Who Was Anne Frank 安妮·弗兰克

Anne Frank’s life was short. She was only fifteen years old when she died in 1945. She was born in Germany, where her father’s family had lived for a very long time.

Her father was very proud of being German. He expected his children to live in Germany, and their children after them.

But that did not happen. The Franks’ lives were turned upside down. They had to flee from their country. They had to go into hiding. They lost everything that was dear to them . . . all because they were Jewish 1 and a man named Adolf Hitler was in power.

Hitler hated Jewish people. All Jewish people. By the time Hitler was defeated, Anne’s mother was dead. So were Anne and her sister. The only person in the family who survived was Anne’s beloved 2 father, Otto.

But something else survived, too.

Anne’s diary. Anne kept a diary for two years. During that time, her family was in hiding. They were hiding from Hitler’s soldiers.

Anne understood the dangers that her family faced. Yet in her diary she remained hopeful about the world even though terrible things were happening. She drew comfort from the beauty of nature even though she couldn’t step outside for a single breath of fresh air. After her death, her diary was turned into a book.



Today, more than sixty years after Anne’s last diary entry, she remains 3 a symbol of hope. Her diary has been translated into more than sixty-five languages. It has sold more than thirty million copies. There have been plays and movies about her.

A short life—even a very short life—can be full of meaning.



ADOLF HITLER

ADOLF HITLER WAS BORN In 1889. HE FIRST HOPED TO BECOME An ARTIST, BUT HE WASN’T TALENTED ENOUGH SO HE TURnED TO POLITICS INSTEAD. HIS DREAM WAS TO MAKE GERMANY THE MOST POWERFUL EMPIRE On EARTH. In GERMAN, FüHRER IS THE WORD FOR “LEADER,” AND FüHRER WAS WHAT GERMANS CALLED HITLER. (YOU PRONOUNCE IT LIKE THIS: FA-YOUR-UHR.)

HITLER RULED OVER GERMANY FROM 1933 UNTIL 1945 WHEN, DURING THE LAST DAYS OF WORLD WAR II, HE KILLED HIMSELF RATHER THAN SURRENDER 4 AND FACE TRIAL.

FROM THE START, HITLER CONVINCED 5 GERMANS THAT JEWS WERE TO BLAME FOR ALL THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS. In SPEECHES, HE WORKED GIANT CROWDS INTO A FRENZY 6 BY SCREAMING THAT SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE. HIS ANSWER WAS TO GET RID OF THE JEWS, ALL OF THEM. HE SAW TO IT THAT THIRTEEN MILLION PEOPLE WERE KILLED, SIX MILLION OF THEM JEWS.

HOW CAN A PERSON BE SO EVIL 7? THOUSANDS OF BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT HITLER In THE SIXTY YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH. BUT NONE OF THEM HAVE REALLY FOUND An ANSWER.