Anne Frank

"It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more." Anne Frank, an innocent young woman was confronted with the fascism in World War 2, because of the sewn on yellow star she wore attached to her clothes, with the word "Jew" On June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany, Annelies Marie Frank was born into the beginning of a nightmare. Anne is a world-renowned author whose life was cut short at ages fifteen, because of her Jewish identity. Her story began in 1943 when she fled alongside her family, Otto Frank, Edith Frank, and Margot Frank: to Amsterdam in the Netherlands to escape the storm of fascism. The storm soon caught up to her and her family on May 10, 1940 when the German invasion in the Netherlands began. Within five day Nazi Germany won due to the surrender of Dutch forces. For two years Anne Frank lived under Nazi occupation and suffered from its fascism. On July 5, 1942, a letter sent to Margret Frank called upon her to work in a labor camp located in Nazi Germany. All four Franks were well aware of the dangers that where rising in Amsterdam, they acted upon these facts and sought refuge. Their refuge was found behind the walls of the "Secret Annex:" a small apartment found behind a bookshelf located in Otto Frank's office building. The Franks would soon after invite four other Dutch Jews to hid in their Secret Annex. The names of all the members in the Secret Annex: Anne Frank, Otto Frank, Edith Frank, Margot Frank, Hermann Van Pels, Auguste Van Pels, Peter Van Pels, and Fritz Pfeffer. All eight members hid patiently from July 6, 1942, until their arrest on August 4, 1944. On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday. She wrote endlessly and never held back from the truth, the words written by a girl suffering as she hid from a world that tried to destroy her, was first accounts of true history. The writing in the journal was nothing but a way to stay sane in difficult times, until a broadcast from London. On March 29, 1944 the Minister of the Dutch Government, Gerrit Bolkestein spoke amongst his people while in exile; saying to keep all letters and diaries. The ordinary documents would create an understanding of suffering in World War 2 for the world's decedents. Anne finally understood the meaning in words that she created from writing in her diary. One day she believed the world would listen to a girl that disappeared from earth to escape it horrors it be held. On August 4, 1944, the members of the "Secret Annex" where discovered and arrested. All eight were sent to concentration camps within several weeks. Anne Frank was sent to Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany. In 1945 during the early spring when the cold of the winter died, so did Anne Frank. Otto Frank, the only survivor of the Secret Annex, returned to Amsterdam and was given Anne Frank's diary. On June 25, 1947 the words of Anne Frank were published for the world to see. "If she had been here, Anne would have been so proud." - Otto Frank. Hero's posse many criteria's in life that made its mark on the world and Anne Frank did so through righteousness, inspiration, and the education she gave us from the sacrifice of her life. Anne Frank is an icon and author of hope, she made righteous decisions in times where righteousness had disappeared, inspired the world with her diary that recorded her good spirits and open heart, and struggled in the deepest nightmare the world has ever seen to educate others for a greater future.

