Analysis Of The Major Events And Their Symbolic Meaning In The Diary Of Anne Frank
Introduction
Focusing on the life of a teenage girl of Jewish descent, story of Anne Frank and her diary creates an insight of the life under the German Nazis. Being born in the early twentieth century, Anne Frank was born when the world wars (I &II) were taking place, and living as a Jew in Hitler's Germany was not any good for her and her family’s life. This essay seeks to explain the major events and their symbolic meaning. These events happened prior, during, and after the life of Anne Frank and represent the life of Jews at the time in Europe. Realizing your dreams under the German Nazis was a tough task for the Jews demanding more from the dream holder. Is it arguable Anne Frank defied all odds and realizing her dreams to an extent? This essay seeks to create an insight to what level Anne Frank managed to get to her dreams.
Timeline of the Events
The timeline for the events in Anne Frank's life came in the early of the nineteenth century when she was born. Otto and Edith parents of Anne frank had met four years earlier from the year when Adolf Hitler published his book 'Mein Kampf' (Home: Timeline, 3). A year later after the marriage of Otto and Edith in 1926, Margot Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany(Home: Timeline,5). After the birth of Anne in 1929, Hitler and the Nazis came to power in Germany after the Rent strike in Berlin. Germany was turning to a dictatorship making life not any better for a Jew.
In the year 1942, Anne receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday. She used it normally to write about her life and people around her hence developing as a writer. Unfortunately, the times were harsh for a thirteen-year-old girl in a foreign land since the atrocities were getting intense. Anne's family was planning on escaping the Nazis, and the plans were futile compelling them to hide from the ruthless Nazis for survival. At this time they had to go to the secret Hiding Annex which was seemingly safer. Later on, Germanys' dominance was facing resistance, and in 1943 the Jews were being forced out of Amsterdam. Luckily Anne and her family were in hiding only to be found the following year.
A dull tiding for Anne and her family was starting after the raid by Dutch Police officers on the Secret Annex. After being captured, they were put on transportation to concentration and extermination camps. Surviving death in the camps only came because they could work, but they were separated as a family. Margot and Anne were together but separated from their parents and taken to Bergen-Belsen camp with poor living conditions. A year later, the conditions worsened due to overcrowding and poor sanitation, and the two sisters contacted the infectious disease typhus leading to their demise.
Otto traveled back home after the holocaust that killed six million Jews. After two months, he left for Amsterdam, where he used to live with his family and had his business before the Nazi attacks. A month later, Otto receives a diary from a woman, Miep, who had kept it for Anne, a noble act, after realizing she was dead. Impressed by her daughter's work and deep thoughts, it is logical that he would want to publish it, and in 1947 'The Secret Annex' got published. Thirteen years later, Anne Frank House became a museum as an honor to it for being the hiding house.
Jewish Factor
Being of Jewish descent was a death warrant in such a time. The people in hiding were of or relating to Jewish descent targeted by the German Nazis. The reason for the much hatred and targeting of the Jews was propagation by Hitler's and Nazis' view. The Jews were an economic hazard for the people of Germany, according to them. I would assume that much hatred was presumably the solution to the Germans woes in pursuit of their economic dominance aided by the prevalent Anti-Semitism at the time.
In 1943 seventeen thousand Jews were arrested in the German-dominated Amsterdam. This came after the Germans tried driving out the Jews out of Amsterdam a month earlier. The Dutch police officers were collaborating with the German Nazis in a bid to move Jews out of south Amsterdam where they lived. Jews hunting at the time was by the anti-Semites and opportunists who were having a liking to cause pain to Jews and have them out of Amsterdam. Anne was a victim of the hatred together with her family that had no option other than hiding like all other Jews. Upon being caught, they put them in concentration and extermination camps followed. There was an elevated interest in moving the Jews out of parts of Europe that were German-dominated. The proof of tension between the two, Germans and Jews, is evident in many forms, event after German Nazis surrendered. Decades later, Israel took captive the mastermind of the Holocaust on Jews in Europe in 1960 was proof that the atrocities were deep, and the hostility between the two was not on an ending streak.
Anne's Diary
Anne's diary is symbolic of the deep thoughts, atrocities and serves as a voice for the harsh times under Hitler's Nazi. Left with no choice, Ann opts to write on her diary to share her deep thoughts on the Nazi rule. Her diary contains real events that took place under the dominance of Nazi Germany with an emphasis on the atrocities directed to the Jewish community. Starting to write the diary at the age of thirteen may seem to be a little lower for the deeper thought she was writing. The conditions in which she was writing were not any better making her deserve more merit for her work and the mental state in such a condition in hiding. Her wish became true after her dad's efforts to have the book published two years after her daughter's death. The diary was published as an article in the newspaper has a bigger reach. The diary has been accorded other honors; in 1957, the diary was turned into a movie showing its relevance and deeper meaning.
