chapter24Estrada

Anne Frank



Annelies Marie Frank, more commonly known as Anna Frank, can be considered the most discussed and remembered jewish victim of the Holocaust. She was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany. Growing up, Anne, her parents and Margot, her sister that was three years older, lived in Germany as born citizens. They lived the average German- Jewish lifestyle and belonged to the wealthier section of middle class. In 1919, when World War I ended, Germany was going through a rough time and was forced to struggle through the 20's. Hitler in this time was starting to become more and more popular throughout Germany and the world by pulling Germany out of their depression and leading the Nazi party and becoming the head political force. By the year 1933, Hitler had won control over the government. Between 1933 to 1939, Anne and her family were one of 300,000 Jews who fled Germany. Later Anne would write in her Journal, "I can remember that as early as 1932, groups of Storm Troopers came marching by, singing, 'When Jewish blood splatters from the knife,'" This shows that by the time that Hitler really started to have power the idea of Jews became more and more violent. The Franks moved to Amsterdam in search for a place that will give them peace and be free from the __Anti- Semitism German__y. Throughout the 30s, the Franks were able to live a relatively happy life. The tables turned on them by September 1st, 1939 when Hitler and the German Nazi's created enough conflict to ignite WWII. The Netherlands were invaded on May 10th, 1940 and were defeated after only a couple of days. From this point forward, anti- Jewish ideals were forced into Netherlands. All Jews were forced to wear a yellow star of David and obey specific rules like having curfew, or forbidden to own a business. On June 12, 1942, Anne's parents gifted her with a red checkered diary for Annes 13th birthday. In this Journal Anne would describe her experience throughout the WWII. Not long after Anne was summoned to work at a Nazi camp in Germany. This resulted in having the Franks go into hiding. They hid in the back of the building of Otto's business (techniqually his christian friends ran it but he was the boss in the background). They hid for two years never stepping out once. A family that was close to the Franks ended up hiding with them as well. When there were people in the building they had to remain silent to not give away there positing. They called this hiding place the, Secret Annex. To pass the time, some would play card games, but Anne would pass time writing in her journal. Near the end of the two years Anne wrote in her journal, "I've reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die," August 4th 1944 was the last day that they hid because on that day they were captured and shipped by passenger train to Camp Westerbork in the Netherlands. They were not their long because almost a month later they were sent to Auschwitz death camp in Poland. When they arrived, Otto (men) was separated from the rest of his family (women). He never saw his family again. Annes mom did not last long and fell ill which led to her death in January of 1945. Anne and Margot were sent to Bergen- Belsen concentration camp in Germany. The sisters died within a day of each other with Typhus fever. Anne was 15 years old. Otto did end up surviving the Holocaust. He eventually returned home to Amsterdam in search for family. Instead, he found the journal of Anne Frank that had been recovered. He ended up publishing her journal on June 25th, 1947. It has been translated into 67 different languages and transformed into movies and plays. The original journal to this day is displayed in a Museum in the Netherlands, in 2010, her house was put also on display as Anne Franks house that was put on display to show where her family hid and where they were forced to suffer during the war. Many high school students are forced to read her books because it is a rare primary source of a Jewish persons experience during the Holocaust.

Citations

//Wikipedia //. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. . //Bio.com //. A&E Networks Television. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. .