The words in Anne Frank's diary were born into a world of genocide and suffering, but Anne still found a way around the hate and even forgave the people who created the nightmare in Europe that would eventually kill her. While hiding in the Secret Annex, Anne Frank dedicated her time and efforts to writing in her diary. At first writing was only an act of amusement in the stale life of the Secret Annex. Anne's ambition in writing came from the realization that one-day people would experience the Holocaust through her own words. "Through the postwar publication of her diary Het Achterhuis (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl), millions of readers around the world came to know one of Hitler's victims personally and a face was put on an otherwise unfathomable and anonymous horror. Chronicling her life in hiding in Amsterdam from the summer of 1942 to the arrest of her family in August 1944, the diary is considered among the most powerful anti-war documents of the era" ("DiMauro, Laurie") Unanimously the most greatest and righteous decision Anne Frank did was writing in her diary. At first Anne Frank did not have a clue the story she wrote in her cloth-covered diary would one day awake the world with the understanding of the Holocaust through its victims. The story she told was of eight Jews hiding in a "Secret Annex" located in Amsterdam. Anne Frank displayed the struggles she endured alongside seven other, amongst the seven, family and friends. The words written in the diary stopped being a sign of hope for Anne Frank and started being a sign of hope for the world when, the Minister of the Dutch Government, Gerrit Bolkestein broadcasted that the need for ordinarily document like letters and diaries to tell about the horrors during the war. Anne Frank knew it had to be done and the reworking of her diary was underway, the world would soon hear her cries. Anne Frank believed in doing the right thing for the future and she did so by writing. The word from the work of Anne Frank's pen and paper show her every bit of righteousness. The following excerpts from Anne Frank's diary were written only a few weeks before the discovery and arrest of all members hiding in the "Secret Annex." "I watch myself as if I were a stranger. I've cured myself by holding my behavior up to the light and looking at what I was doing wrong." ("Anne Frank") "It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." ("Diary Excerpts") True amazement in the acts of righteousness is spoken through Anne Frank's diary. She forgives the people who she expects that would finally destroy her. Not to mention the stolen world of safety and rectitude she used to live in before the storm of fascism swept across Europe. In times when cruelty reached its peak, Anne Frank still looked upon her past years for evaluation and apologized for any hate she caused to the people around her. These words of apology must have been challenging to accept as a young teen, proving the bright and righteous mind of Anne Frank. Anne Frank's righteousness depicted through the words of her diary, proves Anne did not abide to the enmity that was created from the acts of Hitler, making Anne Frank truly righteous

Anne Frank wrote in her diary daily to show to the world her endeavor of survival during a time where death appeared by the tens to hundreds of thousands every day, all 82,762 words inspire the stop in animosity that hides in the darkest parts of people's hearts. Anne Frank at first only wrote in her diary as an act of survival for her own sanity, but on March 29, 1944 the Minister of the Dutch Government, Mr. Bolkestein, from London broadcasted a request of all war records to be kept and the truth and actions by the Nazi Regime be divulged. Anne Frank was inspired to inspire, she began earnestly on reworking her diary and anticipated for the moment when world would finally listen to her story. "History cannot be written on the basis of official decisions and documents alone, if our descendants are to understand fully what we as a nation have had to endure and overcome during these years, then what we really need are ordinary documents -- a diary, letters." (Hampl, Patricia) On the day of March 29, 1944 Gerrit Bolkenstein's words sparked Anne Frank into the reworking of her very own diary. She then knew it did not just mean true value to her but to the revived world after the war and its future. On June 25, 1947 the world truly realized the suffering brought upon Holocaust victims, because of their Jewish identity. Anne Frank told her story with nothing but a diary, a pen, and a suffering heart in a world of chaos. "Of all the primary documents that have emerged from the horrendous events of the Holocaust, The Diary of a Young Girl has become the most read first-person account of this nightmare of history. It personalizes the tragedy of the genocide because it shows how the life of such a promising young woman was cut short simply because she was a Jew." ("Anne Frank") Every day when people read "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank, they read the same words that were born in a time of war and genocide. Much of the words written by Anne Frank tell her story as young adult lifted by hope to survive death when it is found just outside the walls of their "Secret Annex." Anne Frank did not just endure the chaos of the Nazi regime as a Jew, but fought against it for the revival of human dignity. Anne Frank's hope and fight from her words in her diary is nothing but inspirational. After the war that killed her, the words from her book still remained. Otto Frank sought nothing but justice and the publication of his daughter book woke the world and shined light on Anne Frank, because of her positive beliefs and prospects. Anne Frank's positive perspective for the future in a time of great despair would seem impossible even for such a young person. Since 1947, Anne Frank's diary has been fighting against fascism; Anne makes her mark of inspiration through her words and life.

