I had forgotten how reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl affected me when I was a young girl. When I first read Anne’s story, I’m pretty sure that I was a couple of years younger than she was when she first started her diary at the age of 13. At the time that I read the book, I had yet to learn about WWII in my school classroom, so it was difficult for me to understand why she and her family were being hidden away in a “Secret Annex” for such a long time. However, Anne was a very smart girl, and she described with great clarity what was going on in her world—filling me in on what I didn’t know. I remember feeling very sad for a long while after I read her story.
Reading this book again as an adult, I am overwhelmed with the strength and maturity that Anne possessed. At such a young and vital age, she was forced into stark living conditions, was in constant fear of being discovered, and had no contact with the outside world except for a small radio and the courageous people who took care of her daily needs. She handled it unbelievably well.
Anne was nothing less than a brilliant writer. In her diary, she was able to describe her feelings about her parents and the other members of the Secret Annex with honest emotion and bits of wittiness. She dreamed of being a journalist when the war was over, and hoped to have some of her stories published once she was free. Little did she know that her diary would one day be turned into the largest selling non-fiction book after the Bible. In her own words, she writes:
“I know I can write. A few of my stories are good, my descriptions of the Secret Annex are humorous, much of my diary is vivid and alive, but… it remains to be seen whether I really have talent.”
Anne Frank writing in her diary April 5, 1944.
After finishing this book yesterday, I wanted to find out more information about what happened to Anne after she was taken from the Secret Annex. I was thrilled to find this Web site, www.annefrank.org, a site containing detailed information and photos about Anne’s life before, during, and after her two years in hiding. There’s so much information there, that I’m still sorting through it all. And I also discovered that the building in which Anne hid (in Amsterdam) has been turned into a museum. Actually, it has been a museum since 1960, but as I said, I just found out! Hmm…now I’m wondering if I can fit in a side trip to the Netherlands while I’m in Germany?
Regardless of whether I make it to the museum or not, I have been deeply touched by Anne’s story, and during my upcoming travels, I will think of her and the many, many people whose fates were similar to hers.
That’s one of my favorites, too. For a view of the “other side of the coin” you should read “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. It’s the story of a little German girl and the hardships she and her family experienced. I had never given much thought to what it was like for the Germans until I read that book. I thought of them all as evil Nazis. Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong.
After I read “The Book Thief” I wanted to encourage all schools to add it to their curriculum to be read after “The Diary of Anne Frank” to give kids a more well-rounded picture of what it was like during that horrible time in history.
I think it would be awesome if you could fit in a side trip! Please take me with you if you do! But I must warn you, I could only view the first 2 panels of the Vietnam Memorial before I broke down, sobbing my eyes out… So I will bring lots of tissues!
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I think what is startling most about Anne is her normalness. Yes, she could write, but she fought with her mothers and flittered with the boy in the annex (Peter?) and she daydreamed.
I’ve been to Anne’s house. I even broke a rule — though I did not know it was a rule — and took a photo of the annex entrance hidden behind the bookcase. And you can see where her desk was, and they’ve kept all the things she hung on her walls. It is all so amazing. Before you do the tour you MUST watch a movie about the rise of Neo-nazis in Europe. MUST! You can’t go in if you don’t watch the movie. Fair enough.
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Anne Frank was an amazing person. Thanks for an inisightful post. I like your site!
Beth Fehlbaum, author
Courage in Patience, a story of hope for those who have endured abuse
http://courageinpatience.blogspot.com
Chapter One is online!
Beth Fehlbaum’s last blog post..Courage in Patience, a story of hope for those who have endured abuse, releases Sept. 1, 2008!
Awesome website! I, too, was always intrigued by Anne’s story after I finished reading it. It always made me sad that she died of illness while captive…I kept thinking how if she had just survived that, she would have had a brilliant career and we would have known more of her story. But, there is a reason behind everything and maybe we aren’t meant to know…it’s more of a lesson when you have to figure out your own meaning. Thanks for the thought provoking post Lulu!
I love reading books at different times in my life and seeing how my reactions change. I haven’t read Anne Frank’s Diary since I was young either. Perhaps it’s time to give it a re-read.
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I reread this book a few years ago and went on a wild rampage of learning more about Anne Frank. That girl had grace.
As a young girl I was so ..I can’t find the right word…w/ Anne Franke.. I read and reread the novel..I watched anything and everything on TV about WWII and the war in Europe. In about the 6th grade we learned more about the Allies and Axis in Social Studies.. I was HOOKED..
I started my own diary because of her influence…and I actually think I still blog because of it. My diary started off Dear Mellisa..since that would be my daughter’s name if I ever had one (I was 12).
When I was in Amsterdam the LINE to get in Anne Franke’s house was around the block. They said it was a 3 hour wait..I only had one day in the city…we did a tour of the diamond place then they said we had until 11pm…and had to meet our bus.. so I chose to go to a “coffee shot”…cause well hell…it was Amsterdam.
I STILL can’t believe that that was my decision…but I figured that I would go back again some day and hopefully the wait wouldn’t be 3 hours.
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Dear LuLu,
I, too, read the “Diary of Anne Frank” during my school years, and saw the movie later. It is a story/documentary that I have never forgot. The movie was on TV just a couple of months ago and was great.
I think I’m going to have to re-read this now.
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While I haven’t read her book in what might be decades (good grief I’m getting old), her writing still haunts me. I can recite passages and still picture the images she painted with words. If she had lived longer, she certainly would have become one of the greatest authors of all time. In some ways, she did.
I saw the movie and loved it but can’t find the same movie I saw to show it to my kids. I’m still looking lol
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It is truly amazing to think about how many people in the world read this book and how it influenced people’s lifes. I have read it as a teenager myself and still retain a ver clear memory o it to this day (which, sadly, isn’t the norm for many of the books I have read that long ago).
I have also visited the Anne Frank Museum in amsterdam a few years back (the line of people waiting to get in there is always that long, but it’s worth the wait). It is damn hard to understand how anybody could live that long is such cramped quarters. The rooms are tiny and to hink that there were several people living in there is just mindboggling.
Also, I can only second the recommendation of “The Book Thief”. I read the book only recently and loved it to bits.
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That book touched me as a kid too. I would love to see the museum! That would be awesome!
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This book is an absolute CLASSIC. I read it years ago as a child. In fact, I think it should be mandatory reading for every child, especially in junior high/high school.
Another novel I found to be inspirational is by Cheryl K. Tardif, a Canadian author. Her novel Whale Song made me feel like I was back in school. It has emotional themes of bullying, racism, assisted death, tragic loss and then positive themes of forgiveness, redemption and hope.
I believe one reviewer compared Whale Song to some of Blume’s work. I agree.
Here is the author’s site: http://www.whalesongbook.com
Best,
JB
So… how are all of Lulu’s other readers doing? Just dropped in to say hi to all of you…
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You’ve been gone so long. When are you coming back?
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Haven’t been by in awhile…haven’t been in the blog state of mind for awhile. I wanted to comment on your previous post but it wouldn’t let me! I just wanted to say I relate to your anti-economics attitude. Next to statistics hands down the worst series of courses micro and macro. Yuk! Yawn! I once had an industrial economics class taught by an Indian man who barely had a grasp on English. I never understood a word he said…needless to say I ended up dropping it.
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