ANNE FRANK.
Should Have Been 90 years Today.
On June 12th. 1935, as Anne Frank turns 6 years old there have been anti-Jewish riots occurring in Grodno, Poland and in Berlin, for quite cynical reasons, and unsuited to the aesthetics of World opinion, ‘Jews not welcome’ signs are removed temporarily from the streets. We accept that with one Child murdered is too costly a penalty for humanity, we recognise in one such Child, set to establish a faith that should lift the spirit above the immoral morass, but has so divided community’s we need newer reflections. The other Child who was murdered because of those same divisions, is recognised today as a humanitarian loss. And when that child is Anne Frank, ownership begins to have a more fundamental effect upon us all and we realise the bounds of happiness are impacted upon us from extraneous circumstances and outside influences.
On June 12th. 1937, and while Anne Frank celebrates being 8 years old, Reinhard Heydrich issues a detention order for Race Violators after due process of Law has established Rassenschande, the race defilement decree. In the comparisons to make, ownership becomes a very important factor. We have taken ownership of Christ for ourselves, thus denying Him His own hereditary belonging and moved Him away from His own People and we have used Anne’s ownership of her very Jewishness to remove her from our presence. With fear and trepidation, Anne took many steps toward understanding what we have been all too guilty of readily ignoring.
On June 12th. 1940, while the World has been at War for nine months, ever since Hitler invaded Poland, the 11 year old Anne Frank features in a World that has the Bolimow Ghetto created in Poland to fully enclose 4,000 Jewish People. Also, with the Fall of Paris confirmed and the first transports arriving at Auschwitz from Tarnow, the World is sinking deeper into a darkness Anne will not Survive. But Anne Frank might yet afford us the way forward if we remember that our very existence is dependent upon the Children we share a total responsibility for ensuring they survive today.
Saturday March 28th. 1942.
“..If you did not finish your work properly,
And lost precious time,
Then once again take up your task
And try harder than before.
If others have reproached you
For what you have done wrong,
Then be sure to amend your mistake.
That is the best memory one can make.”
Signed, in memory Anne Frank.
Here, while this poem recognises Anne as not yet 13 years of age, it is in her innocence that is lost that we judge the final deficit of its ownership. But this poem by Anne Frank has just become available to History, and to the Public 74 years after it was penned but it will be sold to the highest bidder regardless of the essential conscionable need at stake for those who would learn most from it, our Children and their future. What truly makes this Poem of Anne’s the keepsake of a World in need of tolerance and understanding is clearly understood by those who fight to maintain her memory and ensure that 6,000,000 of her fellow Murdered Jewish Men, Women and Their Children of Europe can never be bargained over.
On June 12th. 1942 Anne Frank is 13 years old as 10,000 of Tarnow’s Ghetto Jews are murdered within Belzec over a 2 day period. Elsewhere, Adolf Eichmann has been planning the deportations of Belgian, French and Dutch Jews while further a field, 3,000 of Theresienstadt’s Jews are taken to Birkenau and are so brutally ‘murdered.’ Anne should not merely, of course, be canonized by what she stands for as she was only a Child who grew into a very young Woman in the very few years she was deprived of such noble goals as nurturing, Tolerance and a way forward that remained blocked to her.
Saturday June 20th. 1942. “..My Father ..most adorable Father I’ve ever seen ..didn’t marry my Mother until he was 36 and she was 25. My Sister Margot was born in Frankfurt am-Main in Germany in 1926. I was born on June 12th. 1929. I lived in Frankfurt until I was 4. Because we’re Jewish ..Father immigrated to Holland in 1933 ..when he became ..Managing Director of ..Dutch Opekta Company ..which manufactures products used in making jam. Mother ..Edith Hollander Frank ..went with him to Holland in September ..while Margot and I were sent to Aachen to stay with our Grandmother. Margot went to Holland in December ..and I followed in February ..when I was plunked down on ..table as a birthday present for Margot.” Anne Frank.
For me it is essential to attempt to imagine the future expectations of those 1,500,000 Murdered Jewish Children, let alone contemplate the promise of the entire 6,000,000 Murdered Jews, who are The Holocaust, who are removed from all existence at the whim of an insignificant little man. Indeed, who knows what Anne Frank might well have gifted us, if she had been allowed to live! The loss of innocence is not just to Anne Frank, but as we search back to these bleak days and look for any light which might penetrate the darkness, we recognise the blighted innocence of those kept deliberately impeded and kept motionless in that hate filled darkness.
