Anne Frank

How would you feel if your religion cost you your life? Well, that’s how Anne Frank, a Jewish teenager living during the Holocaust, felt. Anne Frank lived in Holland until Hitler conquered Holland in 1940. After Hitler conquered Holland, the Franks moved to Amsterdam. She is a hero in my eyes because she had so much determination and was extremely brave living through tough times. Anne really wanted to become a famous writer, she kept a diary during the Holocaust; not knowing that one day millions of people would read her deepest thoughts and feelings. Many Jewish children kept diaries during the Holocaust, but Anne Frank’s diary became famous. Full of excitement and thoughts, The Diary of Anne Frank, is one of the best selling books of all time and has been translated into several different languages. Anne’s diary was published in 1947, about 2 years after Anne's death and the liberation of the people from the concentration camps. The Diary of Anne Frank has sold over 25 million copies! This is a great accomplishment for a teenage girl. On Anne’s 13th birthday, she received a diary where she kept her deepest thoughts and feelings. "I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support" Anne Frank's first diary entry, June 12, 1942. A few weeks after Anne’s birthday, Margo, Anne’s older sister got a letter from the Nazis SS for labor work (in other words go to the tortuous concentration camps). As soon as Margo received that letter, the Franks knew that they had to go into hiding and “disappear.” The 4 Franks moved into the Secret Annex on July 5, 1942 and soon after that 4 other Jewish people joined them. The Franks had to carry only necessities and had to wear layers and layers of clothing because carrying suitcases would be too suspicious.

Even though the Franks were safe, they had some rules that they had to follow. For example, they had to get up at 6:45 and by 8:30; they had to be as quiet as a mouse because they lived on top of a warehouse. They had to be still and silent from after breakfast until 12:30. This was not the life for 2 teenage girls. After 2 years of hiding in the Secret Annex, the Franks and the other members were caught and arrested on August 4, 1944. Investigators are almost positive that a worker at a factory nearby named Lena Hartog-van Bladern called the police and turned them in. All 8 people hiding in the Secret Annex were sent to Westerbork, a concentration camp. It took them a few days to arrive at the camp. The cattle cars that were used for transportation were so cramped because there were about a hundred people in each one.

After Westerbork the Franks were told to board the cattle cars again, Anne didn’t know that that would be the last time seeing her father. After long, agonizing, days the Franks arrived at Auschwitz. As soon as they saw the gates they thought, “this is it, the death camp with the gas chambers.” The moment the Franks stepped out of the cattle car Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was separated from his family. When they arrived, they separated the men and women. Many people tried to hold on to their loved ones, but the Nazis soldiers tore them apart. That was the last time Anne saw her father.

Life at the camps was tortuous and they worked hard all day and night. Their heads were shaved and they were given uniforms. The first day they were given a number tattooed on their arm, if you were Jewish your number would begin with a “J”. There were 10 people to a bed, but the beds were hard. In the morning, the prisoners had to stand and wait for hours to be counted. Thousands and thousands of innocent people stood hungry, angry, and terrified. After Auschwitz Anne and her sister Margo were sent to Bergen-Belsen, but their mother, Edith, was to stay at Auschwitz where she starved to death. Margo died at Bergen-Belsen in 1945 of typhus, a disease whose germs are carried to human beings by fleas, lice, etc.: it causes fever and red spots on the skin. Anne died a few days later from typhus; she was only 15 years old. They both died weeks before the liberation.

Out of the 8 people, living in the Secret Annex Otto Frank was the only survivor. The other 7 people living in the Secret Annex were: the 3 Van Pels who they died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, Peffer who died at Neuengamme in Germany, Edith Frank who died of starvation at Auschwitz, and Anne and Margo who died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen. About 6 MILLION innocent Jewish people died during the Holocaust. In my eyes Anne Frank is the bravest person I know, she lived in fear for 2 years, spent about 1 year in tortuous camps, and wrote a diary that became know to millions. Anne Frank’s dream was to become a writer, and she did, but sadly, she didn’t live to know it.