AFF/AFH - Basel/Amsterdam

Dear Mr.  Spielberg, 

Last summer the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, had a contest for whoever read the most books in the summer.  My sister Stephanie Russo won for the eighth grade, reading 89 books.  I wanted to participate for seventh grade.  I read some books and I asked my mother to buy me “The Diary of Anne Frank”.  I wanted to get the book because I saw the play in 5th grade when we were learning about it.  My mom did not want to get it because she thought I would not read it.  But she did and I read it. 

I had just turned 13 on May 29, just like Anne Frank had just turned 13 when she got her diary and then went into hiding.  I have felt very close to Anne Frank.  I think of her a lot and about what she went through.  In school we were studying Europe and the Holocaust.  I had to make a book report and I did it on Anne Frank.  I got an A+ and my teacher Ms. Davies was very impressed with me because I was the only person who did it on that in her class. 

I wanted to watch the movie and my mom borrowed it from our school library.  I loved the movie but I thought if it was in color more people would watch it.  I saw that the year the movie was made was 1959 and we realized that the movie would be 50 years in 2009.  I thought, “Why doesn’t Mr. Spielberg do a new movie for her?”  I decided to write you a letter, but my two sisters said no one would pay any attention because I was just one person.  So, my mom said that if I had other people sign maybe you would hear me.  I decided to ask my teacher and the principal to let me ask other students in school to sign.  Then my brother thought if we made a website we could reach more people to sign and make it a tribute to her. 

I know you have contacts at the Anne Frank foundation so I think it would be easy for you to make the movie by 2009, the 50th anniversary.  Thank you for keeping Anne Frank’s memory alive.  Please let more people learn about her.  Some day I would like to go visit the museum with my whole family. 

Anne died when she was fifteen.  I will be 15 in 2009 and I read the book when I was 13, her age when she went into hiding and got her diary.  I will work on getting signatures for you to make this new film.  I am not Jewish, I am Catholic, but I think that is not what is important.  Her diary shows that we are all the same and what happened to her and all the Jewish people in the Holocaust was very awful. 

Thank you, 

Linda Russo