Anne was an average thirteen year-old-girl, slim with dark-brown hair
and intense dark eyes whom was born in Germany. She was very talkative and
would sometimes get in trouble because of her mouth. She is a famous young
girl because of how she was able to write about the Holocaust in her diary.
The holocaust was a horrible period in time, and Anne lived and died during
it. Most of her teenage life, Anne lived in hiding with her family, yet she
still had a positive outlook on life. Along with everything else she came
to represent- high spirits, strong personality, and opinionatedness- Anne
Frank symbolized the power of a book.
Anne and her family lived in Frankfurt, Germany most of her life. Anne
loved the company of her peers and like the attention she got from them.
Also, one of the hobbies Anne loved was going to the movies (Gies, Miep.
1987). A new hobby that soon would make Anne famous was her writing in her
diary. Anne received her diary on her thirteenth birthday from her father.
Anne loved to write and was excellent at it; thus her diary was her best
friend. Other than her diary, she had no real friend. She may have been
flirtatious with boys and talked to girls at school, but they were not
friends she could confide all her thoughts to (Frank, Anne 1952). In her
first entry, she called her diary “Kitty” and said she could confide with
“Kitty” all her thoughts; in sum, the diary is her friend. Shortly after
receiving the diary, Anne and her family, along with four strangers, were
forced into hiding (Brown, Gene 1991).
While being forced inside a secret annex and having to leave -friends,
material possessions and memories- Anne kept high hopes and a positive
outlook of life. She grew up through hard times and was able to keep her
good childhood memories. Anne thought the best possession she was able to
take with her was her memories and diary (Brown, Gene 1992). Anne knew when
she wrote she could shake off all her cares and worries, but one thing she
could not shake off was her spirit. Through all of the ruthless persecution
she endured, her spirit was always high. Ozick wrote; “She was born to be a
writer. At thirteen, she felt her power; at fifteen, she was in command of
it (Ozick, October 6, 1997. Pg.76).” Anne clearly knew the force of what
lay on her pages in her diary (Ozick, October 6, 1997).
Anne was cheerfully exuberant, sharp-tongued and had effervescent wit.
Anne was insatiably curious and always wanted to hear about the arrest and
beatings taking place in the real world. Even though these made her worry,
she took a daily dose of loafing. She would wander from room to room and
climb up and down the stairs, which controlled her anxiety. Occasionally
she did cut loose. At one point she diligently practiced dance steps every
evening and forced her sister Margot to dance with her. During Anne’s two
years in hiding her father Otto Frank tutored her. She was plunged into
learning history, geography, art history Bible studies, French and German
literature. At times Anne became frustrated and felt like quitting, but her
father’s threat to take away her diary frightened her enough to keep
slogging through the work (Covington, Richard, July 2001).
Anne always spoke her opinion and this constantly led to fights,
especially with Edith her mother. She was always overlooked because she was
a child, but she helped children shine through. . Anne tried to accept some
responsibility, but she unafraid to question why women are inferior to men
or why children were not allowed to speak their idea. She was rapidly
maturing and very opinionated. As she became more mature, she became
interested with Peter, one of the strangers hiding with the Franks. Soon
after Anne and Peter’s adolescent feelings were exposed, the secret
residents were captured and arrested (Covington, Richard, July 2001). Anne
was taken to the concentration camp Auschwitz, soon to conceal all
evidences of gassing she was sent away to Bergen-Belsen. In March of 1945
Anne died of typhus just two months before the allies found the
concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
Anne was very truthful in writing her diary and revealed not only her
life, but also the trepidation and turmoil of Jews during the Holocaust.
Her story was truthfully told and was a brilliant piece of literature. In
her diary, she wrote with pace and tone, humor and disappointments,
adolescent behavior and moments of terror. She was a brilliant child who
was able to explain what no other person could. She was not only the bellow
of a Jew in hiding but also the roar of the twentieth century mind (Ozick,
October 6, 1997). Anne wanted to be of use to people who were strangers to
her, and wanted to live after her death. Now she is immortal because of her
literature, and millions were moved because of her diary (Brown, Gene.
1991).
