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| Anne Frank |
Eighty-five years ago yesterday, Annelies
Marie "Anne" Frank was born.
Anne won our hearts through the teenage journal she kept during WW II that was later made into a book, The Diary of a Young Girl.
Anne was
born June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany to a Jewish couple, Otto Frank and his
wife Edith. In 1933, Ann’s family moved to Amsterdam; the same year the Nazis
took over Germany.
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| Nazi Germany |
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| Adolph Hitler |
By 1940 Europe
had changed: Adolph Hitler was dictator and Jews were being “removed” from
society. Anne and her family were trapped in the Netherlands along with thousands
of other Jewish families. In 1942 when Anne’s older sister Margot received
orders to report to a work camp, the Franks went into hiding.
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| Bookcase The Hid Doorway to Annex |
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| Inside Secret Annex |
The family
hid in what was called the “Secret Annex” with another family, the Van Pels;
two small rooms located on the second floor of a building that had housed her
father’s former business. A ladder to the attic offered them a chance to get up
on the roof and take in fresh air at night.
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| Nazis Occupation |
As a teenager
during the war years, Anne wrote about her life, her family’s struggles, and
their experiences while hiding from the Nazis during the German
occupation.
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| Peter van Pels |
She shared
her problems about dealing with her mother, the gradual understanding that developed between
her and her older sister, her feelings of irritation toward the other family
sharing their secret rooms, and her infatuation, and first kiss with Peter van
Pels.
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| Anne Writing |
It was
during this time that Anne realized she wanted to be a journalist. Her entry on
Wednesday, April 5, 1944 stated in part: “When
I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are
revived! But, and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something
great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?”
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| Concentration Camp |
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| Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp |
In August
1944, the Frank family was betrayed to the Nazis, taken to a concentration camp
and sentenced to hard labor. After arriving at the camp, half the passengers
were taken directly to the gas chambers. Anne and her sister were spared
because they were young and could work. The Frank sisters were forced to haul
rocks and dig holes along with hundreds of other women and girls.
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| Anne Frank |
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| Margot Frank |
Anne, and
her sister Margot, died of typhus in March 1945 at Bergen-Belsen concentration
camp; victims of the Holocaust. Anne was 15-years-old. Just a few weeks later,
on April 15, the camp was liberated by Allied troops.
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| Otto Frank |
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| 1st Edition in Dutch |
The story
could have ended there but Anne’s father, Otto Frank, (the only member of the
family to survive) was given her notes retrieved by family friends from the
secret annex. Moved by her wishes to become a published journalist, her father
used her original diary and her edited version to create her book. The diary,
and book, chronicles her life from June 12, 1942 (her 13th birthday)
to August 1, 1944.
Due to Otto
Frank’s devoted efforts, Anne’s diary was published in the Netherlands in 1947.
Soon after, the book was released in Germany and France, with publication in
Britain and the U.S. in 1952. The world learned of what had
happened to so many millions of people – through the voice of one young girl.
Anne’s personal
thoughts and unguarded words about life, war, suffering, and social persecution
under the Nazis regime has touched generations and made those injustices come
alive as few others could.
In
a passage in Anne’s diary she states, “I
want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met.
I want to go on living even after my death!”
And,
indeed she has. Her words and her legacy live on - 69 years later …
~
Joy
