Former Classmate Puts a Face on Anne Frank's Lost Love

LONDON, February 25th, 2008 — -- On Jan. 6, 1944, Anne Frank wrote in her diary that her image of him was so vivid she didn't need a photograph to remember him.

Indeed, more than 60 years later, no photograph had been found of Anne Frank's childhood sweetheart, leaving hundreds of readers around the world curious for a glimpse. But now, 81-year-old Earnst Michaelis has identified his dearest childhood friend, Peter Schiff, as the "Petel" or "Peter" from the diary … the mysterious boy who stole Anne Frank's heart.

Despite "Anne Frank's Diary" becoming one of the world's most-read journals, selling an estimated 35 million copies, what Peter Schiff might have looked like was an enduring mystery. He met Anne Frank at school in Amsterdam in 1940, and they were inseparable for one summer. In her diary, Anne Frank affectionately called him "Petel," and she was ''crazy about his smile." He offered her a necklace and she fell in love with him, a love that filled her with hope during the harsh days of World War II when she and her family hid from the police to avoid capture, deportation or worse.

During her time in hiding, Anne Frank wrote "Where can I find help? I simply have to go on living and praying to God that, if we ever get out of here, Peter's path will cross mine." Not until Michaelis unveiled the old photograph of his school friend, however, did the boy have a face.

"We were close friends as children," Michaelis told ABC News. "I was amazed that we frequently wanted to do the same things." Ernst and Peter became pals growing up in Berlin and were classmates at the Holdheim School until war prompted their families to flee Berlin, and the 12-year-olds had to part ways. "When we separated in 1939, we exchanged photographs," Michaelis told us. Peter gave him a passport-size photograph and a note that read, "In friendly remembrance of your friend Lutz Peter Schiff." "We didn't realize at the time that was something that girls do and not boys," Michaelis told us.

That testament of affection was most fortunate for Anne Frank's admirers. The note and photograph, which Michaelis has donated to the Anne Frank House, are being published on the house's Web site today along with more information on Peter Schiff. "She writes about him several times and says she does not need a photograph to remember his face," Anne-Marie Bekker, an official of the Anne Frank House, told ABC News. "For the readers, it is nice to finally put a face to the story."