Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in 1929 in Germany before the inception of World War 2. She is famous for the diary that she kept with her while she got exiled from her normal life with her family. Belonging to a Jewish family, she and her family had to escape the torment of the Nazis. She was only thirteen years old when she wrote the diary. She kept the diary with her for two years, expressing her anger and frustration through writing. Her father found the diary later and published it. The words had so much emotion in them that the writing touched the hearts of millions of people living all over the world that this young girl has become an inspiration to all.
Early life
Anne’s mother was Edith Frank and father’s name was Otto Frank. Her father was a lieutenant in the German Army during the 1st World War. However, he later became a businessman. Anne had an elder sister as well; her name was Margot. The family was highly religious and they lived on the outskirts of Frankfurt. Anne was born at a time when social turmoil was erupting in German society that would later destroy the happiness of her family.
After Adolf Hitler came fully into power in 1933, there was a large movement against the Jews in Germany. It forced Anne’s family to escape to the Netherlands. After moving there, Anne had a happy and free life for several years. She was a very bright student and had lots of friends from different religions in her school.
Nazi Occupation
The German Army invaded the Netherlands in 1940, driving Anne and her family in danger once again. The Nazis imposed lots of anti-Jewish measures depriving them of lots of rights. Jews were not allowed to run a business so Anne’s father had to run his business secretly with the help of his partners. Anne had to get transferred to a segregated Jewish school. On her 13th birthday, Anne got a diary from her family as a gift. After that day, she started pouring her emotions into the diary to let out her anger and frustration through words.
When Margot was summoned in a Nazi work camp, the family got worried and hid in an empty space situated at the back of Anne’s father’s office building. They called it the Secret Annex. The family spent two years in that place, hiding to escape the torments of the Nazis. During those times, Anne wrote entries in her diary extensively to remain calm and quiet. Her diary became the medium of comfort for her as she could not complain about the injustice she was facing to anyone else. The writings helped her to maintain her spirits and sanity.
Captured By Nazis
In 1944, the family was captured by one German secret police officer and four Dutch Nazis. They got arrested and then they were taken to Camp Westerberg which was a concentration camp in the Netherlands. The information about them hiding in the Secret Annex was given to the Nazis by an anonymous tip. The betrayer still remains unknown to everyone. Later, they were transferred to the death camp in Poland in 1944. The men and women were separated and that was the last time Otto Frank saw his wife and daughters.
In 1945, Edith Frank fell ill and died at Auschwitz. After several months of struggle, Anne and Margot were sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Due to unhealthy environment and lack of food, both the sisters got affected by typhus and died one after another.
Anne Frank was only fifteen years old when she died. More than 1 million children died during the Holocaust.
Anne’s father survived and returned to the Netherlands. Later, he found Anne’s diary and became amazed after reading the excellent and mature writing of his daughter. He published the diary as a book in 1947.
Anne was an excellent storyteller and she kept hoping for redemption even during the worst moments of her life. She poured out her emotion in the entries remarkably and this spirit of hers won the hearts of millions of readers. From her life story, people can learn how to stay calm and fight for freedom even when victory seems very far away.