Life of Anne Frank during World War II - Essay Example

Life of Anne Frank during WWII Course Name and Code Institution Name Faculty Name Students Name Student Number Instructors Name December 17, 2008 Introduction Various atrocities and inhuman conditions have made many people to suffer. Many people have to pass different life situations that maybe adverse and they develop ways to remember them after the incidents. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze the life of Anne Frank and her diary. It brings out clearing her life in Netherlands, the Secure Annex and the concentration camps. It further discusses the people who shaped her life. Anne’s life in Netherlands and Amsterdam The family of four (Anne, Otto, Edith and Margot) lived in assimilated and liberal Jews community when they were in Frankfurt. The children grew up in a community that had Protestant, Catholics and Jewish friends. After the election in which Hitler and Nazi Party won, they knew of the eminent danger that they were exposed to. Edith and the children moved to Edith’s mother place while Otto stayed back before moving to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, he (Otto) worked in a fruit company and the rest of the family joined him later. The children attended school where they excelled. At the school, Margot liked arithmetic while Anne showed interest in writing and reading (Muller 13). Later, Otto started a second company that he called Pectacon. At nearly the same time stringent rules were in place that monitored how Jews operated. It resulted in Otto transferring the shares of the company to his friends. The family was living comfortable because they had enough income from the companies. The conditions that were set by the government forced the children (Anne and Margot) to be moved to Jewish schools. The family had to relocate to a hiding room that was located in Amsterdam’s canals. The family had to wear many layers of cloth when they were moving because rules prohibited large movements and especially if associated with luggage. The new home was called a Secret Annex – Achterhuis in which it had two small rooms, toilet and bathroom. The family friends supplied them with necessities and updates of the external environment. In the same year 13 July, the van Pels’ family joined them. Anne’s Life from her Dairy Anne Frank lived in the time of World War II. This was the time that Hitler was the ruler and with other population, especially the Nazi’s hated the Jews - a community that Anne originated. The Nazi’s saw that the Jews were not healthy, were impure, and were supposed to be removed from the community. Thus, the Nazi planned to kill all Jews so that Europe could be ‘clean’. Hence, the Jews hid including Frank’s family. Thus, the diary of Anne Frank was written at this time when she was in hiding at the secret annex. Anne was born to Otto Frank and Edith Frank on June 12, 1929, a younger sister to Margot Frank who lived in Frankfurt, Germany. Anne was outspoken and energetic compared to her sister who was quiet and polite. When Hitler was elected has the leader, they knew the risks that they were exposed to and were forced to relocate to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, the girls joined school and made many friends until the time when the Nazi’s took over Amsterdam. Again, Frank’s family was exposed to danger. Anne was able to write the diary when she was in the secret annex. She knew that journals, which were written at the time of war, could be published into books after the war. This made Anne to edit and revise the diary, which contained stories of the friends and family. In the diary, Anne said that she was close to her sister but hated her mother. She further explains how she felt about her friends especially the van Pels children. Thus, the diary was full of her beliefs, feelings and personal details. Furthermore, she said that she was good but the world was bad and all people were gorgeous. Additionally, the diary had many quotes revolving around how she viewed the world. For example, one quote says that it is important to think of the good things rather than the bad things that are going on around a person. The aim of these quotes was to comfort the family and her (Frank 16). Her father gave this diary to her in her thirteenth birthday, which in real sense was an autograph book. Her earlier writings revolved in the mundane family life and various changes that she experienced after the German occupation in Netherlands. She wrote the restrictions that were impacted by the German, which included the restrictions to the movies; a sector that she liked most. Thus, from this analysis, Anne was a unique person; her writings were above her age. Her writings were inspiring and motivated many people. Her writings depicted that she was among the many Jews that were forced to hide and work in adverse conditions (Muller 25). Betrayal of Otto Family and Friends An informant betrayed Anna and her friends to the Nazi’s on August 4, 1944. The eight occupants of the house were living in Prinsengracht 263, where they were ambushed and taken to captivity. The arrest was not by chance, but it was attributed to an informant or a betrayer. The betrayer has never been known but there are certain suspects (Beech and Frank 69). One of the suspects was Willem van Maaren who was a warehouseman. His funny deeds within the rooms made him to be suspected. He frequently enquired about the closed rooms, he participated in petty thefts and small traps at night to reveal whether there are movements. Moreover, the close relationship with the arresting officer Gestapo made him to be suspected. He was handed the building keys when the two families were arrested. Lena van Bladeren-Hartog was another suspect and was the wife of Lammert Hartog who was Maaren’s