Posted on May 28, 2019 at 2:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Albert Gomes de Mesquita, a Jewish man whose family was captured during World War II, has lived an extraordinary life.
His former wife, Lien de Jong, has also experienced some of the worst that humanity can offer — she survived World War II only because she, a Jewish child, was sent away by her family to be hidden by the Dutch Resistance.
De Jong is the subject of Bart van Es’s award-winning book, The Cut Out Girl, and that’s not de Mesquita’s only connection to famous survivors.
De Mesquita attended school with Anne Frank for a month and even attended the birthday party at which she received her first diary.
His ex-wife’s biographer, van Es, recently talked with de Mesquita about his connection to Frank and what her diaries have come to mean — beyond their historical significance, in an essay well worth your time in the Guardian.
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Categories: Today in Books