Friday June 12th. 1942 “..I hope I will be able to confide everything to you ..as I have never been able to confide in anyone ..and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.” Anne Frank.
For those individuals, so removed from our own vision of humanity that they sought Anne’s very destruction, we announce their inhuman criminality. So begins Anne Frank’s recognised tome on that Friday and for those who dealt in the extremist terms of a hate filled reference point, that Anne could barely conceive of at this time, we clearly recognise it as it is still evidenced and its mark is felt. Today, as the antisemitic hatred which survives to this very day is as recognisable now as it would have been to Anne, little has altered that should have been altered by such a calamity as The Holocaust.
Friday October 9th. 1942. “..Today I have nothing but dismal and depressing news to report. Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves. ..Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars to Westerbork ..big camp in Drenthe to which they’re sending all ..Jews. Miep told us about someone who’d managed to escape from there. It must be terrible in Westerbork. ..people get almost nothing to eat ..much less to drink ..as water is available only one hour a day ..and there’s only one toilet and sink for several 1,000 people. Men and Women sleep in ..same room ..and Women and Children often have their heads shaved. Escape is almost impossible ..many people look Jewish ..and they’re branded by their shorn heads. If it’s that bad in Holland ..what must it be like in those faraway and uncivilized places where ..Germans are sending them. We assume that most of them are being murdered. ..English radio says they’re being gassed. Perhaps that’s ..quickest way to die.” Anne Frank.
Clearly, as we search and research for our progress through her time, Atrocity heaped upon Atrocity is laden upon those Jews of Europe she lives with and beside. For the whole of Western civilisation, critical of those very Jews Anne shares a Nation with, we bury our heads in shame for allowing to happen what submerges our humanity in this atrocity for the Jewish People. Clearly too I recognise the terrifying effect War has upon all people’s in all nation’s, but the systematic and sought after destruction of the entire Jewish People is unequivocal.
Thursday November 9th. 1942 “..In ..evenings when it’s dark ..I often see long lines of good ..innocent people ..accompanied by crying
Children ..walking on and on ..ordered about by a handful of men who bully and beat them until they nearly drop. No one is spared. ..sick ..elderly ..Children ..Babies ..pregnant Women ..all are marched to their death. We’re so fortunate here ..away from ..turmoil. We wouldn’t have to give a moment’s thought to all this suffering if it weren’t for ..fact that we’re so worried about those we hold dear ..whom we can no longer help. I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed ..while somewhere out there my dearest friends are dropping from exhaustion or being knocked to ..ground. I get frightened myself when I think of close friends who are now at ..mercy of ..cruellest monsters ever to stalk ..earth. And all because they’re Jews.” Anne Frank.
For those Jews, which Anne so secretly hides alongside, in an annexe which is so secret, Anne is all the while trapped still within a Continent now seeking 11,293,300 Jews just like her and all those she knows, for extinction. The number of these Jews, clearly recognised by Hitler from the Wannsee Conference, stands in cold relief, against a World thrown into a World War which clearly evades the stark truth of what the Jewish People within the continent of Europe are enduring.
Tuesday November 10th. 1942. “..Great news. We’re planning to take an 8th. person into hiding with us. Yes ..really. We always thought there was enough room and food for 1 more person ..but we were afraid of placing an even greater burden on Mr. Kugler and Mr. Kleiman. But since reports of ..dreadful things being done to ..Jews are getting worse by ..day ..Father decided to sound out these 2 gentlemen ..and they thought it was an excellent plan.” Anne Frank.
Our natural defence of those in need is both negligent and abandoning of a People in crisis, and that crippling inertia is an indifference not borne of compassion nor concern. For Anne Frank, a Child of our time, who was born on June 12th. 1929 in Frankfurt am-Main, Germany, no longer sides amongst us. While we clearly recognise that she has died, and this is sometime in February or March 1945, and in a place known to infamy as Belsen Concentration Camp, to our shame the only marker to that awful tragedy for us, is a small monument that is placed within the confines of a space shielding all too many lives from view, including both Anne’s and Margot’s.
Thursday January 2nd. 1943. “..I continued to sit with ..open book in my hand and wonder why I was filled with so much anger and hate that I had to confide it all to you. I tried to understand ..Anne of last year and make apologies for her ..because as long as I leave you with these
accusations and don’t attempt to explain what prompted them ..my conscience won’t be clear. I was suffering then ..and still do ..from moods that kept my head under water. figuratively speaking ..and allowed me to see things only from my own perspective ..without calmly considering what ..others ..those whom I ..with my mercurial temperament ..had hurt or offended ..had said ..and then acting as they would have done.” Anne Frank.
