Anne_Frank

Influential People: Anne Frank Anne Frank is considered to be one the greatest Holocaust writers in history. Hiding in an attic for 25 months Anne Frank wrote about the tragedies and misfortunes the Jews were suffering during the Nazis invasion of Holland. Her book is considered to be “the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings” (Roosevelt1). Anne Frank influenced people by being courageous, a great literary author, and for leaving a great insight into the Holocaust. Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany on June 12, 1929. After Frank was born Hitler came to power and the persecution of the Jewish people in Germany began. Because of this, the Frank family moved to Holland where they believed they would be safe. In 1940, the Nazis invaded Holland. Anne's life remained unchanged. The next year, however, the Nazis began deporting Jews and Anne's father along with some of his coworkers began preparing a secret hiding place for Anne's family. On July 5, 1942 Anne's family went into hiding. Joining them were the van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist and friend of the family. Her diary, which spans the next two years, relates her struggles with the problems and joys of adolescence which she endured under the most bizarre of circumstances and in the midst of the horrors going on in the outside world. (Irey) Courage, patience, hope and determination are just a few of Anne Frank's amazing qualities (JWA). She and her family did what many Jewish families wanted to do. They hid away from the Gestapo for two years and one month. She had the courage and faith that they would eventually be able to go back to their normal lives, unfortunately the Gestapo invaded the Secret Annex where Anne and the others were hiding and all of its occupants were taken to concentration camps. Of the eight, only Anne's father survived. Anne died at the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany in early March 1945. Two months later, the war in Europe ended. The diary of Anne Frank is considered one of the most influential Holocaust books ever written. The book starts out talking about Anne how she received her diary with the hope that she will be able to reveal everything to it. She tells the story of how she got the diary on Friday, June 12, her thirteenth birthday. Anne wakes up at six in the morning and waits until seven to open her presents. One of the presents is the new diary. Afterward, Anne’s friend Hanneli picks her up for school. Anne goes to gym with the other students. She returned home at five in the afternoon. She described several of her friends; Hanneli, Sanne, and Jacqueline, whom she has met at the Jewish Lyceum, the local school for Jewish children. Anne writes about her birthday party on Sunday and continues to talk about her classmates. She believes that paper is more patient than people and feels that she does not have any true friends. She has a loving family and many people she could call friends, but she cannot confide in any of them. She then describes her childhood and the different jobs her father has had. After 1940, the Nazis took over Holland and created severe laws forcing Jews to wear yellow stars to identify themselves. The Germans forced the Jews to turn in their bicycles and shop only during certain hours. Jews were also restricted from riding streetcars, going outside at night, visiting Christian homes, and attending most schools. Anne starts calling her diary “Kitty”. Anne starts to talk about a boy she is calling “Hello”. Anne tells her diary that she has been seeing more of Hello. Anne receives decent grades on her report card. Soon after Otto tells the family they have to go into hiding. The entire family arrives at their hiding place in Otto Frank’s office building at 263 Prinsengracht. A secret annex was hidden upstairs from the office. Four people who work in the office know about the Franks’ arrival. Anne goes on to describe how another family goes into hiding with them and then a family friend. Anne begins to argue with her mother a lot. She feels that she does not fit in with her mother or sister, who are both very feminine. Anne thinks that her father is the only one who understands her. She soon hopes to go out in the world and discover, but she knows this will have to wait until the war is over. Anne continues to keep busy by studying French, math, history, and writing. She writes that she is getting along with her mother and Margot better. The two sisters agree to let each other read their diaries. Anne goes on to describe the difficulties with staying with so many people and how they were caught and taken to concentration camps. Anne Frank left a great insight into the Holocaust. She wrote a fantastic book that was able to describe the persecution of the Jews. The Diary of Anne Frank told of how Jews were ordered to leave their homes and go into concentration camps. They were segregated because of their Jewish backgrounds. Mr. Frank reviewed the diary and selected passages, keeping in mind constraints on length and appropriateness for a young-adult audience. He also left out certain passages that he considered unflattering to his late wife and the other residents of the annex. When Mr. Frank died in 1980, the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, inherited the copyright to the diary. A new, complete edition, which restored the passages Mr. Frank left out of the original edition, was published in 1991 (JWA). Lastly, Anne Frank left a great legacy and testament behind. Of the eight people who were in hiding only Otto Frank survived. When the German police raided the hiding place they scattered the pages of the diary on the floor. They were collected by Elli Vossen and Miep van Santen and handed to Otto Frank upon his return to Amsterdam. Anne's diary, originally published as Het Achterhuis, it will be valuable to many readers for various reasons. The least of these is the story of a young girl growing up under and coming out on her own. She described the generation gap between the adults and their silly fights. She told about her somewhat distant relationship with her mother and the close one with her father. Today the house in Prinsengracht is an international youth center known as the Anne Frank House. There are Anne Frank centers devoted to her memory in several places, including Philadelphia and New York City (Clinton2) Today, true respect for our neighbors and fellow citizens is disturbingly absent. Anne Frank's story teaches us that such respect is the prerequisite for a society in which everyone feels secure. This respect will ensure that the civil liberties on which this country was founded are protected for everyone. We need educational programs that teach students to consider all other people, irrespective of their ethnic descent or beliefs, as individuals (Clinton2). In conclusion Anne Frank went through many obstacles in her life. She gave a human face to the victims of the Holocaust. Anne Frank explained the hard times that were faced to the Jews in the holocaust. In my opinion she would be my female role model because she is a symbol of strong women that made it through most of the holocaust. Anne Frank influenced people by being courageous, a great literary author, and for leaving a great insight into the Holocaust. She was a young woman who was not afraid to write down what she was experiencing during the Holocaust. She wanted to leave behind a piece of her that would tell about the tragedies she was experiencing (SparksNotes Editors). The Diary of Anne Frank is still one of the most read books besides the Bible. When Otto Frank eventually began to read his daughter's diary, he was astonished. He said to Miep Gies, "I never knew my little Anne was so deep" (Irey). He also remarked that the clarity with which Anne had described many everyday situations brought those since-forgotten moments back to him vividly. Anne Frank's story has become symbolic of the scale of Nazi cruelty during the war, a fresh reminder of Jewish persecution under Adolf Hitler, and a dire warning of the consequences of persecution. Anne Frank influenced people by being courageous, a great literary author, and for leaving a great insight into the Holocaust. The Diary of Anne Frank is a wonderful book. Anne Frank is a very important influential person in the world today. She stood up for what she believed in kept on believing in it (Covil). Anne Frank stated in her book, “I sometimes wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I’m Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good, plain fun.” Frank wanted to live a life where she would not be judge by the character of her religion or her family background (Frank164) Works Cited Clinton, Hillary Rodham. "Remarks by the First Lady, Elie Wiesel Humanitarian Awards” New York City. Dec. 4, 2000. Covil, Grayson. “Anne Frank’s Legacy.” Scholastic. Dec. 15, 2012 http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/anne-franks-legacy Irey, Kathy. “Anne Frank: Courageous Teen.” History’s Women. Dec. 14, 2012. http://historyswomen.com/moregreatwomen/AnneFrank.html Frank, Anne. Eleanor Roosevelt (Introduction). Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. and B.M. Mooyaart (translation). Bantam, 1993. Pp. 1-283. Jewish Women's Archive. "This Week in History - Dramatization of Anne Frank's diary broadcast on the radio." Dec. 17, 2012. http://jwa.org/thisweek/dec/14/1952/anne-frank SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Diary of a Young Girl.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 13 Dec. 2012.