Anne Frank
Christina Weigand
Anne Frank was born on June 12 1929 in Frankfurt Germany.
She was the youngest child of Edith and Otto Frank. Her
father had an extensive library so she along with her older sister, Margot were
both encouraged to read. In 1933 the
family moved to Amsterdam where Otto started a company that sold fruit extract
pectin. The girls were enrolled in school, Margot in public school and Anne in
a Montessori school. Margot demonstrated and aptitude for math while Anne
showed an aptitude for reading and writing.
In May 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands and began to
persecute Jews. Otto tried to arrange for his family to emigrate to America,
but the U.S. Consulate was closed and all of his paperwork lost. Anne was
excelling in her studies, but when it was decreed that Jews could only attend
Jewish schools she was enrolled in the Jewish Lyceum. In the meantime Otto had
taken precautions to protect his family and businesses by transferring his
shares in the companies and resigning as director. Because of these steps he
was able to earn a minimal income.
In June 1942 Anne received a diary for her thirteenth
birthday and
Anne recorded all of this in her diary along with her
observations of the happenings in the world outside of their hiding place. She
examined her relationships with members of her family and the strong
differences in their personalities. Anne felt closer to her father, while Margot
was closer to their mother. As time passed and the girls matured they confided
in each other and consequently became closer.
The sisters hoped to return to school once the hostilities
were over, so continued their studies through correspondence courses as well as
continued reading and writing. Anne constantly wrote and edited her diary
entries in which she included a narrative of events as they occurred as well as her feelings, beliefs and
ambitions. She aspired to become a journalist
Her last entry was August 1, 1944.
On that day their hiding place was discovered and the family
along with the others was taken into custody. The family was eventually sent to
Auschwitz concentration camp where her father was wrenched from his family.
Anne and the other women were stripped naked to be
disinfected, had their heads shaved and were tattooed with an identifying
number. She along with the other women was used for slave labor, being forced
to haul rocks and dig rolls of sod. At night she was crammed into an
overcrowded barracks. Anne became ill and was moved into the infirmary and then
in October 1944 was transferred to a labour camp. Her mother was left behind
and died of starvation.
Early in 1945 a typhus epidemic spread through the camp and
other diseases including typhoid fever were rampant. It was in these horrible conditions that Anne
died and was buried in a mass grave at an unknown location.
Otto Frank survived and after the death of the sisters was
confirmed, Miep Gies, the woman who hid them, gave him the diary and a bundle
of loose notes.
After several tries at publication, finally in 1947 he was
successful. This was followed by more printings over the years. In 1955 a play
based on the diary was premiered in New York City and followed in 1959 by a
film which was a critical and commercial success.
Anne Frank as a writer and a humanist has grown through the
years. She is frequently identified as a single representative of the millions
of people who suffered as she did.
Over the years many people have tried to prove that the
diary was a forgery. Fortunately all claims were disproved and the diary stands
as a testament to the horrible actions of the times.
Photos and Bio from:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank
