DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL ANNE FRANK

         

        Being caged in home for almost two years made life dull and propagated fear in the society. Uncertainty and foreboding suffused one’s mind as one scouted for peace and safety. In a similar situation, a 13 year old Jewish girl Anne Frank found comfort in her diary during the Second World War between 1942- 1944. “Diary of a young girl – Anne Frank” is a comprehensive and detailed account of her life and the others who went into hiding in an office building to escape Hitler’s subjugation.

           

       ‘Paper is more patient than man’, that’s how Anne got started with the diary and explicitly described her feelings as if writing to a friend she named Kitty. A few days after Anne got a diary as her birthday gift, her family had to run into hiding off hand as the Jews were brutally tortured by the Nazis. A few loyal friends namely Miep Gies, Mr. Kraler, Mr. Koophuis, Elli filled them in with the details of the war and brought supplies to the family. Furthermore, they were even joined by the Van Daan family and a dentist, Mr Albert Dussel all seeking refuge and cramped in the small office rooms secretively arranged by their friends. Anne named it as ‘Secret Annexe’. In the diary apart from writing about the war, she updates it regularly on teenage whims and problems of growing up. Anne pours her heart out on things she couldn’t confide in with her parents or sister and rants off on squabbles, sensitive issues and everyday business. Though it appears a little bit boring, the book provides an insight into her life and how she develops into an independent woman. Just like the others in the family Anne struggles inside with her emotions but puts on a phlegmatic demeanor to the outside world. What stands out from the diary is her alacrity to study, to read and to write in those solitary times when the world was rife with outrage. She also discusses about the political and economic issues and its consequences bringing in the perspective of a victim apart from those listed in history books. It is quite discernible from reading the book that everyone was gripped with constant fear and everyday was a challenge. Not only were they targeted but their friend’s life was also at stake. Though they encountered with some obstacles like burglars in the warehouse, the hiding group successfully managed to pull through the plan until August 4, 1944 when everything got upended. They were tipped off by an unknown person as the Gestapo (Nazi police officers) dragged Anne and the 7 others out of the Secret Annexe and led them into concentration camps. It was hair’s breadth escape from death for Miep and others. It is heart- wrenching that their strategy turned into a fiasco when Germany was about to lose and victory was almost in the hands of the Allies. Later Miep Gies retrieved Anne’s diary and gave it to her father when he returned after escaping the Germans in 1950.

    

       So the personal diary of this young girl was published with some modifications and went on to become the most widely read book about the holocaust. The book encapsulates the oppression of the Jews in its totality, captures the suffering of millions of children, young and old and paints a vivid yet horrifying picture of the Second World War in its own style.  Anne Frank died in a concentration camp, she was barely fifteen! But she lives on through her diary that manifests that horrors of war cannot destroy human spirit for its invincible. It conveys a message that it matters to have once voice heard no matter how small it is and espouse the cause of non-violence and peace.  It is a quick and interesting read if you want to know more about the holocaust and history.