On June 1942, Anne Frank turned thirteen years old where a cloth-covered diary was given to her, only five years later on June 1947 the diary she wrote in for over two years would be published for the world to see. On June 3, 1945 Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam only weeks after the end of the war in Europe. In the aftermath of war, Otto frank salvaged nothing but his daughter's diary. He received Anne Frank's diary from a former helper during their two-year stay in the Secret Annex. Otto found greatness in the pages of his daughter's diary, and believed people should experience the world through Anne Frank's eyes. "Anne's diary, parts of which were discovered and preserved by loyal co-workers of Otto Frank, was first published in Dutch in 1947. French and German translations appeared in 1950, and an English translation followed in 1952. Since then, the diary has been translated into some 60 languages and circulated in perhaps as many as 25 million copies." ("Rosenfeld, Alvin") Soon after the arrest of Anne Frank and seven other Jews that lived in the "Secret Annex," Miep Gies Returned and found Anne Frank's diary which recorded the lives of eight Jews in hiding for over two years from a world that tried to kill them. Miep Gies kept Anne Frank's diary until Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam, where she presented Otto with the diary of his dead daughter. Ever since 1947 when the first edition of Anne Frank's dairy was released to the world, she gave each reader a lesson and perspective of the struggles Jews faced because of the Nazi regime. Many people's first encounter with the holocaust is from the stories of Anne Frank. Young people today first find the horrors of the Holocaust from the eyes of Anne Frank, because she was an ordinary young adult and is most relatable to people her age. From words written on pages, to pictures in the movies: Anne Frank exposed people to the Holocaust in vast amounts of ways "A highly popular stage version, written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, appeared in 1955, and a much acclaimed film version by famed director George Stevens followed in 1959. In subsequent years, Anne Frank's story has also been the focus of a number of other films and television programs, ballets, operas, other musical productions, paintings, drawings, works of sculpture, scholarly and popular books, postage stamps, commemorative coins, videotapes, and more." ("Rosenfeld, Alvin") The popular words of Anne Frank that taught the ordinary life of a young girl who was swept into a storm of violence and hatred was not just written, but also acted on stage, filmed in the movies, danced in performances, sung in musical productions, created in works of art, and many more other styles of teachings. Anne Frank's diary creates a more pleasant future, because of how it enlightens its readers about the Holocaust, a major event in history "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana

Many view Anne Frank as righteous, and inspirational for the dairy she created that now educates the world about the Holocaust, Anne's writing has led her to be a world-renowned author and protector of virtue. Anne Frank's dedication to writing in her diary has enabled the world to see the truth of the Holocaust, her risks and acts of survival are the main reason why we get to experience her journey today. Anne's sacrifice did not go in vain as her immortal story would show the scars of history that hope to never be reborn. My first encounter with Anne Frank was in sixth grade when I was first exposed to the Holocaust during a lesson, we learned and read Anne Frank's story. Her story made me feel victim to the Holocaust and inspired me like much others. Anne Frank's death did not go in vain, because of the mark she made on the world. Her words will forever teach us about the righteousness need in our lives

Works Consulted

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"Anne Frank." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Student Resources in Context. Web. 8 May 2014.

"Anne Frank." St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers. Gale, 1999. Biography in Context. Web.            9 May 2014.

"Diary Excerpts." Anne Frank. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014.

DiMauro, Laurie. "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular   Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 1. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.      95-96. Student Resources in Context. Web. 8 May 2014

Rosenfeld, Alvin. "Anne Frank." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred          Skolnik. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. Biography in Context. Web.      8 May 2014.

"The Helpers of the Secret Annexe." Anne Frank House. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014.

"The Story of Anne Frank: Anne Frank, the Writer." Anne Frank House. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May             2014.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Anne Frank." Online Exhibitions. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005210. Accessed on  May 5,      2014

"Who Is Anne?" Anne Frank. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014.

Hampl, Patricia. "The Whole Anne Frank." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Mar. 1995. Web. 5 May 2014.