In this lecture, presented by the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University, Professor Jeffrey Shandler examines how Anne Frank’s story has been converted into a book of essays that challenge perceptions while still affirming the power of her diary as a physical symbol of connection.

Anne Frank is one of the most enduringly iconic figures to be associated with the Holocaust. Her famed diary has sold more than 30 million copies and has inspired countless other forms of media. In Anne Frank Unbound: Media, Imagination, Memory, New York-based editor Jeffrey Shandler explores the myriad ways in which the text has provoked responses from writers, artists, film-makers and historians.

Professor Shandler, one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on Jewish culture, is chair of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University and president of the Association for Jewish Studies. He is the author of several books, including Jews, God, and Videotape: Religion and Media in America and While America Watches: Televising the Holocaust.