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Jocelyn Cruz
Clifton
Advanced Language Arts
March 27, 2014
Anne Frank
“Nice people, the Germans! To think that I was once one of them too! No, Hitler took
away our nationality long ago. In fact, Germans and Jews are the greatest enemies in the
world.” These are the words of Anne Frank, who, though she died at fifteen, still does and will
remain known throughout the world as the author of a very detailed and elaborate diary, which
shows us that even young teenagers can have strong opinions and feelings as well as adults.
Who knows what she would have succeeded in doing in her lifetime if she had not suffered the
terrible fate that she did.
Annelies Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her family
consisted of four people: Her father, Otto Frank, her mother, Edith Frank, her older sister,
Margot Frank, and herself. Margot was three years older than Anne, and their father was a
lieutenant in the German army during World War I. But never again would he think of fighting
on the German side after World War II. When things got bad in Frankfurt, Anne’s family
immigrated to Amsterdam, Holland, where Anne spent most of her short life. Anne received
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and started her diary on her thirteenth birthday, and used it to write about her many wishes
and experiences, good and bad, and it went on to be read by many.
Before the high peak in the war, Anne Frank was just a normal girl in Amsterdam. She
went to school, had many friends there (Dutch, German, Jewish, and Christian) and experienced
most everything a non-Jewish teenager experienced. But then, the German army invaded the
Netherlands, and everything changed. Jews were no longer allowed to associate with Germans,
they could not stay out after a certain time of night, and they had to wear a yellow Star of
David, which was a yellow badge reading “Jude.”* Things started getting serious, Anne’s family
started to get nervous, and then, one day, they simply had to move far away from everything.
In her diary, Anne refers to their hiding place as “The Secret Annexe.” In the office
building where Anne’s father worked- and the name speaks for itself- there was a small, houselike annexe that could be accessed by a hidden stairway. It had an attic, an upstairs, and a
downstairs. The many people that helped were Miep and her husband Henk, Mr. Kraler, Mr.
Koophuis, and Elli. These people made sure that the ones in hiding were looked after and had
human visitation. There were two families, (the Van Daans and the Franks) and one male
dentist (Mr. Dussel). The Van Daans had a son named Peter, who was almost the same age as
Margot. During their time in hiding, they were like one big family, but of course, no family can
get along without a few quarrels, or in Anne’s case, quite a lot.
*Jew in the German language
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After two years of hiding in the “Secret Annexe,” Anne’s family and their friends were
betrayed to the Gestapo (probably by someone that worked in the warehouse), and they were
split up, the men in one group, the women in another, to be brought to the concentration camp
in Westerbork. Then, the women were sent to Auschwitz, where they stayed for a while. The
strongest women, including Anne, Margot, and Mrs. Frank, were then sent to Bergen- Belson,
where they spent the last of their lives. Mrs. Frank died, and then Margot went too. Anne did
not receive news of her sister’s death, but soon she sensed it, and died painlessly. She was only
15 years old.
I am very sorry to have to tell you that this is a true story. As we look upon people like
Anne, we wonder how something this terrible could happen to a person, or in the case of the
Holocaust, many people. As painful as it is, it is helpful to look upon history, because learning of
others’ mistakes just might help us not to repeat history again. Anne’s diary makes us see in
bold letters, the horror of the lives of the Jewish during the Holocaust. In those conditions, lots
of people must have wanted to give up, but Anne’s optimism and enthusiasm helped her
through the hard times, and, though she was young at her death, and died from a terrible
disease combined with hunger and starvation, her own thoughts live in our hearts and will
continue to live on for ages.
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Submission Form
CONTESTANT NAME: Jocelyn Cruz
CONTESTANT’S EMAIL OR PHONE NUMBER: [email protected]
CONTESTANT’S CITY AND STATE: Selah, Washington
GRADE: 5th
SCHOOL NAME: SCHOOL ADDRESS: 1401 W Fremont Selah, WA 98942
TEACHER’S NAME: Lorri Clifton
TEACHER’S EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
AGREEMENT: I have read and understand the rules and regulations of this contest and I understand that the
Holocaust Center will not return my entry. I also understand that the Holocaust Center reserves the right to
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Contestant Signature (type name if submitting by email/electronically):
________Jocelyn_Cruz___________________________________
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