Can you imagine surviving the Holocaust?  Many people think of Anne Frank when thinking of the Holocaust.  Though Anne didn't survive the Holocaust, her diary did.  You might say that in a way she survived, because her diary discussed everything that she went through.  Anne went through a lot during her short lifetime.  

 
Anne was born on June 12,1929 in Frankfurt am Main, which is in Germany.  She was the daughter of Edith and Otto Frank.  Anne was the second and youngest daughter of the Franks'.  Her older sister was Margot.  During Edith Frank's lifetime they never had anymore kids beside Anne and Margot.  

 
In 1933, Hitler rose to power, so the anti-Jewish National Socialist Party led by Hitler did also.  After that, Hitler made life for the Jews extremely difficult and almost unbearable.  He did this because he believed the Jews were responsible for losing WWI.  He also said that they exploited the horrible economic situation to their advantage.  The Franks thought there would be no future for themselves in Germany.  So, after this had started Otto Frank decided that they would be moving to Amsterdam in 1933 because of the Nazis.  Otto Frank went there first and then the rest of them followed him later.  Since, Anne was at a young age she could barely remember her old house, so she soon adjusted to the changes. 

 
About nine to eight years after they had moved Margot received a letter on July 5,1942, stating that she would be needing to report to a "labor camp."  Knowing that Margot was in trouble, they went into hiding the next day on July 6,1942.  They moved into what they called the "Secret Annexe", it was concealed behind a movable bookcase.  This place was located at 263 Prisengracht.  Anne found it fun and exciting at first.  Later though, she found out different because it became very boring.  The Franks weren't the only ones in hiding though,  Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, Peter, and Mr. Dussel joined them, so the place got even smaller.

 
While, in the Annexe they were not to make a move or make any noises between 8:30AM to 6:30PM.  They did this to resist their fear of someone hearing them.  Yet, they were always in constant fear because of  the sounds and noises.  Sitting there listening to the bombs exploding and shaking the building, hearing sirens that were taking  there friends and family away as the war raged on.  They also could hear gunfire and air raids.  All of this affected Anne, so she would crawl into her father's bed, shaking with nerves and trying to find protection from the sounds and noises.  While  in hiding, they only had a messy, torn-up tin tub to bathe in.  Anne described her life then on July 15, 1944: "It is utterly impossible for me to build my foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being transformed into a wilderness, I feel the suffering of millions.  And yet, when I look up at the sky, I some how feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more."  Even though they were in hiding they still had to keep up with their reading, studies, and other schoolwork.  All though they mainly were bored and scared, that is not all they did, they had fun playing! For fun they would tell jokes and riddles, and sometimes they liked reviewing books they read. Trying to keep fit required them doing a form of exercise called calisthenics.  Calisthenics is an exercise that you can do in a small area, which helps build muscle and stay fit.  Anne described this as: "One day we're laughing at the comical side of life in hiding, and the next day we're frightened, and the fear, tension, and despair can be read on our faces...Let something happen soon, even an air raid.  Nothing can be more crushing than anxiety."  They never set a foot outside while being in hiding.  They were in hiding for 25 months and then the Gestapo found them.

 
Anne wrote about the ones in hiding after getting to know them better including her own family:
- 7 November, 1942-   "I'm Crazy about him.  I model myself after my father, and there's no one in the world I love more."
-27 September, 1942-  "I can understand my friends better than my own mother-too bad!"
--7 November, 1942-  "Margot just happens to be the smartest, the kindest, the prettiest and the best."
-21 September, 1942- "Mr. Van Daan has been as nice as pie to me recently.  I've said nothing, but have been enjoying it while it lasts."
-21 September, 1942- "Mrs. Van Daan is unbearable."
--18 February, 1944- "Don't think I am in love, because I'm not, but I do have the feeling that something beautiful is going to develop between Peter and me, a kind of friendship and a feeling of trust." 
-19 November, 1942- "Just as we thought, Mr. Dussel is a very nice man."
On the day of August 4,1944, they were all caught and arrested. The ones who found them gave the eight of them five minutes to gather their belongings.  They took them to the concentration camps in Holland,  Poland, and Germany.  Anne and her family were first taken to Auschwitz, when there the men and women were separated, so that was the last time Otto Frank saw his family.  A survivor recalls seeing Anne: " I can see her standing at the door and looking down the street as a herd of naked gypsy girls was driven by to the crematory, and Anne watched them go and cried. 

