a coding group with political views
Anne Frank’s diary. It depicts the unimaginable everyday life of Anne Frank, a 14 year old Jewish girl, with her family and a couple other Jews, who were hiding from the Nazis from 1942 to 1945. She depicts the heroic efforts by the Dutch people hiding the Jews, providing a first person account of how many people struggled to survive in the Nazi time. In particular, the book shows that the escapees are just normal people, trying to make ends meet in their hideout, with the horrors, dreads, and frights of the holocaust slipping into various everyday situations. Examples include being quiet, meaning you cannot flush the toilet during the day, being in constant fear of exposure, or being malnutritioned due to reliance on the little food that is organized by the helpers.
I like how the diary looks like a normal journal on the surface, but between the lines and over the course of the book, you can really feel the struggle of the families. Given that the diary starts before the hideout, it is surprising how quickly Anne Frank accepts the situation as the new normal, and how she comes to terms with it—despite her shocking awareness of the actual situation. Between the “normal” diary entries, you find excerpts like “dying is not nice” or “all the jews are being deported”.
As a 14 year old, Anne Frank, an eloquent writer, expresses her feelings unfiltered and makes true attemps at reflection, allowing us to feel empathy with her. Over the course of the years, the reader realizes how Anne grows up and how her relationships change over time. Despite all of her hopes and wishes, including her aspirations of becoming a famous writer – which in retrospect she managed to accomplish – the book shows the cold reality of the holocaust, with everyone except her father dying—truly a tragic and bitter fate shared by millions of innocent humans.
One thing I noticed about the diary is that it got a tad repetive towards the middle, describing the same fights between the families repeatedly, but obviously this is a historical account of what actually happened.
Summarising, I highly appreciate that this account of the harsh reality during the holocaust is available for everyone to read. I suggest everyone who has in interest in the holocaust (and everyone should have this interest) to read it, as it provides insights into the lives and feelings and consequences of the bad things to happen when Nazis come into power.