Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany, to Otto and Edith Frank. She had an older sister, Margot, and the family lived a comfortable and secular Jewish life. However, after the Nazi party came to power in 1933, the Franks faced increasing persecution and were forced to flee to Amsterdam, Netherlands.
In July 1942, Anne's sister Margot received a call-up notice to report to a Nazi "work camp." Fearing the worst, the Frank family went into hiding in a secret annex above Otto's office building. Anne, who was just 13 years old, began keeping a diary to document her experiences in hiding.
Over the next two years, Anne wrote extensively in her diary, detailing the daily struggles and fears of living in hiding, as well as her hopes and dreams for the future. Her diary entries are a powerful and poignant record of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable hardship.
On August 4, 1944, the Nazis discovered the secret annex and arrested everyone inside. Anne and her family were deported to the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands, and later to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
In October 1944, Anne and her sister Margot were transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they both died of typhus in February 1945, just a few months before the camp was liberated by the Allies.
Anne Frank's diary was discovered by one of the people who had helped the Frank family while they were in hiding. It was published in 1947 and has since become one of the most famous and important books of the 20th century.
Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.
Anne Frank
It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.
Anne Frank
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Anne Frank
Anne's story has inspired countless people around the world, serving as a powerful reminder of the human cost of war and persecution. Her legacy continues to live on, inspiring hope and resilience in the face of adversity.