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Florida high school vetoes Anne Frank graphic novel for minimizing the Holocaust

Vero Beach High School removed the writing after receiving complaints from Moms for Liberty claiming the book was sexually explicit.

Imagen de Anna Frank, la pequeña protagonista de 'El Diario de Anna Frank

(Flickr)

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

A Florida high school vetoed an Anne Frank graphic novel for minimizing the Holocaust. The principal of Vero Beach High School removed the writing after receiving complaints from Moms for Liberty claiming the book was sexually explicit.

The leader of the conservative association in Indian River County, Jennifer Pippin, asked that Anne's Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation be removed from the high school library because of one particular scene. In it, she said, Anne Frank is seen admiring statues of naked women and then suggesting to a friend that they show their breasts. A scene that, according to Pippin, should not be present in the novel:

Even Anne Frank's original version featured the editing out of the entries about sex. Even the publisher of the book calls it a ‘biography,’ meaning, it writes its own interpretive spin. It’s not the actual work. It quotes the work, but it’s not the diary in full. It chooses to offer a different view on the subject.

This is not the first time this novel was withdrawn. As Just the News recalls, the writing, published in 2018, has been removed from high school shelves on at least two previous occassions. Always for the same reason: the sexually explicit scenes that, according to them, minimized the impact of the Holocaust.

"It is absolutely necessary to teach the Anne Frank diary"

Despite the withdrawal of the graphic novel, Pippin explained that he believed it was necessary for the story of the Holocaust to continue to be told. She stated this on WPTV during an interview in which she spoke about the book ban at Vero Beach High School: "We think true history absolutely needs to be taught, the Holocaust, the Anne Frank diary," she said.

In response to her statement, Indian Rivers School District spokeswoman, Cristen Maddux, assured that the Holocaust would remain as part of the curriculum. According to her, Florida schools are required by law to teach about this event and will continue to do so:

The feedback that the Holocaust is being removed from the curriculum and students aren’t knowledgeable about what happened, that is not the case at all. It’s just a challenged book and the principal removed it.

In addition to the Anne Frank graphic novel, Moms For Liberty also called for the removal from Vero Beach High School shelves of the three volumes of Assassination Classroom. According to them, these books teach a group of misfits to become serial killers and, therefore, they believe they should be eliminated. The school principal also granted this request and the volumes, as well as the Anne Frank graphic novel, are no longer available in the Vero Beach High School library.

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