Anne Frank

Anne Frank (http://www.annefrank.org.uk/node/14)

It's a bright clear day in Belsen, Germany, 1945. But past the quiet little town, lies a living nightmare. Here stands Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp. Dead bodies are strewn about, emaciated and infested with vermin. Children with hollow cheekbones, teens and adults who can barely stand. Their eyes bore into anyone who meets their gaze with a desperate intensity. Despair fills the place like the smell of rotting corpses. Anne Frank couldn't have imagined that Bergen-Belsen would be her final resting place, but it was there that she was tortured, imprisoned, and eventually died for being of the Jewish faith. Annelies Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1949 in Frankfurt, Germany. "Her family lived in Frankfurt until Mr. Frank fled to Amsterdam with his family as Nazi Germany became increasingly anti-Semitic. When the Nazis occupied Holland, Mr. Frank moved his family” into a secret annex over the warehouse building where he worked. The move was forced to begin earlier than usual because of a letter to Frank’s sister Margot, ordering her to report to a concentration camp assignment room (“Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl”). Then, the Franks along with four other Jews lived in hiding for two years, until they were discovered and captured by the Nazis. While Frank was in hiding, she wrote in the journal, which she had received for her 13th birthday. “Published in 1947 as Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, [her journal] candidly describes the experiences and emotions of an ordinary adolescent in extraordinary circumstances". This diary was left behind in the chaos of the capture. After her capture, she and her family were transferred to Auschwitz. Then she and Margot were deported to Bergen-Belsen. Frank died of typhoid fever in March 1945, just before the Jews were liberated (“Frank, Anne”). Frank's tender diary records a personal story of one of the worst stains in history, containing her personal views on her situation and the world around her; she wrote until her capture and deportation to a concentration camp known as Bergen-Belsen, documenting her unique experience of the Holocaust, and her transformation to adulthood. At Bergen-Belsen she spent the rest of her life putting others before herself. During her hiding, capture, and tortuous imprisonment, Anne Frank's selfless acts of caring, compassion, and courage deem her worthy of the title Hero.

An open page of Frank's diary (http://jeffwerner.ca/2008/06/anne_frank_house.html)

Frank had a unique way of viewing herself and the world, and her views inspired many people. Frank detached herself from her situation and was able to look at all the horrible things around her, especially concerning the Holocaust. She: "[doesn’t] believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone are guilty of the war. Oh, no, the little man is just as keen, otherwise the people of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated and grown, will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again." (Frank 201). She sheds light on her horrible situation and how awful people can be, leaving readers touched, and yearning to do everything in their power to make sure this tragedy does not occur again. Anne tells us this cruel side of humanity, and in reading this, people look inside themselves, and find truth in her words. Her diary inspires a little spark of rebellion in people around the world, a spark to rise above this evil thing she calls war. Anne didn't just see the cruel side to life and humanity. Many readers and critics agree that there is a sense of: "awe at how Anne could be so optimistic about people despite all she had been through. Her expressions of her belief in humankind reflect the musings of an introspective girl who has spent considerable time thinking about her situation. While many people would react to this experience with anger and bitterness, Anne takes a different view. Her ability to interpret the world with such hope and insight is the product of her maturation in every other aspect of her life, as seen in her diary" (“Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl”). Anne is unique among many people of that time and age, in that her way of seeing things is so different, which strikes a deep chord of understanding and emotional connection with all of her readers. Frank puts a great deal of thought and consideration into her feelings and opinions, showing that she doesn't see the world lightly, and truly believes the despair and and enmity will come to an end with all her heart. The way Frank portrays the state of the world she lived in tugged at the heartstrings of thousands of readers, and inspired them to investigate the state of our their world, and improve upon their actions; so that her tragedy won't befall others.

Frank with her mother, father, and sister Margot (http://www.neev.in/anne_frank_story.htm)

Frank demonstrated good character through her actions as well; she cared for and struck hope in the hearts of her comrades. In her diary, Frank eloquently states: "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 will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more"(Frank 246). While she was in the camps, Frank felt the oppression around her, yet stayed strong and positive, becoming the hope that she and her fellow prisoners would be set free. People in the camps looked to her bright image for consolation, and in doing so had a better outlook on their situation. After her life seemed to be at it's worst, Frank: "...remained as cheerful as possible, and she was described as kind.... In a situation where most people chose to shut down their emotions, Frank stayed in touch with her feelings... People who knew Anne Frank in the concentration camp described her as courageous, sensitive, nurturing, and selfless" (“Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl”). Anne had outstanding moral fiber, and didn't survive for herself. She put others first, and made sure they felt happy and cared for. Her kindness and selflessness establishes her concern for others, and her willingness to be as jovial as one could be in a death camp. She helped the people in Bergen-Belsen feel hope and happiness when they felt all light had vanished. Anne used the power of compassion to inspire her fellow inmates at the concentration camps to feel joy and hope once again, and by remaining cheerful no matter what the circumstance helped everyone there to believe in their salvation.

A statue of Anne Frank near her house (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mount_otz/312721697/)

Now, in the year 2011, Bergen-Belsen and the other camps have been cleaned out, the dead of have been buried, the lost mourned, and the living have been rescued. But the memory is still fresh in the minds of the world’s people, and won't be forgotten anytime soon. Frank had a unique portrayal of the world around her, which led to extraordinary insight and optimism. When she was captured, she held her head high, looked after others, and held fast to her beliefs. Many of those captured simply gave up, but Frank was extraordinarily positive and hopeful, and reached out to the others suffering in the death camp. The prisoners were influenced by her words and eased from their suffering by her cheerful uplifting ways. During one of the most terrifying times in history, Frank selflessly put others feelings before her own, when she could have wallowed in misery. She is a symbol of hope to people around the world and those personally affected by the tragedy, and a reminder to those today that we must not sink again to that level. Although it was six decades ago, many still recall the cruelty of our society when Hitler came to power and began to exterminate the Jews. Frank, along with her family and fellow Jews, were persecuted, yet she did not sink to her captor's ideals of enmity and discord. While she was in their clutches, she never lost sight of her beliefs. Even though she is not alive, her image lives on as a strong, inspiring, caring individual, someone we can all look up to. Her will and desire to make sure what happens to her never happens to anyone else is forever preserved in the pages of her own tragic story. This, is the embodiment of a true Hero.

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