Anne and me

This post is about my recent read titled “The Diary Of A Young Girl” by Anne Frank... but this is not a book review.

This post is my way of paying honor to the 13 years old writer of this amazing diary which illustrated the best view of the worst times in the history of humanity and ushered me to contemplate the equivalent kind of horror felt during our current times.

And even though this is just the beginning of the post, let me give you a tiny nudge so that this book is your next read or at least getting on the to-read list...this book is the SECOND MOST READ BOOK in the world after the Bible. It is explicit proof that words have strength, they have the power to remake and outlive human life, the ability to make one's life worth memorizing even though one believes his or her thoughts or doing means nothing all this time.

Anne Frank wrote this diary (aka book) in her “Secret Annex”, as she calls the place of her hiding from Nazis in the Netherlands. Anne's wish to get her diary published was fulfilled by her father, Otto Frank, the family's only known survivor, just after World War II was over. Since it was first published in 1947, Anne Frank's diary has become one of the most powerful memoirs of the Holocaust.

This diary immortalizes not only the author but also her hiding-mates viz. Her parents and sister, another family of Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan and their son Peter...the van Daans, and an acquaintance, Mr. Dussel along with other people helping the families to survive in the "Secret Annex", named Miep and her husband Henk, Elli, and Mr. Koophuis. 

The diary begins on June 12, 1942, and is vivid writing of the several struggles faced by Anne and her hiding-mates, turmoil of the real-life inside the annex and that of the horror of the outside world, the cries of dreary and dull moments, and the pressure of living in panic-mode. Anne’s diary abruptly ends without comment on August 1, 1944, after the hiding place was discovered and all inmates were arrested by Gestapo.

After reading this book, I find that the anxieties and the expectations entwining and encircling the life of Anna are kind of familiar and similar to our current times of skepticism and unrest amidst the Covid pandemic. For Anna, there is a constant fear of getting caught by Nazis. For us, there is a persistent concern of getting grabbed in invisible claws of coronavirus. And yet, the book is the keeper of ambition, hope, and belief on and in life.

When these tiring times are looking like an endless wait to a way to our comfortable home, the news of devastation all around, the ominous dance of death looks unending and cries shaking our souls...this book got down me to my childhood recollections of mother's love, father’s assurances, sisters’ arguments, and brothers’ calmness…and led me to my haven.

Somewhere in the book, Anne says "What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't even happened yet". This yearning for a healthy and happy world which was required at her times is also a wish of our times.

Here I am sharing some of the thoughtful quotes from the diary of Anne Frank-


“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”

“Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.”

“Sympathy, Love, Fortune... We all have these qualities but still tend to not use them!”

“I can't imagine how anyone can say: "I'm weak," and then remain so. After all, if you know it, why not fight against it, why not try to train your character? The answer was: "Because it's so much easier not to!”

“Don't be too assuming, it doesn't get you anywhere.”