BY BERNIE MIXON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[goslar]](/editions/1998/10/23/goslar_180x117.jpg)
Hannah Pick-Goslar, Holocaust survivor and childhood friend of Anne Frank, speaks to students at Three Rivers Middle School.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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MIAMI HEIGHTS -- It was a friendship forged in a kindergarten classroom and cut short by the Holocaust.
When Hannah Pick-Goslar speaks of her friend and diarist Anne Frank, she paints a picture of a "regular girl" who always wanted to be in the middle of things, had a lot of boyfriends and was precocious.
This "regular girl" came to symbolize the horror of the Holocaust, an experience captured in a diary published after her death.
"She was not a holy girl," Mrs. Pick-Goslar, 69, told sixth- and eighth-grade students at Three Rivers Middle School Thursday in a speech which left students talking about discrimination and the dangers of intolerance.
Mrs. Pick-Goslar's story of survival brings history to the minds of students in a stunningly personal way, say educators.
"I hope they pull from what she says and relate it to their personal life," said Nancy Peters, an eighth-grade teacher, whose students will read The Diary of Anne Frank in the spring.
![[frank]](/editions/1998/10/23/frank_150x170.jpg)
Hannah Pick-Goslar, right, is shown with Anne Frank in this pre-World War II photo in Amsterdam. They parted when Anne's family went into hiding from the Nazis and met again just before Anne died.
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Catee St. Clair, 14, an eighth-grader, said the story of the Holocaust was sad. "It was like the slaves but that they were discriminated because of their religion."
Catee related to the tales of friendship between Anne Frank and Mrs. Pick-Goslar as young girls. "It was neat how they had their friendship. It's so neat to have someone to talk to and talk about things with," she said.
Mrs. Pick-Goslar told the students of her friendship with Anne, their parting when Anne's family went into hiding from the Nazis during World War II and how they met again just before Anne died in a concentration camp.
"Until 1940, we lived quite normally," Mrs. Pick-Goslar said, adding that was the time when the German Army invaded Holland. Jews were then required to wear a yellow star on their clothing and could not use public transportation.
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IF YOU GO
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Hannah Pick-Goslar will be speaking at schools across the Tristate over the next several days. Two places open to the public are:
Hamilton High School: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1165 Eaton Ave., Hamilton. Donation is requested.
Hillel Jewish Student Center: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 2615 Clifton Ave. The event is free.
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"We were not allowed things that were fun in life," she said. "Every time the Germans changed a law, it was worse than the one before."
Kyle Swadener, 13, also in the eighth grade, said he was struck by the inhumanity of the Holocaust. "It was amazing how many people were killed," he said. "They killed so many children for nothing." The key to avoiding a repeat of the Holocaust is to "try to educate people to not to be prejudiced," Kyle said.
"We shouldn't look at the outside of people," Catee said. "We should look at what's within."
![[goslar]](/editions/1998/10/23/goslar_500x325.jpg)
![[frank]](/editions/1998/10/23/frank_440x500.jpg)