Charlotte Brown

Charlotte Brown (née Cohen, formerly Snow) is a new arrival at Briarcliff Manor claiming to be Anne Frank. She is a character in Asylum portrayed by Franka Potente.

What is the backstory of Charlotte Brown in American Horror Story Asylum? toggle section

In American Horror Story Asylum, Charlotte Brown, portrayed by Franka Potente, asserts herself as Anne Frank. She was a prisoner at Bergen-Belsen during WW2, too ill to identify herself when the Nazi camps were liberated by the Allies. Subsequently, she was moved to England where she recovered some health and became a street dweller.

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How does Charlotte Brown's character connect to Anne Frank in AHS Asylum? toggle section

In AHS Asylum, Charlotte Brown, played by Franka Potente, presents herself as Anne Frank. She arrives at Briarcliff Manor with a past shrouded in mystery, asserting she was a Bergen-Belsen prisoner during WW2. Upon liberation by the Allies, she was too ill to share her name. She recovered in England before living on the streets. She identifies Arthur Arden as a Nazi criminal.

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Who portrays the character of Charlotte Brown in American Horror Story? toggle section

Franka Potente plays the role of Charlotte Brown in American Horror Story.

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How does Franka Potente's portrayal of Charlotte Brown contribute to the plot of AHS Asylum? toggle section

In American Horror Story: Asylum, Franka Potente plays Charlotte Brown, who asserts she is Anne Frank. She was allegedly a prisoner at Bergen-Belsen during WW2, and was later relocated to England. Her character adds depth to the plot through her interactions with others, particularly Sister Jude.

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Background[]

Charlotte Brown (née Cohen) affirmed to be a prisoner of Bergen-Belsen who was too sick to tell anyone her name when the Allies freed the prisoners of the Nazi camps. She was then relocated to England, where she was back to some semblance of health. Afterwards, she kept to the streets in Germany as a pickpocket and a thief until she met a soldier, Private William Snow who married her and the two lived in New Jersey until William was called back to service during the Korean Conflict and was killed there in 1952, leaving Charlotte a widow. In the same year, Anne Frank's diary was published in America as The Diary of a Young Girl. At first, she wanted to reunite with her long lost father, but refrain from doing so because he started a new life with a new family and because people started to acknowledge the Nazi's heinous crimes.

Personality and Appearance[]

Charlotte Brown is a delusional woman who believed herself to be Anne Frank. She has shown to be very knowledgeable having known to know detailed facts about the war, and the concentration camps. Having accused Dr. Arden of being a former Nazi, and this was later proven to be true suggesting she herself was in a concentration camp, that Dr. Arden was positioned at. She shows similar physical traits with Anne Frank, having dark hair, and similar eye color; this, and the facts she knew extensively about the segregation in concentration camps lead Sister Jude to actually believe that Charlotte was Anne Frank.

Story[]

A woman, claiming to be Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank, says that she holds a secret about Dr. Arden's past. She insists that he is cruel Auschwitz doctor Hans Grüper. She confronts Arden with a gun lifted from a visiting homicide detective and shoots him in the thigh before discovering the legless and mutated Shelley.^[1]

She holds Arden at gunpoint and demands to speak with Sister Jude but she is subdued by Frank. A man visits the asylum and explains that she is his wife, Charlotte Brown nee Cohen. He tells the tale of her descent into madness and Sr. Jude, in order to protect her from Arden's retaliation, arranges to discharge her into her husband's care. After she attempts to suffocate their infant son, her husband returns her to the asylum where Dr. Arden recommends a transorbital lobotomy. She is again sent home to her family, docile, happy with her baby, and apparently, without memory of her belief, she is Anne Frank. On her wall, with various other Holocaust photos and clippings, is a picture of Adolf Hitler and a young Nazi with an incredible likeness to Arden.^[2]

Notes[]

She was named Kassie in pre-air cast listings.
Charlotte Brown is the only character played by Franka Potente in the American Horror Story franchise.
Private William Snow, Charlotte's first husband shares his last name with former Council witch Myrtle Snow, and with Rhett Snow, an Uber driver.

Quotes[]

To Mr. Brown: "Never been happier."
Charlotte (to Sister Jude)
People finally started to pay attention to what they'd done to us. All because of a martyred 15-year-old girl. She had to stay 15. And a martyr. I could do more good dead than alive.
Sister Jude
Your story is indecent.
Charlotte
No, you are indecent. You have a Nazi war criminal working here.