Anne Frank

Anne Frank and family. (http://history.grand-forks.k12.nd.us/ndhistory/LessonImages/Sources/Pictures)

“It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all of 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.” Anne Frank wrote this in her beloved diary. Anne Frank was a courageous young girl who through her writing made the world of Holocaust known to people around the world. Anne Frank is a hero to me because even though she was very young she was still able to endure racial hatred and cruelty with calmness.

She was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany. Her parents were Otto and Edith Frank. She was also born German and Jewish. During this period there was a Great Depression going on in many countries around the world, including Germany.

Anne Frank as a teenager. (http://www.iun.edu/~wostnw/history/images)

In 1933, when Anne was four, Adolf Hitler came to power and her family moved to Amsterdam. Amsterdam during that time had religious freedom. Throughout their first nine years there they lived a normal life. Her dad ran a business and she and her sister went to school.

Then on July 6,1942 she and her family had to go into hiding at 263 Prinsengraunt. Anne was only thirteen. They spent twenty-five months hiding out there until they were found on August 4, 1944. Soon after, they were sent to Auschwitz. After spending one month in Auschwitz, Anne and her sister, Margot, were sent to Bergen- Belsen concentration camp. Unfortunately, they both died from typhus in March 1945. Otto Frank was the only living member of the Frank family after the Holocaust.

Anne Frank at her desk. (http://i.timeinc.net/time/time100/images)

He then had her diary published in 1947, and now it is published in sixty-seven different languages. Anne Frank spoke to people all over the world through her diary. She defied people’s expectations. She is a hero to me along with many others.