'A Small Light' on National Geographic: Who were Anne Frank's parents Otto Frank and Edith Frank?

'A Small Light' tells the story of Miep Gies, who is asked by her employer Otto Frank to shelter his family during World War II
UPDATED MAY 1, 2023
Liev Schreiber and Billie Boullet in 'A Small Light' (National Geographic)
Liev Schreiber and Billie Boullet in 'A Small Light' (National Geographic)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'A Small Light' is all set to premiere on National Geographic on Monday, May 1, 2023, at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT. It will be available for streaming the following day on Disney+ and Hulu. Helmed by Tony Phelan, Leslie Hope, and Susanna Fogel, the miniseries follows the story of Miep Gies, a Dutch woman who sheltered Anne Frank's family and four other Jews from the Nazis for around two years. National Geographic’s chilling biographical drama, 'A Small Light' isn’t about those people, however; it’s about the brave people who saw atrocities happening and looked for ways to help those being targeted, who looked for a way to shine a small light in the darkest of nights. What makes 'A Small Light' stand out among the ever-growing list of films and series based on the tragedy of the Holocaust is that it takes a very different approach. Rather than centering on the Franks—a family whose story is well-known—it shifts them into the periphery, opting instead to shed a light on a woman and a network of everyday heroes who are often relegated to the footnotes.

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Who were Anne Frank’s parents?

Otto Frank was a German businessman who later became a resident of the Netherlands and Switzerland. He was the father of Anne and Margot Frank and was the sole member of his family to survive the Holocaust. He inherited Anne's manuscripts after her death, arranged for the publication of her diary as "Het Achterhuis" in 1947 (known in English as 'The Diary of a Young Girl)', and oversaw its adaptation to both theater and film. Edith Frank was the mother of Holocaust diarist Anne Frank, and her older sister Margot. After the family was discovered in hiding in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation, she was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

How did Anne Frank's parents die?

Otto Frank died of lung cancer on 19 August 1980 in Birsfelden and his ashes were buried in the town's cemetery, where Elfriede would also be buried, in the same tomb, 18 years later while Edith Frank remained at Auschwitz-Birkenau and died of starvation in January of 1945. 

Produced by ABC Signature, Keshet Studios, National Geographic, and Stillking Films, 'A Small Light' will premiere on the National Geographic network on May 1, 2023, and will be available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu the following day.

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