Religion - Anne Frank

Anne Frank is a Jewish teenage girl who became famous through the diary she kept during the time from 1942-1944 when she had to hide in a secret annexe because of the nazis. That made her representative for the suffering of Jewish victims during this time period. It also let her become probably the most famous child of the 20th century. Her personality was described as outspoken, energetic, and extroverted and certainly was a very intelligent and mature girl for her age. In school she always got high marks, especially in reading and writing.

Anne Frank got the notebook in which she kept her diary for her 13th birthday on 12 June 1942 and started writing into it already that day. She continued through the time she had to hide and wrote the last entry on 1 August 1944, three days before the people hiding in the annexe were arrested. Anne was 15 years old by then. Anne saw a friend in her diary, that is the reason why she called it Kitty. In the entries, similar to letters, she told "Kitty" about her feelings, beliefs, and ambitions, subjects she felt she could not discuss with anyone. With the time she also wrote about more difficult matters like her belief in God or the Definition of human nature. The first version of the diary was published by Anne's father Otto Frank, the only survivor of the eight people of the annexe, in June 1947 in the Netherlands.

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany on 12 June 1929. She and her family, her father Otto Frank, her mother Edith Frank-Hollaender and her 3-years older sister Margot were Jewish. In 1934 the Frank family followed to Frank, who had taken a job offer for Opekta Work, a pectin company, the year before, to Amsterdam, Netherlands. In July 1942 Margot Frank recieved the order of the "Central Office for Jewish Emigration" to go to a work camp. That was the catalyst for the Franks to move into the secret annexe.

On 6 July 1942 the Frank family moved into hidden rooms above and behind Opekta's premises, known as the secret annexe. On 13 July1942 they were joined by Hermann van Pels, a Jewish colleague of Otto Frank's, together with his wife Auguste and their 16-year old son Peter. And in November 1942 Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist and friend of the Franks' also moved in. There were a total of six helpers to look after the hidden people. The eight people had to live together on the smallest space 24 hours a day without any chance of escaping. On top came that they couldn't make any noise at all during the working times of Opekta or they would have been discovered.

In the morning of 4 August 1944 the people of the annexe were arrested. Whoever betrayed them was never discovered. All of the eight people were deported into concentration camps. But Anne was separated from most of them. Just her sister Margot and Auguste van Pels were with her when she was finally deported to Bergen-Belsen. In March 1945, just a few weeks before the camp was liberated, Anne and Margot died because of the disease typhus. In the end Otto Frank was the only survivor of the eight people.

Now you know the most important facts about Anne Frank's life I want to explain why she is such an inspiration to me. Anne Frank had an inspiring and amazing personality. She was not just extremely intelligent and I start with her character. Anne had an incredible and strong personality. She was not just very intelligent and congenial but also honest, brave, patient, optimistic and very, very strong. And after all she went through she always stayed herself, knew who she was and what she wanted. Especially for a girl in her teens, what she was, is that something great. Imagine living for two years on smallest space together with the same seven people without getting outside once. It takes an huge amount of patience and optimism not to get despereate. and give up. And Anne didn't even know for sure if she would be able to continue her life normally after getting out of the annexe. Sometimes Anne would hear the sirens at night and couldn't be sure if she herself, her family or friends, wherever they were, would survive this night. To get through all that a person has to be very brave. And just as a reminder again: Anne Frank was a child when all that happened to her. One other really great characterisic of Anne's was her honesty. She said what she thought and if she couldn't say it she wrote it down. But she never dissembled herself, even not to make everything look nicer for herself. To have all these great characteristics and not to lose the in times such as Anne lived through showes how extremely strong she was. A really inspirational character.

Not just Anne Frank's character was inspiring, she also behaved in ways that were very mature and brave for her as a cjild and everybody should take an example in them. The first example comes from Anne's amazingly positive and optimistic character. Anne Frank always saw everything from the bright side and never complained about her faith. She rather said about her first impression of the annexe: "The annexe is the ideal place to hide. It may be damp and lopsided, but there's probably not a more comfortable hiding place in all of Amsterdam. No, in all of Holland!" Or she said she'd prefer the annexe over living free, because it protects her from the danger of the street. And instead of complaining about living hidden she was glad to live in the annexe, because others weren't that lucky to even find a hiding place. Anne never doubted she would get out alive and for for all the plans she had for her own future she kept studying and reading all the time through. Anne Frank was ambitious in the most desperate times and didn't let depression come up. Another example for her inspiring behavior was Anne's un-selfishness. You have to keep in mind that she went through puberty during the time in the annexe. A hard time for every child. And on top of the horrible conditions Anne already had to live in came, that all of the people she lived with, even her own family, complained about her. She would not be as gentle and placid as Margot was or she would behave wrongly was told her again and again. Instead of getting angry or desperate Anne believed in the good in everybody and forgave them. She also regretted her behavior often, even if she hadn't done anything wrong.

There are two main inspirational achievement of Anne Frank, the two biggest wishes of hers finally were fulfilled. The first one was to become a writer or a journalist. For that aim Anne's plan was to publish her diary. She got the idea after hearing a speech of Gerrit Bolkenstein, a member of the Dutch government who wanted to collect eyewitness accounts of the suffering of the Dutch people under the German occupation. So Anne already started rewriting her diary during her time in the annexe. Well, Anne couldn't publish it herself but her father, Otto Frank, remembering her wish did this for her. Anne's work became one of the most read books ever. It was translated into 75 languages and about 35 million copies were sold.

On 4 April 1944 Anne wrote following into her diary: "I want to go on living even after my death." What she meant by that is that she didn't want to become forgotten. And she certainly did not. People read her diary, take inspiration in her and visit the annexe which is an museum today. They want to learn about and remember what Anne Frank went through.

I recommend to everybody to read Anne Frank's diary. Think about what she wrote down. Try to put yourself into her place and imagine if you would be strong enough to act like she did. I'm sure the minority of us could answer that with yes. So remember the points I wrote about and take your inspiration in Anne Frank. Try from time to time to be as strong, brave, honest or positive as Anne Frank was. Work for your dreams and aims and believe in them. Anne Frank gives us the example. That's the way to achieve whatever you wish for and get through the toughest times.

Life in the Secret Annexe

The Death of Anne Frank

Inspirational Character

First Facts:

Inspirational Behaviour

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank

- an inspirational personality -

In my opinion Anne Frank is the most inspirational person I know about. In this presentation I will explain in what way I see the inspiration.

Inspirational Achievements

Who was Anne Frank?

Conclusion