Anne Frank & the Holocaust
“How and why did Anne Frank perceive the Holocaust in her diary? Was her diary an accurate representation of what was happening?”
Annelies Marie Frank, born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany, fled Nazi persecution of Jews and went into hiding for two years alongside her family and four others. She received her diary on the 12th of June, 1942 stating: “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” Through her diary, Anne at the age of thirteen to fifteen, matures quickly at a time where fear became an emotion Jews knew all too well. With the fear of being discovered, being arrested and deported,…show more content… Freedom of Jews, including Anne and her family, was severely restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees. Jews over the age of six were forced to wear a Yellow Star of David with the word “Jew” written on it as means of identification. The star was used to identify Jews along with humiliating them and marking them out for discrimination and segregation. According to Anne, Jews were forbidden to use trams and cars, even of their own. They were required to do their shopping between 3pm to 5pm and could not be out on the streets between 8pm to 6am. They were forbidden to do simple, fun things such as going to theatres, cinemas and other forms of entertainment while also being forbidden to use any athletic fields. Jews were also required to attend Jewish schools. “You couldn’t do this and you couldn’t do that, but life went on. Jacque always said to me, ‘I don’t dare do anything anymore, ‘cause I’m afraid it’s not allowed.’” Anne wrote in the diary entry. Over 2,000 Nazi anti-Jewish decrees passed from 1933 to 1945, starting with public burning of Jewish books and anti-Nazis in 1933 to Nuremburg Laws denying Jews many basic civil rights in 1935, Jews being excluded from theatres, cinemas, concerts, etc, in 1938 as Anne mentions in her diary entry, Jews’ passports stamped with the letter “J” in the Autumn of
