Anne Frank

Imagine a hero. Most people think of a knight in shining armor that saves the day and gets the girl. It’s true, these people can be heroes, but mind and thought can be heroic traits just as much as muscular strength. My hero is someone who is brave, someone who doesn’t give up, someone who I wish I could be more like. My hero is Anne Frank, the legendary young author who lived during the time of the Holocaust.

Anne and her father (http://history.grand-forks.k12.nd.us/ndhistory/LessonImages/Sources/Pictures/Anne%20Frank.jpg)

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 into a Jewish family living in Germany. She grew up in the age of the Nazis during the rule of Adolf Hitler. She moved to the Netherlands in 1934, the year before Hitler’s ascent to power. Anne received a journal on her 13th birthday, a little book that she cherished in the years to come. On July 5, 1942, Anne’s sister, Margot, was taken by the Germans and transported to a concentration camp. The next day, Anne and her family went into hiding. Anne’s family spent many months in hiding above her father’s office in Amsterdam, living with two other families. Life was horrible for her; she had to be completely silent during the daytime, whiling away her hours writing in her diary. After 25 months in hiding, Anne and the rest of the people living with her in the attic were betrayed and taken away to Westerbork Transit Camp by the Nazi’s. Then, in September of 1944, Anne and her family were taken to Auschwitz death camp in Poland. Anne and Margot were sent to Bergen Belsen concentration camp where they died about nine months later of Typhus. She was only fifteen. After the war, the only survivor from her family was her father, who returned to their old hideout and found her diary. The Diary of Anne Frank was first published in 1947, and today is published in over 67 different languages.

Anne at age 13 (http://www.brownsteins.net/Ulpan/Images/Anne%20Frank.jpg)

It’s true that Anne might not be the stereotypical hero, but she is my hero for many different reasons. She overcame challenges that were larger than life, that none of us can comprehend. Anne is my hero because of her bravery and perseverance. I cannot even imagine how terrifying it would be to lie in bed all day, not making a sound because my life is at stake. Anne showed so much bravery in the way she coped with fear. She didn’t have any meltdowns in the face of danger and when she was finally arrested, she didn’t give up hope. It is amazing that a fifteen-year-old girl, the same age as me, can be surrounded by death every day and still go forward in life. “But Anne had no such protection,” a survivor recalled. “I can still see her standing at the door looking down the camp street as a herd of naked gypsy girls was driven by to the crematory, and Anne watched them go and cried. And she cried when we marched past the Hungarian children who had already been waiting half a day in the rain in front of the gas chambers because it was not yet their turn.” Anne was a very sympathetic girl, yet she had the courage to keep on living even when little children were dying around her. She lived through her family.

Her last heroic trait was realizing when the end had come. Despite her bravery, when all her family members had died (she thought), she knew her end had come. Anne accepted death gracefully, without a fight. “Anne, who was already sick at the time, was not informed of her sister’s death; but after a few days she sensed it, and soon afterwards she died, peacefully, feeling that nothing bad was happening to her,” said another survivor of Bergen Belsen. Anne knew when to give up and place her life in the hands of a higher being. I wish I had enough strength to put up with half of the hardships she had to go through. Anne Frank is my hero.

Anne (http://www.todayinliterature.com/ assets/photos/f/anne-frank- 200x305.jpg)

Although Anne has been gone for many years, she is immortal in her own special way. Because of her writings, children, as well as adults, will know about her forever. She will be remembered in plays, books, and movies until the end of the ages. Anne portrayed a true bravery in life. Whenever something challenging happens to me such as receiving a bad grade or having a fight with a friend, I try to remember that these struggles will be forgotten in the near future, but a life and death struggle like Anne’s will take an eternity to forget. She faced the unthinkable; she faced murder. And she did so with grace and dignity. Anne Frank is not only a role model, but a full-fledged hero.