The Story of Anne Frank
You probably know her name, and chances are you know about her diary, but what exactly was it about the life of Anne that made her, (and her diary) so enduring?
Anne was born in Europe and grew up during the rise of the Nazi Party – a political party that played a significant role in the occurrence of World War II and who had a particular focus on persecution of people of the Jewish faith.
As Anne was Jewish, her family were forced to go into hiding to escape the Nazi Party. For two years, Anne, her family and some friends hid in a small apartment behind a secret wall in her father’s factory.
Imagine being 13 years old, in hiding with your family. Imagine spending two years living in a hidden room with no contact with the outside world, never allowed to go outside and never allowed to make noise in case your secret hideout is discovered. Oh and no television, no ipads, no phone.
Anne only had her diary for company which she wrote in each day.
The diary therefore is significant as it is one of the few ‘first hand’ sources of information – in that it was written as history happened. It’s also written from the unique view point of a young girl, making it interesting, insightful and easy for other young girls to understand what the war was truly like.
To find out more, this video is a really great version of her story:
Otherwise for slightly younger viewers here is an animated version: