Anne Frank, born Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany. Even though the Franks were Jewish, they lived in an assimilated community of Jewish and non-Jewish citizen of various religions.
Elections in Frankfurt were held on March 13, 1933 for the municipal council, and Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party won. Immediately after antisemitic protests began, and the Franks feared of what would happen to them if they stayed in Germany. Within a few months Anne, Her mother, and sister went to her grandmother’s in Aachen, Germany. Anne’s father, Otto, remained in Frankfurt but soon moved to Amsterdam where he was offered to start a company. The Franks were among 300,000 Jews who fled Germany between 1933 and 1939.
Otto Frank found an apartment on the Merwedeplein (Merwede Square) in the Rivierenbuurt neighborhood of Amsterdam. Soon Anne, her mother, and sister arrived in Amsterdam and the girls were enrolled in school. Anne’s sister, Margot, demonstrated abilities in arithmetic while Anne’s ability was writing. She was constantly writing. The two girls were very different as Margot was well-mannered, reserved, and studious, while Anne was outspoken, energetic, and extroverted.
May of 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands and the occupation government began to persecute Jews by implementing of restrictive and discriminatory laws; mandatory registration and segregation soon began. The Frank girls were forced to attend only Jewish schools; they were enrolled at the Jewish Lyceum.
On her thirteenth birthday, June 12, 1942, Anne received an autograph book from her dad. She decided to use it as a diary. She began writing immediately. Although her entries began as mundane she soon described what had been taking place in regards to the lives of the Dutch Jewish population.
When Margot in July, 1942, received a call-up notice to report to a work camp, Otto decided the family would go into hiding. The family moved into their hiding place, a secret annex. As they did not want to call attention to themselves by seen carrying luggage, they each wore many layers of clothing. Also, they walked several kilometers as Jews were not allowed to use public transportation.
Shortly after the Franks were joined by a few other people. Anne wrote she was happy there were new people to talk but soon because of such tight quarters, tensions grew.
In the morning of August 4, 1944, a tip from an informer, all who lived in the secret annex were arrested. As they were arrested while they were in hiding, they were considered criminals and sent to the Punishment Barracks for hard labor.
Then on September 3, 1944, the group departed for a three day journey from Westerbork to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Anne’s mother, Edith, died from starvation.
In March 1945, a typhus epidemic spread through the camp with 17,000 prisoners dead. It is not known what Anne Frank actually died from or when. It seems that Margot died and Anne died a few days later. Their exact date of deaths were not recorded, but it was only a few weeks prior to the British troops liberated the camp on April 15, 1945. After the liberation, the camp was burned to prevent any further spread of disease. Anne and Margot were buried in a mass grave at an unknown location. It was estimated of the 107,000 Jews deported from the Netherlands from 1942 and 1944 only 5,000 survived.
Otto Frank survived his internment in Auschwitz. He returned to Amsterdam after the end of the war. He attempted to locate his family but soon found out they had all perished.
When Otto returned home he found Anne’s diary and with his determination it was published in 1947. Since then it has been published in several languages. It was first published in English in 1952 as, “The Diary Of A Young Girl.” The autograph book given to Anne on her thirteenth birthday, chronicles her life from June 12, 1942 to August 1, 1944.
Anne was one of the most talked about Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Anne died to the best guess in early March of 1945.
As a young girl I read the book, “The Diary Of A Young Girl.” Even though I was raised in a religious home, I did not know the history and why the Jews were so hated.
After reading the bible I soon discovered why the Jews were so hated. We see in Deuteronomy 7:6, ” For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”
Because of the fall of man, God planned from the beginning to have our Savior born into a very small race of people called the Jews. When reading the Old Testament you can see how God created, distinguished, and preserved the Jews.
God’s ultimate goals was to have His Son, Jesus Christ, our Messiah born through the Jews as our savior. Our Messiah was born through the line of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Then we see in 2 Samuel 7, Jesus Christ came from the line of King David.
Not only the Jews but the entire world is aware that they are God’s chosen people. It is not surprising that there are those out there who are jealous of God’s partiality to the Jews.
We must pray for the peace of Israel as we see in Psalm 122:6, “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem; ‘May They prosper who loves you.'”
We are continually in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem as stated in the bible. Israel is our “sister” country and we find that what ever happens to Israel soon happens to the United States.
This is a great Blog for posting your faith to other believers..
