Anne Frank: The Face of the Faceless

 

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl – Student Packet by Novel Units, Inc

by Novel Units

 

After I visited the building in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and her family had to hide during WWII, I finally decided to read her famous diary for myself. And I have to say: I was impressed. The book works very well on a variety of levels: 

As History 
This is an important historical witness of how the daily life of a teenager was restricted and finally squashed by the Nazi regime in Amsterdam. The humanity of Anne’s daily thoughts – free-flowing and turbulent – make for a stark contrast to Hitler’s cold machinery of might and control. Anne does not embody a perfect human but a real human. She becomes the face for all the faceless who were sucked into a totalitarian system. 

As Literature 
Considering that the diary is written by a thirteen to fifteen year-old, it is incredibly well written. The Nazis have deprived the world of a witty, pensive and creative writer. 

As Psychology 
Anne’s diary is filled with insights into human nature. Her reflections on herself and her fellow humans are detailed and instructive, sometimes consciously so and sometimes unconsciously by eloquently voicing the feelings of someone her age. 

As Child Education 
This is an important book both for teenagers and parents. Anne’s honesty about her feelings, development (physical and otherwise), problems and joys might help teenagers to deal better with their own development – and parents might be moved by Anne to more sympathy for that age group. 

In short, this is essential reading, and ideal when discussing the Holocaust and the Second World War with a young teenager.

And this day, November 9, is an especially fitting occasion to remember the face of that Jewish girl of German parentage, because today marks the 70th anniversary of the so-called “Kristallnacht,” which was the beginning of large-scale persecution of Jews in Germany.

May such a day never come again.