Anne Frank

Anne Frank is one of the best known Holocaust victims. Anne, born Annelies Marie Frank on June 12, 1929, was a Jewish girl from Germany. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands in World War II, her family and four of her friends went into hiding in Amsterdam. The group became trapped in Amsterdam as the Nazi invasion continued into the Netherlands.

In July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in an office building. This seclusion lasted for two years, until the group was betrayed. They were captured and taken to concentration camps where all died except her father, Otto Frank. He returned to Amsterdam after the war ended, and upon his return, found that Anne had kept a diary that had been preserved.

Anne Frank received the diary as a gift for her thirteenth birthday. The first entries in the diary depicted the lifestyle of a typical girl--school, friends, boys, family. The entries, however, soon turned to focus upon the effects of the German occupation as she chronicled the events we now know were common to all Jews. As a teenager, Anne created an intimate and hands-on description of existence under the hand of Nazi occupation.

Through the efforts of Otto Frank, Anne's diary was published in 1947, giving the world access to the innermost thoughts, fears, and events that the Jews endured at the hands of the Germans. It provides insight into the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust, as well as the continual hope of the Jewish people. The voice of one young lady speaks for the millions who lost their lives in the Holocaust simply because of their heritage and faith.