On June 12th. 1943, as Anne Frank celebrates her 14 years on this planet, and while Himmler orders the liquidation of all Ghettoes in Poland,
Anne is still safe for the time being. But truly never secure in the Secret Annexe, this home from Home which has become her sanctuary is prey to discovery or uncovering from the stray happenings of People so rendered helpless by their predicament. Of course, we have now come to recognise that we who are alive today live in an unequal world. Then, when it comes to the most precious assets of any World, its Children, and especially their loss to us, we are never quickest as to when we neglect that overriding obligation.
Wednesday January 13th. 1943. “..This morning I was constantly interrupted ..and as a result I haven’t been able to finish a single thing I’ve begun. We have a new pastime ..namely ..filling packages with powdered gravy. ..gravy is one of Gies & Co’s products. Mr. Kugler hasn’t been able to find anyone else to fill ..packages ..and besides ..it’s cheaper if we do ..job. It’s ..kind of work they do in prisons. It’s incredibly boring and makes us dizzy and giggly. Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day ..poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a knapsack and a little cash with them ..and even then ..they’re robbed of these possessions on ..way. Families are torn apart ..Men ..Women and Children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed ..their families gone. ..Christians in Holland are also living in fear because their Sons are being sent to Germany. Everyone is scared.” Anne Frank.
Here, we exemplify the difference felt that emerges between all people’s of all nation’s whose Sons and their Daughter’s are sent to Germany for enforced labour. Only the Jewish People, catapulted up the selective rankings, so that they are delivered immediately toward eradication, evisceration and annihilation in the x6 Death Camps made ready by Hitler for them in Poland, can we recognise the inequality that persists and the unique nature of the Jewish position in Hitler’s Europe and Weltanschauung. Just how we know that such is the precious worth of all People is learned from the hard experience of those who suffer most, while we endure less and under more favourable terms.
Thursday November 11th. 1943. “..that evening ..when my fountain pen still hadn’t turned up ..we all assumed it had been burned ..specially because celluloid is highly inflammable. Our darkest fears were confirmed ..next day when Father went to empty ..stove and discovered ..clip ..used to fasten it to a pocket ..among ..ashes. Not a trace of ..gold nib was left. ..I’m left with one consolation ..small though it may be ..my fountain pen was cremated ..just as I would like to be someday.” Anne Frank.
However, when we are already dealing with the debilitating effects of bringing Children them into the World, and then are struggling to maintain them there, the Jewish position is further exacerbated. Also, the neglect and abandonment of European Jewry and even their Murder on such an unprecedented, unparalled and unequal level, clearly places upon Us, History and Civilisation a rebuke we will never emerge from. History will hold the evidence of our failings and provide the testimony of atrocity upon such an offensive scale for an eternity that will coexist alongside 6,000,000 Jewish losses.
Wednesday December 29th. 1943. “..Hanneli ..you’re a reminder of what my fate might have been. I keep seeing myself in your place. So why am I often miserable about what goes on here. Shouldn’t I be happy ..contented and glad ..except when I’m thinking of Hanneli and those suffering along with her. I’m selfish and cowardly. Why do I always think and dream ..most awful things and want to scream in terror. Because ..in spite of everything ..I still don’t have enough faith in God. He’s given me so much ..which I don’t deserve ..and yet each day I make so many mistakes. Thinking about ..suffering of those you hold dear can reduce you to tears ..in fact ..you could spend ..whole day crying. ..most you can do is pray for God to perform a miracle and save at least some of them. And I hope I’m doing enough of that.” Anne Frank.
As we look back in an anger raged against such an appalling treatment of those Children, our most deserving of human protection, we adjudge our own humanity which states emphatically that ALL Children are the best of the rest of us and must be protected at all costs. So if we are to take the example of this single Child called Anne Frank, then just this one Child, who will share the same fate as 1,500,000 other Jewish Children, so judges us deliberately and accusingly. Anne’s accusation against those who accosted the Jewish People, and similarly abused and mistreated them, accosted and then Murdered them with impunity, simply because they are Jews, must confront us also for what was in our domain to know and to challenge.
Tuesday March 7th. 1944. “..I don’t think Mother’s advice can be right ..because what are you supposed to do if you become part of ..suffering. You’d be completely lost. On ..contrary ..beauty remains ..even in misfortune. If you just look for it ..you discover more and more
happiness and regain your balance. A person who’s happy will make others happy ..a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery.” Anne Frank.
