The Diary of Anne Frank

“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!” – Anne Frank

Most U.S. schools teach the Diary of Anne Frank in some capacity in middle school or early high school. I switched schools a bit, so I missed this portion of the curriculum at all of the schools I attended. This has always been a book I’d wanted to read, but finally decided to sit down with, and I’m so glad I did.

This is an extremely sobering, sad, enlightening, humorous, bone-chilling read I’ve ever opened. Every adult should take the time to read this, even if you’ve already read this at some point in your younger years.

Anne Frank breathed life into the pages of her diary – she was so young, so naive, but so mature all at the same time. I can’t even bring myself to imagine the terror, fear, and mundaneness of life in the Annex.

The closer I got to the end of the book, the more my heart broke, because her words were so full of hope and longing for the way things were before the war.

Should you choose to read this, either for the first time or the millionth time, I hope you keep in mind that this book is not for entertainment purposes. It amazed and sickened me how many people say “this isn’t an entertaining book”.

Anne Frank was real. She was a 13 year old girl, forced into hiding, and who would never see past 15. She is more mature in her 14 and 15 years than the majority of adults I know, and if that isn’t heartbreaking to reflect on for a reader to understand WHY she was so mature, I’m genuinely not sure what would upset you. She faced horrors that many of us can’t even begin to fathom, yet she maintained hope and faith, and even found love through it all.

Reading her story through her eyes is very inspirational, since it forced me, personally, to look back and reflect on my own life. I complain about the most minor of inconveniences, yet here she is, 14 years old, apologizing to any potential future reader that her life isn’t more interesting to read about, and how guilty she feels about the luxurious lifestyle they had compared to their fellow Jews.

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