Anne Frank

Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl born in 1929, was eventually a victim of the horrific Holocaust of World War II. She became famous posthumously when a diary she wrote while in hiding eventually became published. Today, her story has been read by millions of people across the globe.

Anne was the youngest child of Otto and Edith Frank. She had an older sister, Margot. Originally, the family lived in Germany, but when Adolph Hitler became Chancellor, Otto Frank knew he had to do something. He moved his family to Amsterdam to try to keep them safe. In Amsterdam, the family was forced into hiding, along with four other people. Their hiding place—where they would stay for over two years—was a place they called the Secret Annex. The Annex was located inside Otto Frank’s business. Friends of the family helped get them food and supplies and were the only contact they had with the outside world since they could never leave the hiding place.

During their time in hiding, Anne Frank kept a diary. Once her original diary was full, she wrote on any paper she could find. After August 4, 1944, there are no more entries because Anne and her family were found and captured by the Nazis. To this day, no one knows who gave away their hiding place to the Nazis.

Of the eight people who went into hiding, only Otto Frank survived. Anne and her sister died from typhus while being held at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, yet despite her early and tragic death, Anne’s words live on even today. After the war, Otto Frank, with the help of friends, collected Anne’s writings and had them published into a book. Her story has been made into several movies and is also performed as a play. One can be sure that Anne Frank’s story will never be forgotten.