Ann Frank is one of my heroes

By Vanesa Larsen

North Sanpete Middle School, seventh grade

12-16-2020

Anne Frank was just a normal 10-year-old girl living in Amsterdam before the Nazis took over. Anne Frank was not in the best position then because she was a Jew.

Adolf Hitler despised Jews. Hitler said they were all rotten and evil. He said that this “race” needed to be exterminated. Like bugs. How can anyone say such things about another human being? It makes me sick.

I think the worst part is that people believed him. And he gained followers. Soon, he had an army and was occupying many parts of the world.

Back to Anne. Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 to Edith and Otto Frank. Anne had an older sister named Margot who was three years older. They practiced the Jewish religion. Anne spoke German, Dutch, and a small bit of English and French. (Wow!)

Anne loved to write, but didn’t usually share her stories. On her 13th birthday, she was given a small, red and white checkered diary. She began writing in it immediately. Every entry started with, “Dear Kitty.” She wrote about school and boys.

But life in Amsterdam got much more difficult. Soon, Jews were segregated from Germans. They weren’t allowed cars or bikes. Stores run by Jews were vandalized. Windows were broken and money taken. And there wasn’t much they could do about it. No movies, no swimming. The Nazis were taking over.

Anne and her family went into hiding on July 6, 1942 because it was getting too dangerous for Jews. They hid in Otto’s work in the annex.

On the 13th of July, the Van Pels joined them—Herman, the father; Auguste, the mother; and Peter, their son. Peter and Anne fell in love about a year later, even though Peter was three years older than Anne.

On Nov 17, Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist, joined the Franks bumping the number of people to eight. The people in the annex fought, and Anne longed to be out in the fresh air. They had to keep quiet at all times, since there were workers in the building.

But Anne tried to stay positive. She wrote, “I don’t think of all the misery but of all the beauty that still remains.”

After two hard years in hiding, they were found out. Anne was taken to a concentration camp. She was stripped naked, hair was shaven, and a number was tattooed on her arm. Anne Frank died in February 1945 from typhus fever. She would have been 15 years old.

On September 2, 1945, the war ended. The camps were liberated. Hitler killed himself soon after. Anne’s diary was published by her father, Otto, the only survivor of the eight.

Anne Frank was a normal school girl, who went through so much hardship and trial. Anne was branded like an animal and starved. Anne suffered so much! All because she was a Jew. Anne is one of my heroes because she inspires me to write, and she shows me how I can stay positive during hard times.