war that Otto Frank gave Jacqueline a copy of these two letters. In 1947, he sent her a copy of the first edition of Anne Frank's diary.[14]

In the first edition of Anne Frank’s diary, Jacqueline van Maarsen was called 'Jopie de Waal'. In 1990 Jacqueline van Maarsen published Anne and Jopie.[15] In it she described how their friendship blossomed in those dark days. Since then four books by Jacqueline have been published. In them she talks about her friendship with Anne Frank and her own family history.[16] Two of them have been published in English.[17]

Jacqueline van Maarsen (married name Sanders) was a bookbinder and writer.

Source personal data.[1] Address: Hunzestraat 4 I.[1]

Footnotes

  1. a, b, c Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238), inv. nr. 527: Archiefkaart S. van Maarsen.
  2. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238), inv. nr. 1891: Archiefkaart E.J. Verlhac.
  3. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238), inv. nr. 527: Archiefkaart C.H.J. van Maarsen.
  4. ^ Jacqueline Sanders-van Maarsen, 'A frienship in difficult times', in: Anne Frank Magazine 2001, p. 38-43; Jacqueline van Maarsen is one of Anne Frank's friends portrayed in: Janny van der Molen, Vergeet mij niet. Anne Franks vrienden en vriendinnen, Amsterdam: Ploegsma, 2022.
  5. ^ See: Anne Frank, Version A, June 1942, July 1942, 14 August 1942, 22 September 1942, 25 September 1942 (1st & 2nd), 28 September 1942 (7th & 10th), 6 January 1944, 24 January 1944, 8 March 1944, 18 March 1944, 23 March 1944, 17 April 1944, in: The Collected Works; transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  6. ^ Anne Frank, Version A, 14 June 1942, in: The Collected Works.
  7. ^ Jacqueline van Maarsen, Ik heet Anne, zei ze, Anne Frank. Herinneringen van Jacqueline van Maarsen, Amsterdam: Cossee, 2003, p. 110.
  8. ^ Van Maarsen, Ik heet Anne, zei ze, p. 115.
  9. ^ Van Maarsen, Ik heet Anne, zei ze, p. 81-82.
  10. ^ Van Maarsen, Ik heet Anne, zei ze, p. 131-133.
  11. ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Getuigenarchief, Sanders-van Maarsen, Jacqueline, transcriptie interview Jacqueline Sanders-van Maarsen door David de Jong, 30 september 2009, p. 33-34.
  12. ^ Anne Frank, Version A, 25 September 1942 (1st), in: The Collected Works; transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  13. ^ Anne Frank, Version A, 25 September 1942 (2th), in: The Collected Works; transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  14. ^ AFS, Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief, reg. code OFA_85.49: correspondentie van Jacqueline van Maarsen aan Otto Frank en een kopie van 'Dit is de beloofde vaarwel brief' en 'Tweede brief' uit het dagboek van Anne Frank.
  15. ^ Anne en Jopie. Leven met Anne Frank. Amsterdam: Balans, 1990.
  16. ^ 'Ik heet Anne, zei ze, Anne Frank'. Herinneringen, Amsterdam: Cossee, 2003; De erflaters. Herinneringen, Amsterdam: Cossee, 2004; 'Je beste vriendin Anne'. Herinneringen aan de oorlog en een bijzondere vriendschap, Amsterdam, Querio, 2011; Anne Frank. Het meisje en de mythe, Amsterdam: Cossee, 2020.
  17. ^ My name is Anne, she said, Anne Frank, London: Arcadia, 2007; Inheriting Anne Frank, London: Arcadia, 2009.