List of the Frank's when caught.

 
Anne cried also when we marched past the Hungarian children who had already been waiting half a day in the rain in front of the gas chambers because it was not yet their turn.  And Anne nudged me and said: "Look, look.  Their eyes..." ' " In October,1944,  Anne and Margot were some of the strongest and youngest women to be moved to Belsen in Germany. Later, after they had been moved, Anne's mother refused to eat and her mind began to wander, so she died on January 6, 1945, in Auschwitz.  Sadly, that was the day before the camp was liberated.

 
Anne and Margot were at Auschwitz a month before being moved to Belsen.  They soon realized there was much sickness, hunger, and dying there.  Anne discovered Belsen was much worse than Auschwitz because there was no organization, no roll call, no food, or water, only the barren!  While there, Anne found one of her friends,  Lies Goosens.  Lies recalls: " ' I waited shivering in the darkness. It took a long time. But suddenly I heard a voice: "Lies, Lies?  Where are you?" " It was Anne, and I ran in the direction of the voice, and then I saw her beyond the barbed wire.  She was in rags.  I saw her emaciated, sunken face in the darkness.  Her eyes were very large.  We cried and cried, for now there was only barbed wire between us, nothing more.  And no longer any difference in our fates.' " " ' I told Anne that my mother had died and my father was dying, and Anne told me that she knew nothing about her father, but that her mother had stayed behind in Auschwitz.  Only Margot was still with her,  but she was already very sick.  They had seen Mrs. Van Daan again only after their arrival here in Belsen. ' "  While, in Belsen Anne and Margot both caught typhus and they both died within a short time of one another in March 1945.  That was only a few weeks before liberation.  A survivor recalls: " ' Anne, who was  already sick at the time, was not informed of her sister's death; but after a few day's she sensed it, and soon afterwards she died, 

 

People lying in gas chambers.

             Jews dead in open pits.

 peacefully, feeling that nothing bad was happening to her."  She wasn't yet 16 years old even.  Out of the eight of them, Otto Frank was the only survivor!

 
Though Anne died we still remember her because before they went into hiding Anne received a diary for her 13th birthday.  Later, when they went into hiding she wrote about the holocaust and her thoughts.  She filled several notebooks during her time in hiding.  Anne became very mature for her age because of everything she went through.  Anne addressed her diary as "Kitty". Later she heard on the radio that after the war, letters and diaries under German occupation might be published.  So she edited and revised her diary.  Anne said, "When I write, I can shake off all my cares."  Anne really enjoyed and loved writing.  When she changed her diary she changed her "characters", or who was in hiding.  She changed her name from Miep Giesto to Anne Van Santen.  Anne's last diary  entry was dated

 

Pages of Anne's diary.

 
   August 1, 1944.  Which, was three days before being arrested.  Anne's diary helped people realize what happened to 6 million Jews when they were killed in the Holocaust.  She helped people understand that such a thing really happened and that it should never happen again.

 
Anne had much bravery and courage.  When she was young her teachers would say she was one who likes attention.  The teachers also said she spoke her mind, and that she was very mature for her age.   They described her as, "a little comedian."  Anne's personality was very courageous and strong!

 
As you can see Anne is a great influence on people's lives.  She helped us understand the Holocaust.  Anne was very intelligent.  She is known throughout the world even though she died at a young age.

 

 

 

Rhiannon Flinn

7th Social Studies

Rossville Jr. High

Holocaust Project

2004

Bibliography