Anne frank - Biography

Biography of Anne Frank

1. Anne Frank
Anne Frank always dreamed of becoming a published writer, and that is what she
became. This, however, came with a price. The reason Anne’s diary was published was
because it was about her life in hiding.
Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfort, Germany. She and her
family were Jewish, so when Anti-Jewish decrees were made across Germany, Anne’s
family decided to move. They moved to Amsterdam in 1933 because they knew that Jews
were treated as equals in Holland and the Netherlands. Also, Otto Frank (Anne’s Father),
had a jam business there.
When Anne was 13, she received a diary for her birthday. She named her diary,
“Kitty,” and wrote in it every day. During this time, World War II was occurring. Adolf
Hitler, who initiated World War II on September 1 1939, planned to kill all Jewish
society because he thought that they were so inferior to him that they were not even
considered people. Because of this, on July 6, 1942, Anne and her family went into
hiding in a place called “The Secret Annex.”
The Secret Annex was a hiding place in an office building that belonged to Otto
Frank’s jam company. But, the Frank family weren’t the only occupants. There were four
other people living in the Secret Annex, which made eight in all. These people were Fritz
Pfeffer, and Hermann, Auguste, and Peter Van Pels. There were also people who helped
the occupants of the Secret Annex. This meant getting them food and water. It also meant
keeping a secret. No one could know about the people living in the Secret Annex.
Apparently, one of the helpers couldn’t keep a secret because on August 4, 1944, the
people living in the Secret Annex were found and arrested by Hitler’s soldiers. They were
taken to a concentration camp. The person who exposed the occupants of the Secret
Annex was to this day never revealed. Even though this person was never revealed, we
do know that it was one of the helpers who informed other people, because no one else
knew about the Secret Annex.
When the soldiers came and took the inhabitants of the Secret Annex, they also
took or wrecked everything in the Secret Annex, except Anne’s diary. This was made
possible by Miep Gies, one of the helpers. She hid Anne’s diary in a locked desk drawer,
and when the time came, retrieved it.
This is how Anne’s diary came to be a well known book, and how Anne achieved
her dream. Anne, however, did not live to see her book be published. When World War II
finally ended, and Adolf Hitler was finally defeated, Otto Frank thought he and his family
would be reunited and a happy family once again. But he was wrong. He later found out
that his two daughters had died from a sickness called typhus, and that his wife had died
of starvation. Anne died on March 12, 1945, her sister died on March 9, 1945, and their
mother died on January 6, 1945. Otto was very sad, but when Miep gave him Anne’s
diary, Otto’s spirits brightened. After he read the diary, he found out that Anne wished to
become a published author and he granted her wish. On June 3, 1945, 1,500 copies of
Anne’s diary were made. They were a hit! Soon, everyone wanted to know about the girl
who lived in a “Secret Annex,” and Anne’s dream was accomplished.
Anne Frank may have died when she was 15, but her spirit still lives on with us
and within Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl.”