What has most shaped your understanding of

World War II: personal experience, Anne's diary,

popular films such as Schindler's List, The Reader,
newsreel footage, academic or historical texts?

How have you changed over the past two years?

How would your friends or family members say
you are different today than you were two years
ago?
Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
Introduction
• Annelies (Anne) Frank was born June 12, 1929 in
Frankfurt, Germany
• Her family moved to Amsterdam in 1933 to escape from
the Nazis in Germany
• In 1940 the Germans invaded the Netherlands, and
Anne’s father began to plan for their hiding in the “secret
annex”.
• In July, 1942 the Frank family as well as four additional
friends went into hiding
• While in hiding, Anne wrote of her experiences and
dreams for the future in her diary
• On Aug. 04, 1944 the inhabitants of the “secret annex”
were arrested and sent to concentration camps
The History of Antisemitism
In order to understand the Holocaust, is it helpful to explore the
foundations of antisemitism.

Antisemitism is the unfounded hatred of Jews because they are

Jews. That hatred has had a long history in Europe and beyond.
In earlier times, Jews were subject to discrimination and
persecution because they refused to accept the religion of the
majority. Jews who converted, or so Christians claimed, were no
longer considered outsiders; they belonged.

In the 1800s, a new form of antisemitism emerged. It was based

on the false notion that humans are divided into separate and
distinct “races,” and therefore people born as Jews, regardless
of their religious beliefs, belonged to an evil and dangerous
“race.” Jews were now considered permanent outsiders.
In times of crisis, Jews and other minorities have
always been at risk, and the upheavals after World
War I and the worldwide depression that began in
the 1930s were no exceptions.

In such times, many people are attracted to simple

answers to complex problems. Those answers often
place the blame for the crisis on the “other” in the
society.

Antisemitism rose in nearly every nation in Europe

and the Americas during those crises.
The Frank Family Home

http://www.annefrank.org/content.asp?pid=2&lid=2
Anne Frank & Family

http://www.annefrank.com/
...I finally realized that I must do my schoolwork to keep
from being ignorant, to get on in life, to become a journalist,
because that's what I want! I know I can write... it remains
to be seen whether I really have talent...I need to have
something besides a husband and children to devote
myself to!...I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all
people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living
even after my death! And that's why I'm so grateful to God
for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop
myself and to express all that's inside me!

When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow

disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that's a big
question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I
ever become a journalist or a writer?
—Anne Frank, Wednesday, 5 April,1944
Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like
me. Not only because I've never written anything before, but
also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone
else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old
schoolgirl.
– Anne Frank (June 20, 1942)

"Anne Frank was one of the

hundreds of thousands of Jewish
children who died in the Holocaust."
The Rise of Nazi Germany

In Germany, the claim that Jews were responsible for

all of the nation’s problems was fostered by groups like
Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist, (Nazi) Party.

In speech after speech, they insisted that the Jews

were everywhere, controlled everything, and acted so
secretly that few could detect their influence. The
charge was false, but after hearing it again and again,
many came to believe it.

Hitler published Mein Kampf in 1925, describing his

plan for the elimination of Jews.
The Rise of Nazi Germany

In 1933 the Nazis took control of Germany. Once in

power, they destroyed the nation’s democratic
institutions and turned Germany into a police state.
They were also determined to protect Germans from
the nation’s “racial enemies”—the Jews.

In just six years, 400 anti-Jewish measures were

enacted. Each was designed to protect so-called
“Aryan blood” from contamination with so-called
“Jewish blood.” Otto Frank was among the first
German Jews to understand how dangerous this new
government-led antisemitism really was.
Anne Frank and Her Family in Historical Context

In 1933, Otto Frank left Germany and settled in Amsterdam, the

capital of the Netherlands—a city with a reputation for religious
tolerance.

Otto Frank had this reputation in mind when, a year later, he

made the decision to move his wife, Edith, and daughters,
Margot and Anne, from their home in Frankfurt to Amsterdam.

Like many other Jews, Otto Frank believed that by leaving

Germany and emigrating to the Netherlands, he would be
transporting his family to safety and freedom. Although the
Netherlands had its own Nazi Party, they were not yet a danger.
So the Franks and other refugees from Germany settled
comfortably in their new home.
Mr. Frank’s Business

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_frank
Anne Frank and her family were German refugees
who resettled and tried to build their lives in the
Netherlands.

Although the Franks were proud of their German

heritage, their feelings toward Germany became very
complicated during the war.

Anne wrote: "Fine specimens of humanity, those

Germans, and to think I'm actually one of them! No.
that's not true, Hitler took away our nationality long
ago. And besides, there are no greater enemies on
earth than the Germans and Jews." (October 9, 1942.)
 
"I live in a crazy time."
- Anne Frank
Then on September 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland.

Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany.

World War II had officially begun.

By 1940, the Germans occupied the Netherlands, Denmark,

Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France.

