Anne Frank

This is a perfect example of what a positive person Anne was. Unfortunately, due to the rising popularity of Adolf Hitler and his ideas of how the world should be, on the morning of June 6th, 1942, the Frank family was forced to go into hiding in a Secret Annexe, Anne taking her few possessions, one of them a diary she had received for her thirteenth birthday. Over the next few years, while Anne was stuck in the Annexe, unable to leave, she devoted herself to this diary, not knowing that, many years later, it would provide inspiration for people all over the world.

Anne Frank was trapped. A girl of thirteen (though by the time she died she was fifteen) who had to deal with the fact that at any moment she could be discovered and sent to a concentration camp, which few survived. And yet, she never lost her spirit. That is why Anne went down in history, why she is still remembered today, though it is generations later. She never gave up hope, never failed to see the good in everything, and her bravery will be remembered forever. And she never gave up on her faithful friend, Kitty, which was the name she gave to her diary. She liked to pretend that she had a best friend, whom each diary entry was addressed to, and kept up correspondence with 'Kitty' until she and her family were discovered.

The reason that I have always looked up to Anne Frank, aspired to be like her, even, is not just because she was an amazing author, which I have always wanted to be, but because her writing truly reflected the bright person she was. A particularly inspirational quote from her diary was - "I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains." This is all you really need to hear to know what kind of person she was. Anne will never be forgotten because she never was an ordinary girl. She was wise beyond her years, but kept her sense of fun through everything and had a talent for making people laugh. I have always hoped to write something as amazing as she did - though if anyone tried to read my diary they would be in serious trouble.

On August 4th, 1944, Anne and her family, and the other residents of the Secret Annexe were discovered by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. Though Anne wasn't the type of girl to give up, she didn't survive long, dying shortly after her sister, Margot. Otto Frank, her father, was the only one of their family, and those who had joined them in the Annexe, that survived. Anne's diary was discovered by one of the people who had helped the family, Miep Gies. Miep returned the diary to Anne's father when he returned from the concentration camp, and Otto decided it should be published and Anne remembered.

The people of the world, who had been desperate for an account of what had happened under Hitler's barbaric reign, were astonished by Anne's diary. It was one of the very first real life accounts of a young, innocent, school girl being punished cruelly for her beliefs. People were able to see the injustices of what had happened, and, through the power of her diary, get some insight into what it had been like for her. And though the diary is incredibly sad, I think it helps people appreciate what they have, and want to become a better person for it. Someone once said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." I think Anne Frank is excellent proof of this - because a voice of reason in the midst of such madness proved to be worth countless warriors.