Nazis Harsh Rules and Atrocities
The events of extreme crime against humanity are evident in Anne frank's life story and diary. These events include the forced labor that many of the Jews were subjected to at the time. The Jews were denied peace in Germany and all its subjects, including the Netherlands, where Anne and her family lived. After getting caught in the Netherlands secret hiding annex, they were taken to extermination and concentration camps. Here they were separated from their parents, stripped off their rights, and treated as a property of the German Nazis. The German Nazis broke almost every rule on basic human rights, including the mass killing of those deemed unfit to work. Anne Frank, to be specific, was underage when she was captured and was forced to work, which may suggest that there were others too who were forced to work underage.
Raids by the Germans in Amsterdam and deporting the Dutch Jews taint their image and their logic of seeking to regain their sovereignty. The Nazis organized the murder of European Jews was in every way a crime against humanity; they made it a Jews hunt which involved arrests and killings. These events create an image of what type of rules the German soldiers were under. Furthermore, the German Nazis under Hitler's rule were extreme in their operation on handling operations with Jews.
The secret Hiding Annex Betrayal
Anne Frank's secret hiding annex was not the only one as other Jewish people were hiding in a different place in the Netherlands. The symbolic role played by the secret hiding annex implies the level to which the Jewish people were willing to go to have their safety. Looking into Anne's case, the conditions that the people in hiding were subject to were not just the ordinary ones, and the numbers were too high to be normal. Such mass hiding called for absolute cooperation and organization in hiding the large number of Jews. The dangers of being deported were often overlooked, and those of hiding often hyped than the actual ones. The organizing was a tough task since it was new to everyone, and it had to be perfect since lives were involved.
The cost of hiding was demanding despite being the only solution for survival. Life in hiding would mean the need for food and other supplies from a man not in hiding. The rooms for hiding were not all that luxurious and often in the basement. In the hiding place, there was hunger, loneliness, and fear of being found and persecuted by the German Nazis. Hiding had to be more complex and out of the norm. Such reasons made them hide close to the German military centers, which were unpredictable.
Were the Jews betrayed while in the secret hiding annex? Although not proven, there is evidence pointing towards it. Betrayal often comes as an inside job or from an external factor; for this case, either of them may have been the case for exposing the hiding place. The evidence on 4th august 1944 of police officers arrested eight people in hiding, and the two aides to the discovery suggest betrayal involvement. Further, in 1945, Frank (Otto) identified police officers who were aiding the hiding and could have betrayed them.
Otto wrote to his family in 1945 that they were trying to identify the traitor. The letter comes as direct proof that they knew they were betrayed and ended up in the German's hands. Most of the arrests are more likely to have been a result of betrayal. 'According to a journalist from the newspaper De Telegraaf…the call had been made by warehouse worker Willem Van Maaren. But that is not very reliable either.' The call-in 1944 suggests betrayal because that morning, the Dutch worker called is the same day there was a raid on the secret hiding annex.
Further reports say that Willem is the possible traitor. The helpers did not trust the warehouse worker who was Willem van Maaren. To support this, Anne wrote it in her diary and pasting him with negative attributes suggesting no trust in him, Maaren. The evidence to the betrayal of the people in secret hiding annex is very much suggestive but lack complete evidence. There are linking evidences to a man Tonny Ahlers a Dutch nationalist, Lena Hartog, and Ans van Dijk, a Jewish woman who are deemed to have been betrayers. Furthermore, the number of officers involved in the arrest was more than the normal one suggesting betrayal in place.
A big shot to the authority then, SD, named Willy Lages, knew the informant who was labeled 'the caller.' Lages almost two decades later in an investigation said that they would investigate the credibility of the tip before making raids for the arrest of people in hiding, especially from unknown informants. Assuming the call was made the morning of the arrest and the raid was immediate! It only suggests that the informant was known and trusted. Although lacking enough and conclusive evidence, betrayal sparks as the leading cause for the raid on the secret hiding annex where Anne Frank wrote her diary.
Anne's Death
Death at sixteen is nobody's wish and is often tragic and unnatural. Anne dies at sixteen with her sister after contracting the infectious disease typhus. The holocaust wiped six million Jews making it a mass death, meaning even people at a younger age than Anne died. Death symbolizes the untimely misfortunes, diseases from poor sanitation and mass murder. The German Nazis were ruthless apparently and their captives were put in very bad conditions. In the camps, the women were put to work on supplies for the war. The women were too many and congested. This congestion is very dangerous and open to health hazards and specifically contagious diseases such as typhus. At the time dying was easier than living when in hands of the Nazis. Anne's death cut short the dreams of a young woman who had a vision and a voice through intellectual means. The event of her death signifies the number of dreams that were cut short by the German Nazis. Anne's and Margot's death points to the atrocities that shuttered women's dream.
Conclusion
The themes deductible form the events surrounding Anne Frank's life create imagery of life during her time. Each event is symbolic and represents a life aspect during the time. Anne was born in a normal family that was unwillingly separated. The secret hiding annex was a haven when death was waiting, and Anne had a platform and a place to write her ideas that were her voice. Although her life was relatively short, the work lives up to date. Thematically the work is resourceful to many aspiring authors and shows the need for courage and focus in spite of the harshness of the working conditions. This essay has managed to credit Anne work of being a voice and taking stance that the secret hiding annex was betrayed and leading to Anne’s death.
