Best Friend
Jacqueline van Maarsen was born on 30 January 1929 in Amsterdam, the daughter of a Jewish father and a mother from France, who converted to Judaism upon marrying Jacqueline's father. She had an older sister, Christiane whom she called ‘Cricri’. After the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, Jacqueline had to transfer from the public school to the Jewish Lyceum in 1941. There she met Anne Frank and became her friend. On Monday, 15 June 1942, Anne wrote in her diary: “Jacqueline van Maarsen I only got to know at the Jewish Lyceum and she is now my best friend.”
Jacqueline Sanders-van Maarsen: a friendship in difficult times
Farewell Letter
Jacqueline and Anne promised to write each other a farewell letter if they could no longer see each other. When Anne and her family went into hiding in 1942, she wrote that ‘promised farewell letter’ to Jacqueline in her diary on September 25:
"... 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."
Non-Jewish
In 1942, on the pretext that her husband had registered her and the children as Jews without her knowledge, her mother managed to get herself and her daughters declared as non-Jewish. The Van Maarsen family survived the war. Most of the family on Jacqueline's father's side perished in the death camps.
Books
After the war, Jacqueline worked as a bookbinder and received several awards for her craft. In 1954, she married Ruud Sanders, with whom she had three children. Jacqueline kept in touch with Otto Frank, who survived the Holocaust, until his death in 1980.
For many years, Jacqueline remained silent about her friendship with Anne. This changed with the publication of her book Anne and Jopie. She felt it was her duty to "write for her who could no longer write." Anne and Jopie was followed by three more books, including Your Best Friend Anne, which won the Zilveren Griffel in 2012. In her books and during school visits, Jacqueline spoke not only about her friendship with Anne but also about the dangers of anti-Semitism and racism, and where they can lead.
Acknowledged
Jacqueline contributed greatly to the Anne Frank House. Even as she grew older, she remained available to support the institution. On 12 June 2019, on Anne Frank's 90th birthday, Jacqueline was joined by Albert Gomes de Mesquita at Anne Frank's former home on Merwedeplein. They were present there, as classmates of Anne Frank at the Jewish Lyceum, on Anne’s 13th birthday, just three weeks before Anne went into hiding with her family in the Secret Annex. Seventy-seven years later, Jacqueline and Albert reminisced and engaged with young people about Anne Frank’s life and legacy.