In June 1941, they invaded the Soviet Union.

By December of 1941, the Germans had also declared war on

the United States.

When Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, the Frank

family once again found itself living under Nazi rule. Over the
next two years, Jews were gradually removed from public life.
Our freedom was severely restricted by a series of anti-
Jewish decrees: Jews were required to wear a yellow star;
Jews were required to turn in their bicycles; Jews were
forbidden to use streetcars; Jews were forbidden to ride in
cars, even their own; Jews were required to do their
shopping between 3 and 5 p.m.; Jews were required to
frequent only Jewish-owned barbershops and beauty
parlors; Jews were forbidden to be out on the streets
between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.; Jews were forbidden to go to
theaters, movies or any other forms of entertainment; ...
Jews were forbidden to visit Christians in their homes;
Jews were required to attend Jewish schools, etc.
[ JUNE 20, 1942]
Jewish yellow star
After the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, the Dutch
people were immediately faced with the question of choice: how to
respond to the Nazi occupation. Tens of thousands of Dutch
people followed Hitler, and millions more looked the other way.
Eventually, a resistance movement began to grow.

The Nazis needed Dutch collaborators to carry out their fascist

decrees.
What would have influenced someone to become a collaborator?
What factors would have encouraged someone to join the
resistance?
Do you think these factors were based on personal characteristics
or political beliefs?
What was the price of resistance during the war?
What was the price of collaboration?
Jewish Forbidden
Amsterdam, Jewish Quarter
Jews “rounded up”
Dutch Jews being “rounded up”
"...if you're wondering if it's harder for the adults
here than for the children, the answer is no...Older
people have an opinion about everything and are
sure of themselves and their actions. It's twice as
hard for us young people to hold on to our opinions
at a time when ideals are being shattered..." (July
15, 1944.)

When was the last time as an adult that you

experienced the "shattering" of an ideal?

Is the media a neutral force, or do you think it plays

a role in supporting or destroying idealism?
It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they
seem so absurd and impractical.

Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of

everything, that people are truly good at heart.
– Anne Frank (July 15, 1944)
Anne’s room
A Writer Finds Her Voice
As screenwriter Deborah Moggach points out, Anne Frank
changed profoundly during her two years in hiding—and
much of this change came through the discoveries she
made as she emerged as a writer.

Anne’s initial motivation for keeping a diary was her sense

of loneliness despite being surrounded by those who loved
her.

The process of keeping a diary gave her a sense of

freedom and independence but Anne’s intended audience
changed during the time she was in hiding.
In 1944, Anne Frank heard a radio broadcast in which
Gerrit Bolkestein, a member of the Dutch government in
exile, told listeners that after the war, he would like to
collect first-person testimonies to document how the Dutch
people had suffered under the Nazi occupation.

Bolkestein specifically mentioned that he was interested in

diaries and letters.

It was at this time that Anne began revising her diaries to

make them into a more literary piece of work and she
focused on her hopes of being a writer after the war.
On August 4, 1944, German police raided the annex
after being tipped off to its existence by an anonymous
informant.

The Franks, the van Daans, and

Mr. Dussel were all sent to
Westerbork, a Dutch transit camp
(a temporary camp where Jews
and other prisoners were held
before they were shipped to
forced labor or death camps),
and from there deported to
Auschwitz, a death camp.
1942 Deportation of Jews to Westerbrok
Departure from Westerbork
Train Destination Sign
Dutch Jews wearing yellow star and “N” for
Netherlands
The Franks were on the last transport from the
Netherlands to Auschwitz. Mrs. Frank was murdered
there.
As the Soviet troops advanced into Poland in the winter
of 1945, the Germans shipped many inmates, including
Anne and Margot, into Germany.
Margot and Anne were transferred to a concentration
camp called Bergen Belsen where they died of typhus
in March 1945 just weeks before the war ended.
Of the eight Jews who had hidden in the annex, only
Otto Frank survived.
He was instrumental in editing Anne’s diary and in
bringing her story—and her remarkable talents as a
writer—to the attention of the world.
Anne Frank wrote: "I don't believe the war is simply the
work of politicians and capitalists. Oh no, the common
man is every bit as guilty; otherwise, people and
nations would have rebelled long ago!" (May 3, 1944.)

How should accountability be assigned?

So many say they never understood what was

happening. How likely could that have been?
Conclusion
• “In 1942 alone the contents of nearly 10,000 apartments
in Amsterdam were expropriated by the Germans and
shipped to Germany. Some 25,000 Jews, including at
least 4,500 children, went into hiding to evade
deportation. About one-third of those in hiding were
discovered, arrested, and deported. In all, at least 80
percent of the prewar Dutch Jewish community
perished.”  

• “In the spring of 1945, Canadian forces liberated

Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands.”

• Otto Frank was the only member of the “secret annex” to

survive the war.