Cover of The Story of Anne Frank
Today I found out that it would’ve been Anne Frank’s 84th birthday. Being Jewish, I was always haunted by the story of Anne Frank. You can read her story in “The Story of Anne Frank.”
Anne was a young, Jewish girl who was forced to hide away with her family in Amsterdam,Holland. It happened during the Holocaust during World War II. The family found a hiding place above a factory, and successfully hid there for several years. Tragically, someone turned them in, and were ultimately captured by the Nazis.
Anne’s father survived, and went back and found her diary. It was later published and has been read by thousands. Why am I giving out these details? I’m thinking less and fewer people know about this diary. They used to teach it in high schools, but I”m wondering how true that is today. Can the young people of today relate to the words written by a young girl in the 1940’s?
It’s more real to me because I am going to be 63 years old. When I was born in 1950, the War had only been over for five years. It seemed very real to me. When I found out about this tragedy, it upset me. To think people would kill others because of their religion. Since that time, I’ve read hundreds of books about it, and heard survivor’s talk about it. I’ve accepted it, but it still makes me very sad.
In the early 70’s, I took a trip to Amsterdam and got a chance to walk through the hiding place that is now a museum. The space was so small. I wondered how 3 families could have survived there for so long. I looked out the window at the very same tree Anne longingly looked at from her hiding place. I was touched by the pictures of American movie stars of the 40’s that she had taped on the wall.
In her diary Anne stated that “I still believe people are really good at heart.” One wonders if she still believed this by the time she died, and directly experienced such cruelty. How did she feel when she got off the train at the concentration camp and realized people were starving and broken? What did she think when she saw the stacks of the gas chambers that killed her peers, neighbors, loved ones, and fellow Jews? (It wasn’t only Jews that died.) This all happened in a civilized society too. It’s very frightening.
How tragic it was that someone with such insight and talent died so young. She was never to know that millions would read her words. If it was a fictional story, she would have survived. Sadly, it was a real story; perhaps, she went to a better place. Who knows?
The real tragedy is that people’s cruelty to each other hasn’t ended. It continues. It’s been going on since the beginning of time. Somehow, good does win over evil. It takes a while, but it seems to happen.
The best we can now do is think about Anne’s advice “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
How many have ever been to The Anne Frank House? How has her diary impacted you? Please share.
Related articles
- Anne Frank On Film (outsidethebeltway.com)
- Ann Frank, Hope and Teens (westcoastreview.wordpress.com)
My Life in my 60's 
I’ve never been to the Anne Frank House, but my son was there about 2 summers ago. The Diary of Anne Frank and the movie very much affected me as a youngster. I loved the 1959 George Stevens movie with Richard Beymer as Peter, Joseph Schildkraut as Otto Frank, Shelley Winters as Mrs. Van Daan and Millie Perkins as Anne. I saw the movie many times. As the years went by, I continued to read as much as I could about the Holocaust and my daughter shared that interest with me. I passed onto my children the need to fight prejudice, bias, anti semitism, racism with education. Malcolm X said “Knowledge is Power.” Yesterday was also 50 years since Medgar Evers was assassinated. The writings of Anne Frank and the work of Medgar Evers are still relevant and their work must continue and they must be remembered. Thank you for your posting.
Thank you for your comment. It was almost like a post!