Texas GOP Candidate Defends Writing Book Suggesting Anne Frank Found Jesus

Texas Republican candidate Johnny Teague has defended his novel about Anne Frank finding Jesus.

Teague, the senior pastor at the Church at the Cross in Houston, penned The Lost Diary of Anne Frank that "picks up where her original journal left off."

In his book, a fictional Anne Frank mentions Jesus and hints that she and her family are potentially open to Christ being the Messiah.

A passage near the end of the book reads: "I think Pim (Anne's name for her father, Otto) had some questions about Jesus and His ties to the Old Testament prophets.

"He asked the question I think every Jewish man or woman should ask. Where is the Messiah? When will He come? Will He come? Did He come already and we didn't recognize Him?

"I know where I stand. I know where Margot (Anne's sister) and mother stand too. This gives me great comfort, win or lose, live or die."

Teague, who is running to represent Texas' 7th Congressional district told Newsweek via e-mail that he did not know whether Anne Frank turned to Jesus before she died.

Anne Frank was 15 when she was murdered by Nazis at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, in Germany.

Her father Otto was the sole member of the Frank family to survive the Holocaust and is known for bringing his daughter's diary to the wider world.

Several reviews for the book on Amazon praised it for being well-written, but some criticized it for its "Christian messaging."

Reviewers in particular criticized a passage in the book where Anne recited The Lord's Prayer instead of one she would be more used to, having grown up in a Jewish home.

When asked if he believed Anne became a Christian, Teague told Newsweek: "No one can know what spiritual decisions or conclusions people make in a time of tragedy and persecution. This book does not indicate either way.

"Why was Jesus referenced in this book? For two reasons. One, The Lost Diary of Anne Frank had to be a true extension of the thoughts and exposures that Anne had written about in her original diary. In that diary, she referenced her dad wanting her and Margot to be exposed to the New Testament and the life of Jesus.

"In her diary, she referenced their observation of the Jewish holy days and also of their receiving of gifts at Christmas. As she made those entries in her own hand, I could not pretend that the thoughts, lessons, or question of Jesus never crossed her mind afterward."

He continued: "Two, when the Jewish people were suffering so much torment and suffering, it is impossible to imagine them not contemplating in their turmoil the longing for a Messiah to rescue them.

"The history of the Jewish people is one of Deliverance—from Egypt, from Haman, from Antiochus. The wonder of the Jewish people is Deliverance—finally from the Nazis, then in their return as a nation in 1948 and into the 1960s, and finally today from the attacks all around their nation.

"At this very moment, there are some calling for their extermination. So, yes, Deliverance and a Deliverer is always looked for, which is consistent with the Jewish Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi of a Messiah in word and in spirit.

"We must stand with the Jewish people and for them. This is the theme of The Lost Diary of Anne Frank."

Johannes Houwink ten Cate, professor emeritus of Holocaust and genocide studies at the University of Amsterdam questioned Teague's reasoning.

He told Newsweek: "Anne Frank was raised as an assimilated Jewish child. But in moments of crisis—see for example her diary on April 11, 1944—she very strongly identified with Judaism.

"For that reason the thought that she considered conversion cannot possibly be motivated by her diary."

Teague told Newsweek he carried out in-depth research for his book and had interviewed Holocaust survivors, studied at the Anne Frank House in the Netherlands and visited Israel four times "to understand the beautiful history and culture of the Jewish people as well as the threats they face."

He added the reason behind the research was so his book "would be fact-based and could be the diary she was not allowed to write."

The Republican is standing on a platform of a closed border, giving parents a "primary say on what their children are taught" and eliminating property taxes.

Texas' 7th district is currently represented by Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and broke for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Newsweek has contacted the Anne Frank House and the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston for comment.