assistant. Lena knew that people were living in the building due to the large supply of bread and milk. Van Maaren told Lammert that the people who were hiding were Jews. Nevertheless, she was cleared through investigations that took place concerning Anne Frank betrayal. Tonny Ahlers was another suspect who was a petty criminal and an informant of Amsterdam Gestapo headquarters. This is attributed to the blackmail that Ahlers attempted to Otto after the war. It is believed that Ahlers confessed that he had betrayed the people who lived in the Secret Annex. There wasn’t enough evidence resulting in him been cleared. They were moved to the Auschwitz concentration camp where the people were separated in terms of men and women. Thus, Otto Frank was separated from the family. Anne was lucky because she was fifteen and three months because children who were below fifteen years were taken to the gas chambers. The women were used as slave workers and they stayed in overcrowded barracks. Edith later died of starvation. Margot, Anne and Auguste van Pels were moved to Bergen-Belsen where the population was high and common diseases. Anne and Margot died of typhus epidemic. All other people who were in the Secret Annex died except Otto Frank. Frank’s Family in the Concentration Camp After they were found in the Secret Annex, the family was moved to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Otto was separated from the rest of the family. Margot, Anne and Edith were made slave laborers hauling rocks while during the night were crammed into crowded rooms. Anne’s confidence and gregarious nature ensured that she received extra rations that she distributed to Margot and Edith. Diseases invested the camp; scabies was rampant and Anne and Margot were infected and were moved to infirmary. This made Edith stop eating and saved food that she later passed to the daughters through a hole in the infirmary wall (Beech and Frank 68). When more than 8,000 women including Margot and Anne were moved to Bergen-Belsen, Edith was left behind and she died of starvation. Margot became ill and was confined to her bunk, Auguste van Pels and Anne took care of Margot. Margot fell from the bunk and she died because of the shock. After a short time, typhus epidemic killed Anne. Jewish Treatment in the Concentration Camps The concentration camps were built for people who had different ideologies and racial opponents. The camps were built in many parts of Europe and were supposed to cleanse the communities from people who were perceived to be sociologically unfit. There were about 100 concentration camps in Europe. The conditions in the concentration camps were inhuman and there were high rates of death (Gilbert 17). The duties of the people in the concentration camps were to work. There lives were worthless to the camp commanders, guards and the SS. The prisoners who were not able to work were killed while those who were able were overworked. They were forced to work for many hours in adverse weather and beatings from the guards. Most deaths resulted from exposure to adverse weather and exhaustion while others died due to starvation and malnutrition. Moreover, common deaths were caused in the hands of the guards. There was no medical care in the concentration camps. The ill and the weak died because of abandonment. Others, especially the children, died because of exposure to barbaric pharmaceuticals and medical experiments that were commissioned by the few doctors. Thus, the aim of the concentrations camp was to kill the people through extermination by work. There were crematoriums in which the guards used to dispose the bodies of the dead people. The camps also doubled up as a transit points for the prisoners (Gilbert 130). Frank Recommendation on Daughters Publications Otto Frank received the diary and after extensive reading and analyzing the dairy, he believed that it was better for the rest of the world to know what happened during the rule of Hitler especially through the view of Anne. Moreover, the aim of the diary from Anne’s perspective was to be published after the war. Thus, it was the role of the father to ensure the dream of his daughter was fulfilled. The dairy was in two parts; part A was the original work while part B was the edited version. Otto Frank edited both copies, replacing family and personal details but maintaining the names that Anne had given to the people in the Secret Annex. The diary was then published and it received varied view from different countries and was embraced well in other countries such as Japan. Conclusion Many Jews families suffered during the rule of Hitler in Europe. Many families were taken into concentration camps and were forced to work. An example of such family is the Otto Franks’ in which there was Anne, Margot ad Edith who was the mother. Anne’s family was forced to relocate and finally settled in a Secure Annex hiding from been taken to the concentration camps. They were later betrayed and taken to concentration camps, where they died leaving behind Otto Frank. Anne and Margot died of disease while Edith – mother, died of starvation. Jews were treated badly in the concentration camps. There was no medication, small food and adverse environmental conditions made life so miserable. The aim of Anne to publish the book after the war made her father to publish it to fulfill the child aim. Works Cited Beech, L. & Frank, A. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Teaching Resources/Scholastic Publishers, 1999. Frank, A. The Diary of Anne Frank. New York: Pan Books Publishers, 1954. Gilbert, M. The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. London: H. Holt Publishers, 1987. Lee, C. The Bibliography of Anne Frank. New York: Viking Publishers, 2000. Muller, M. Anne Frank: The Bibliography. London: Metropolitan Books, 1998. Read More