This is where Anne Frank becomes more significant in the tale of those Children in this World, and perhaps more so than many other’s because of the fact that she was so ritually abused and incarcerated, even if she felt her hidden status was self imposed. Here too though, while we can learn so much about inequality in a World wrenched free from the demands of care and concern for the weakest and most vulnerable, we look in from the outside at the wretchedness of inhumanity towards our very humanity. But, while we tacitly admit that this particular Child is recognised as possibly the most famous Child in all of History, then perhaps we can recognise what is wrong in any wrong doing so forcefully murderous that was pitched against her.
Tuesday April 11th. 1944. “..None of us have ever been in such danger as we were that night. God was truly watching over us. Just think ..police were right at ..bookcase ..light was on ..and still no one had discovered our hiding place. ..Now we’re done for ..I’d whispered
at that moment ..but once again we were spared. When ..invasion comes and ..bombs start falling ..it’ll be every man for himself ..but this time we feared for those good ..innocent Christians who are helping us.” Anne Frank.
Perhaps it is only after so called ‘christians,’ who so abysmally failed to recognise what emanates from the birth of an infant Child called Jesus Christ, that we make a simple ethical deduction about what was a christian failing. Here at such an affront to us all it is possible we can make such a comparison as to what forms our moral code and ethical efficacy have been corrupted. That labels are affixed to People while the prevalent form of christianity stands aside, a treacherous belief system which could demand the exculpation of a People because of their religious difference, this is a belief not worthy of any religious form. So when considering the very fate of so many of these 1,500,000 Murdered Jewish Children, many of Anne’s words seem almost and are indeed prophetic, even if it did emanate from the evisceration of her beloved fountain pen.
Tuesday April 11th. 1944. “..We’ve been strongly reminded of ..fact that we’re Jews in chains ..chained to one spot ..without any rights ..but with a thousand obligations. We must put our feelings aside ..we must be brave and strong ..bear discomfort with out complaint ..do whatever
is in our power and trust in God. One day this terrible war will be over. ..time will come when we’ll be people again and not just Jews. Who has inflicted this on us. Who has set us apart from all ..rest. Who has put us through such suffering. It’s God who has made us ..way we are ..but it’s also God who will lift us up again. In ..eyes of ..World ..we’re doomed ..but if ..after all this suffering ..there are still Jews left ..Jewish People will be held up as an example. Who knows ..maybe our religion will teach ..World and all ..people in it about goodness ..and that’s ..reason ..only reason ..we have to suffer. We can never be just Dutch ..or just English ..or whatever ..we will always be Jews as well. And we’ll have to keep on being Jews ..but then ..we’ll want to be.” Anne Frank.
But now that we have sight of these two Children, who are at opposing ends of the Historical spectrum, we realise that they have so much more in common than mere comparison can illustrate. It is not merely in their fame we recognise them, or that remains but one aspect of the lives that shares such similarities, but in the choices we seek to pin to their former lives. For one Child, whose fame has spread a divisive word of antisemitism, that still divides us to this day, there is the other Child who spreads a message that sorely confronts us for not having the accepted understanding that is written into moral law and compassion.
Tuesday June 6th. 1944 “..This is D Day ..BBC announced at 12:00. ..This is ..day. ..invasion has begun. This morning at 8:00 ..British reported heavy bombing of Calais ..Boulogne ..Le-Havre ..Cherbourg ..Pas de Calais. Further ..as a precautionary measure for those in ..occupied territories ..everyone living within a zone of twenty miles from ..coast was warned to prepare for bombardments. Where possible ..British will drop pamphlets an hour ahead of time. According to ..German news ..British paratroopers have landed on ..coast of France. ..British landing craft are engaged in combat with German naval units ..according to ..BBC. Conclusion reached by ..Annex while breakfasting at 9:00 ..this is a trial landing ..like ..one two years ago in Dieppe. BBC broadcast in German ..Dutch ..French and other languages at 10:00 ..invasion has begun. So this is ..real invasion. BBC broadcast in German at 11:00 ..speech by Supreme Commander General Dwight Eisenhower. BBC broadcast in English ..This is D Day. General Eisenhower said to ..French people ..Stiff fighting will come now ..but after this ..victory. ..year 1944 is ..year of complete victory. Good luck. BBC broadcast in English at 1:00 ..11,000 planes are shuttling back and forth or standing by to land troops and bomb behind enemy lines ..4,000 landing craft and small boats are continually arriving in ..area between Cherbourg and Le-Havre. English and American troops are already engaged in heavy combat. Speeches by Gerbrandy ..Prime Minister of Belgium ..King Haakon of Norway ..de Gaulle of France ..King of England and ..last but not least ..Churchill. A huge commotion in ..Annex. Is this really ..beginning of ..long awaited liberation. ..liberation we’ve all talked so much about ..which still seems too good ..too much of a fairy tale ever to come true. Will this year ..1944 ..bring us victory. We don’t know yet. But where there’s hope ..there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again. We’ll need to be brave to endure ..many fears and hardships and ..suffering yet to come. It’s now a matter of remaining calm and steadfast ..of gritting our teeth and keeping a stiff upper lip. France ..Russia ..Italy ..and even Germany ..can cry out in agony ..but we don’t yet have that right. Oh ..Kitty ..best part about ..invasion is that I have ..feeling that friends are on ..way.” Anne Frank.
