“Nazis who just completely erase someone’s life. We think that is not possible, that is why we went looking for her.” In the new podcast series ‘Weggegumd, the search for Ilse Wagner’, three podcast makers report on their search for a missing friend of Anne Frank. The podcast series – commissioned by NH – was launched this afternoon in the Amsterdam Resistance Museum.
She is mentioned in Anne Frank’s diary. Ilse Wagner was close friends with Anne. Only while Anne Frank’s story became world famous thanks to her diary, Ilse Wagner’s story has remained unknown. Podcast makers Patty-Lou Middel-Leenheer, Richard Grootbod and writer Janny van der Molen decided to go on a quest.
Van der Molen previously wrote the book ‘Forget Me Not’, in which she wrote down the stories of twelve friends of Anne Frank. Only story number thirteen – that of Ilse Wagner – is missing. “I had to drop that story because I couldn’t get the story clear. I didn’t have enough information. And I found that very difficult. I had the feeling that I was dropping her.”
What the makers already knew: Ilse Wagner was murdered by the Germans in the Sobibor extermination camp. But no one else knows exactly who she was. Grootbod: “When those people were picked up, all their belongings were immediately burned. Everything was gone. They were actually erased. We thought: that is really not possible. Even though it was eighty years ago, it is still not possible. That is allowed not. She had a life too.” She was the quiet girl,” says Middel-Leenheer. “The ordinary girl. The girl who didn’t write a diary.”
The search took the podcast makers not only to Amsterdam, but also to Germany, Poland and the United States. In Israel they spoke to 93-year-old Hannah Goslar, who was friends with Anne Frank and Ilse Wagner. Goslar died not long after the talks.
The podcast makers have managed to get many questions answered, but the search is not over yet. That’s why they hope for listeners’ cooperation. Grootbod: “Now we can still ask, because the last eyewitnesses are still alive. “We are looking for people who grew up as children in Amsterdam’s Rivierenbuurt, people who went to the synagogue in Lekstraat. Any information is welcome.” The podcast makers are mainly looking for photos and stories.
The podcast series ‘Weggegumd, the search for Ilse Wagner’ can be listened to on our website, on weggumd.nl and on various podcast platforms. The first two episodes will be online tomorrow morning, followed by a new episode every two weeks.
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