Anne Frank

Sixty-four years ago, a small, vivacious sixteen-year old girl died from starvation and disease in the Nazis concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. Anne Frank was a brilliant, caring girl who was born into the most hateful time. No one deserved to die during the Holocaust, especially not a generous and forgiving girl like Anne.

On July 6, 1942 Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in a small upper apartment that they called the “Secret Annex”. With eight people in such a small place tempers often flared and arguments broke out. Going into hiding definitely didn’t bring out the best in anyone, but Anne made the most of it. Anne and her family spent more than two years in the Secret Annex but were finally discovered by Nazi soldiers in 1944.

Anne had wild, dark brown hair and very kind brown eyes. She had a fairly plain face that lit up when she smiled. If she was happy, you knew it. Anne was a loud, outgoing girl, and she let you know how she was feeling, if not by her face then with words. She was honest and prided herself in telling people exactly what she thought. To her that was a way of living without regrets, as much as that is possible in a small hiding place.

“I'm honest and tell people right to their faces what I think, even when it's not very flattering. I want to be honest; I think it gets you further and also makes you feel better about yourself.” - Anne Frank, March 25, 1944

Anne and her mother, Edith Frank, never really got along. They argued a lot because Anne didn’t like the way her mother treated her. She definitely was not the little girl her mother still saw her as. She was getting older, wiser and more curious. Anne always asked questions. She was always ready to learn something new. Anne was forever wondering exactly what was going on in the world and even in her own body. There weren’t enough things to learn about in the annex, she wanted to see the world.

Most people would have suffered terribly if they were locked away. The world was a horrible place, and it was very difficult to see any good in it at all but that’s Anne’s most admirable quality. In the midst of a war full of hate and prejudice, she saw the good. She didn’t waste time complaining or wallowing in pity. She didn’t waste thought on the horrors. Anne looked past the war and the segregation and found the will and courage to survive.

Anne Frank never gave up hope. She never forgot what she was living for, or who she was. Most people would have lost themselves, and many people did during the war, but Anne found herself in hiding, and she clung onto her dreams and ideals for dear life. It was, after all, the only thing she had left. In Anne’s diary she said; “It’s difficult at times like these; ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within use, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals; they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” - Anne Frank, July 5, 1944.

Nothing but a firsthand account of the Holocaust could possibly describe what happened, and Anne left us exactly that; her diary. She gave a huge gift to the world. Her words are her legacy and, just as she wished, she will never be forgotten.