Who cannot imagine the euphoria in Europe, let alone for these 8 struggling Jews who are still feeling that the system, which has practicably failed in excess of 5,000,000 Jews already, might well still fail them and not release them from their turmoil. Who cannot begin to imagine the release of the pent up frustration and fear which has impeded their mortal lives for the past 2 years. Who will not now afford these 8 Jews of Europe the final chance to grasp at the breath of freedom that they so richly deserve.
Tuesday June 13th. 1944. “..fact that in Childbirth alone ..Women commonly suffer more pain ..illness and misery than any war hero ever does. And what’s her reward for enduring all that pain. She gets pushed aside when she’s disfigured by birth ..her Children soon leave ..her beauty is gone. Women ..who struggle and suffer pain to ensure ..continuation of ..human race ..make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big mouthed freedom fighting heroes put together. I don’t mean to imply that women should stop having children ..on ..contrary ..nature ..intended them to ..and that’s ..way it should be. What I condemn are our system of values and ..men who don’t acknowledge how great ..difficult ..but ultimately beautiful women’s share in society is.” Anne Frank.
Tragically, History has taught us too well the answer to this and less than a week later, on June 12th. 1944 when Anne Frank is 15 years old, Germany launches its first V-1 rockets at England and the murderous efforts of Hitler meets the Jewish population of Corfu. Here, some 1,800 of Corfu’s Jews will be transported to Auschwitz to quell the suspicion that anything has changed for what remains of the Jews in Europe. What History will eventually conform to dealing with is the failure to acknowledge the very detail of what was certainly known in favour of what was not to be done to save even more of the 6,000,000 Jews of Europe so ritually Slaughtered.
Saturday July 15th. 1944. “..It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals ..they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe ..in spite of everything ..that people are truly good at heart. It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos ..suffering and death. I see ..world being slowly transformed into a wilderness ..I hear ..approaching thunder that ..one day ..will destroy us too ..I feel ..suffering of 1,000,000’s. And yet ..when I look up at ..sky ..I somehow feel that everything will change for ..better ..that this cruelty too shall end ..that peace and tranquillity will return once more. In ..meantime ..I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps ..day will come when I’ll be able to realize them.” Anne Frank.
Also, another of the x6 Death Camps which Hitler had established in Poland, Chelmno, will rejoin the efforts at Birkenau and resume its killing operations. Here, 3,000 more of Lodz’s Jews will be ‘resettled,’ innocent Jews further confined at Chelmno for eternity. For me it remains essential that the message is not lost from amongst those who propose a belief for any christ who should have left to the World what it would be like to truly unite all people. Sadly there are still those who see in an intolerance, which so divides us and allows what differs us from each other to further divide us from the message of the other Child, the one which Anne who seeks to secure in acceptance for All. The comparable differences broaden even further when we approach their ethnic, religious or fundamental backgrounds. You see, we are talking about two of the most famous Jews ever! Here too we approach a reasoning with Anne which places us as the ‘others,’ those of us now watching from the outside in.
