Anne Frank

 

Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl that was a victim of the Holocaust, just like so many others. Her story is one of the most well known and has been shared all over the world due to the discovery of her personal journals that she kept while hiding from the Nazis. Her works, comprised of excerpts from her journal and unfinished novel, were published by her father after her death and have become a worldwide phenomenon. In these records she shares her hopes, dreams, and fears. Her journal is her confidante. Anne Frank lived in a secret annex prepared by her father before the Nazi’s invasion of Amsterdam. This annex housed 8 Jews total, and Anne writes about the tension that came from living in such tight quarters with this many people, especially with the constant fear of being discovered. She lived in this annex from July 1942 to August 1944, when the Nazis discovered them. Her dream was to be a writer.

Anne Frank’s dream has come true, though probably not in the way she expected. Her story holds great importance in our world today and has become popular for many reasons. She symbolizes the innocence that was so often stolen during the Holocaust. Her journals give us unique insight into the inner workings of the mind of a child who experienced the Holocaust. We know what she was thinking, feeling, and doing throughout the three years she lived in the Secret Annex. Her thoughts are incredibly deep and poignant for her age but you can still tell that she is a young teenage girl who is going through more than most people will in a lifetime. Anne Frank consistently makes people reflect and think about the horrors that were experienced by so many and inspires us to be the change. She wrote the following thought which proves exactly that: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Anne Frank inspires us to improve the world. She has been able to do that through the ways that she is commemorated. Her words have been published in around 80 languages and people travel from all over to see the place where she hid and wrote her story. This makes me incredibly happy for her because it fulfills her dream, but there is also sadness at the heart of it. Anne didn't live to see how her story touched people and she also didn't live to see the continued persecution of minority groups that continues even today. I think that she would love the symbol that she has become, however I think she would be devastated over the injustices that still exist. She wanted to be remembered and share her story, and in this way she has been commemorated well. However, I wish (and I would venture to say she wishes) that everyone would learn from her and take her words seriously so we could truly change the society we live in for the better.