Today, June 12, is Anne Frank's birthday. She was born on this day in 1929 and is world renown for her diary (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl) which recounts her experiences during the Holocaust. In 1933, the Frank family fled to Amsterdam, where they hid from the Nazis until they were sent to a concentration camp. It was there in 1944 that Anne died from typhus.
I've been thinking about Anne Frank a lot lately, particularly while reading Markus Zusak's The Book Thief , a novel about the experiences of a 12-year old girl in Germany during the Holocaust. The main character of The Book Thief, Liesel, also turns to books and words to give her solace during the difficult times of war. The two books deserve to be on the same bookshelf and would make for a moving and fascinating side-by-side read.
I had forgotten this, but Anne actually received her diary from her parents on this day on her 13th birthday - June 12, 1942. Afterwards, she described the event to her diary "Kitty":
On Friday, June 12th, I woke up at six o'clock, and no wonder; it was my birthday.... Soon after seven I went to Mummy and Daddy and then to the sitting room to undo my presents. The first to greet me was you, possibly the nicest of all. ... I hope I shall be able to confide in you completely, as I have never been able to do in anyone before, and I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me.
Anne's father was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust. When he returned to Amsterdam, he found over 300 pages of his daughter's writing, including her diary about their two years in hiding.
Anne had deep aspirations to be a writer. During her time in hiding, she wrote many stories, fairy tales, and even the beginning of a novel. Click
here for a close-up view of Anne's original writings which are part of the Anne Frank the Writer: An Unfinished Story online exhibition. I just spent some time on this website and I have to say, it's a fitting tribute to a courageous and awe-inspiring girl, human being, and writer.