Tuesday August 1st. 1944. “..A voice within me is sobbing ..You’re surrounded by negative opinions ..dismayed looks and mocking faces ..people ..who dislike you ..and all because you don’t listen to ..advice of your own better half. ..Believe me ..I’d like ..to listen ..but it doesn’t work ..because if I’m quiet and serious ..everyone thinks I’m putting on a new act and I have to save myself with a joke ..and then I’m not even talking about my own family ..who assume I must be sick ..stuff me with aspirins and sedatives ..feel my neck and forehead to see if I have a temperature ..ask about my bowel movements and berate me for being in a bad mood ..until I just can’t keep it up anymore ..because when everybody starts hovering over me ..I get cross ..then sad ..and finally end up turning my heart inside out ..bad part on ..outside and ..good part on ..inside ..and keep trying to find a way to become what I’d like to be and what I could be if ..if only there were no other people in ..world.” Anne Frank.
Anne Frank’s Diary finishes here, but her story continues to breathe and up until today it is a remarkable work of steely determination filled with a hope that persisted until the very last day, when her words had ended months before she died. The saddening fact is, that that unknown day does not have a corresponding date, nor a burial site for which to grieve the loss of a Jewish Child. Anne Frank, who was caught up in the conflagration which consumed 6,000,000 of her fellow Jews of Europe has a tribute in the form of a Diary which stands as a memorial to her passing.
“..It did not end with ..betrayal ..I believe that my father blackmailed Otto Frank.” Anton Ahlers.
Also, and what we know is that on August 4th. 1944, the 8 Jewish People who had been in hiding in the Secret Annex were betrayed and arrested. A truck took them away and delivered them to Gestapo headquarters at Euterpestraat. Their eventual removal to the prison on Weteringschans took place the following Morning, Saturday August 5th. 1944. Then, on Tuesday August 8th. 1944 they were all again moved toward Amsterdam’s Central Station where along with 72 other’s, they were embarked on the next stage of their journey, this time to the Westerbork Concentration Camp.
At Westerbork detention camp they are assigned to hut 67 and bide their time until a transport, which took Anne and her fellow Annexe survivors toward Auschwitz. Their’s was amongst the last Dutch transports to leave and indeed, their own transport on September 3rd. 1944 was the final transport of some 83 such resettlement transports, which took some 106,000 Dutch Jews toward extinction. With their arrival on the night of September 5th. and 6th. 1944 at Camp of Auschwitz, they were soon sent forward toward Birkenau. Having been sealed into a cattle car for some 48 hours, they were amongst 1,019 Jews on this SD Transport of 498 Jewish Men, 442 Jewish Women and 79 Jewish Children.
Immediately a selection was made and of these, 258 Jewish Men were selected for a momentary reprieve as were 212 Jewish Women, a selective service for the demands of the SS overseers. For all of these other 549 Jewish People of this transport, these were immediately gassed. On October 28th. 1944 a major selection from amongst the remaining Jews of Auschwitz sees 8,000 deported toward Belsen and amongst these Anne and Margot Frank. Anne was transported away from Auschwitz and brought to the Belsen Concentration Camp near Hannover in Germany.
There was a typhus epidemic which broke out shortly thereafter, and as the lack of any humanitarian concern for those interned there took hold, 1,000’s of lives were ravaged by disease, hunger and starvation. Included in these were Margot Frank, just a few days before Anne too succumbed to the same debilitating effects. It is uncertain when Anne actually died though this is more likely to have been sometime toward the end of February or the beginning of March. With some testimony’s giving the specific date for Anne’s death as March 31st. 1945, We will never know.
Both Anne and Margot Frank’s bodies are interred somewhere in a mass grave, in a field where no marker can be erected to show exactly where either of them are buried. The History of another time might pick an archaeological moment to seek them out and provide the DNA answer to where they should be finally laid to rest! The Belsen Concentration Camp was finally liberated on April 15th. 1945 by the British Army, far too late for Anne and Margot and the some 13,000 who had died as they lay. The end of the dying for those who were finally liberated did not end here.
On June 12th. 2019 Anne Frank should have been 90 years old. I have shared with you what Anne’s last thoughts were as she penned her very final entry into her Diary. Of course Anne had no inkling that her long respite and the sojourn had finally come to an end, nor that the Secret Annexe had remained a secret no more. It is not for me here to speculate what the fearful and even frightened Anne might have written to add to those pages she has gifted the World. Needless to say. A Child her age witnessed the most brutal and devastating Crimes ever to permeate the human consciousness. So perhaps what the World has not learned from any christ, it should perhaps learn from what Anne Frank still delivers to and for us. What is terribly certain is, Anne Frank went to Sleep not realising she was to become everything she wanted to be, without living to know it!
“..I fall asleep with ..strange feeling of wanting to be different than I am or being different than I want to be ..or perhaps of behaving
differently than I am or want to be.” Anne Frank.
