The story of Barbro Karlén, the writer who says she’s the reincarnation of Anne Frank
On Wednesday: An interesting case of reincarnation from India (that will blow your mind).
Hello Be Curious readers, it’s the weekend already, and that means it’s storytime. Yay!
This week’s issue will have two parts. (I don’t know why; I just decided to.) But both will be closely related and will be on the topic of “reincarnation.”
In today’s and Wednesday’s issue, we’ll be going into depth about reincarnation and how, time and again, it has proved itself as a true phenomenon (apparently, it’s still fighting for its rights, as many of us don’t believe in its existence).
Today’s newsletter will talk about the case of Barbro Karlén, who claims herself as the reincarnation of Anne Frank. And it’s quite interesting.
And for Wednesday, we’ll have a case from India, of a young woman who seemed to remember a great deal about her past life and even made Mahatma Gandhi curious. Stay tuned!
Here’s in brief how I became curious about this topic:
So, I have been reading this book called 30 Most Interesting Cases of Reincarnation by Trutz Hardo, and it totally blew my mind and left me in awe multiple times.
That made me curious about this very topic. So I went down the rabbit hole and discovered some really cool facts, proofs, videos, interviews and speculations concerning this case.
After watching several YouTube videos and reading some fabulous blogs on this topic, I’m bringing to you these two cases of reincarnation that are bound to blow your mind.
All in all, this is a very interesting one and almost proves, if not completely, that reincarnation is a true phenomenon.
So the question is, are you ready for the stories? I hope you are. Let’s jump right in!
First, Reincarnation?
The stories of or about reincarnation are very fascinating, aren’t they?
It’s equal parts interesting and mysterious. And that’s the secret ingredient that makes it irresistible. We are all fascinated by them.
And the aftertaste: “Is there really something like reincarnation?” Well, we’ll answer that question on Wednesday, in the next issue. For now, let’s see a very convincing case of Anne Frank reincarnated.
Anne’s cousin said “yes”
In 1996, after the last living relative of Anne Frank, Buddy Elias (her cousin), came to know about a girl who claims to be the reincarnation of Anne Frank, he decided to meet her.
Though he didn’t believe in reincarnation, he was still intrigued to meet and talk to Barbro.
He had heard about Barbro through her publisher in Germany when a lot of buzz surrounded her, as she started being vocal about her being Anne Frank reincarnated.
He invited her to dinner, and as Barbro showed up at his door, they stared at each other and fell into each other’s arms.
When the newspaper later asked him if he believed that Barbro was a reincarnation of Anne Frank, he answered “yes”.
He also made several public appearances to promote Barbro’s autobiography, And the Wolves Howled: Fragments of Two Lifetimes, in German.
But at the same time, he came under scrutiny as he was the President of the Anne Frank Foundation, and even got a heart attack because of all this. Taking everything into consideration, he backed off and avoided every public appearance thereafter.
Nonetheless, he kept talking to Barbro. And, per Barbro, they talked around once every week before he died in 2015.
Furthermore, Barbro would stay at Buddy’s home in Switzerland when she visited Europe, and Buddy had stayed in Barbro’s home when he visited her in the United States. So, yes, they were in close contact all this time.
So who is Barbro? A little Introduction
Barbro was born on May 24, 1954, in Sweden. (Less than 10 years from Anne’s death, in 1945.)
Just like Anne, she was a prolific writer from a very early age.
She published her first book, Människan på jorden (Man on Earth), when she was only 12.
By the age of 16, she had already published eleven books of poetry and prose. And that led to her widespread recognition as a child prodigy in her homeland of Sweden.
As a child, Barbro had memories of being Anne Frank in her past life.
At the age of 3, she surprised her parents by calmly saying that she was not Barbro and that her real name in fact was Anne.
In the beginning, her parents thought it was some sort of a childish drama, and she was talking about some random dreams and fantasy worlds. But soon it became clear that something was wrong with her.
Then her parents took her to a psychiatrist, but she’d not utter a single word in front of them about remembering her past life because she thought everybody got so tense and uneasy every time she talked about it. She also feared talking about this subject in front of strangers.
And so the psychiatrist dispersed her, saying she was totally normal.
At 7, she started school; she learnt to read and write. After that, she felt relieved because now she could simply write what she wanted to talk about.
And just like Anne Frank, she confined in her notebooks all her feelings. “Paper has more patience than people,” Anne wrote.
When Barbro was 11, a friend of the family visited them and saw pieces of paper lying around in her room. He read it and asked her parents if he may take it and show it to the publishers.
This is how Barbro published her first poetry book, Man on Earth, at the age of 12.
When her mother believed she indeed was Anne Frank reincarnated
In 1964, when she was 10, her parents took her on a trip around Europe. After visiting several big cities, they landed in Amsterdam.
One of the most famous attractions there was the Anne Frank House. So they decided to visit it.
This is where strange things begin to happen. Barbro, who had never been to Amsterdam, seemed to remember the route to Anne Frank House.
When they planned to visit Anne Frank House and started to call for a taxi, she exclaimed: “We don’t need a taxi, it’s not far to walk from here.” Her parents followed her as they didn’t have many options.
After reaching the Anne Frank House, the route of which Barbro distinctly seemed to remember and even guided as though she had been there before several times, she noticed that the steps outside were different.
Her mother dismissed even this sign.
And when they entered the house, Barbro suddenly felt horrified. She said this on record:
“When I came into that house, it was the most horrifying feeling I have ever had.”
All of a sudden, I was back to my dreams, she recalls. She recognised everything she had seen in her dreams. All of a sudden everything started to make sense. and that dreaded her even more.
They enter the room of Anne Frank
As they entered the room of Anne Fran, Barbro felt a sense of familiarity. When she looked at the wall in front, she exclaimed: ”Look, the pictures of the film stars are still there!” Only there were no pictures on the wall.
Her mother stared at the blank wall and couldn’t understand this at all. “What pictures? The wall is bare?” Barbro looked at the wall again, and yes, it was bare.
What was happening to her?
And then her mother inquired one of the guides on duty if there were any pictures on the wall, and he responded with a yes. He further said that they had been taken down temporarily to be mounted under glass so that they wouldn’t be destroyed or stolen.
That led her mother to believe that she was saying the truth all this time.
What does this all point towards?
One of the most convincing arguments in support of Barbro is that both her mother and Anne’s cousin, Buddy Elias, believe that she is the reincarnation of Anne Frank.
In an article published in the leading German magazine, Zeitspiegel, Buddy says:
“It was very emotional. First time I saw her, I had heard about her. I had a very strange feeling, a very positive impression. It felt like we had a soul connection. Barbro seemed absolutely trustworthy to me. I could very well imagine she was Anne. More than that I can not say. I have Anne too close in my memory to say anything more.”
In the end, this only points towards… “It can all be true.”
P.S. June 25 marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of Anne Frank’s diary. Continue reading the story here.
