The British Observer printed a photograph on Sunday that is assumed to be that of Peter Schiff, a boy who played a central role in the diary of Anne Frank. Frank met Schiff in 1940 at the age of 11, and her love for him was a frequent theme of her writings in the years that followed.
The picture was provided by Ernst Michaelis, who attended school with Schiff until 1939. Michaelis said he suspected that Schiff was the boy referred to in Frank’s diary in the 1950s, but was not certain until he recently received an old class photo and conducted some research into Schiff’s past. Schiff is believed to have died in Auschwitz.