If you believe you learned all about Anna Frank and the others she lived with in a secret annex in Holland when they tried to escape the Nazis, what is it you know? We have a simple story of a young girl who through no fault of her own, spent more than two years in hiding. Eight people disappeared and no one but their caretakers know what happened. The few small rooms were upstairs and in the back of Otto Frank’s business which was in the middle of Amsterdam, Holland. During the entire time Anna was in hiding she kept a diary. Eventually a phone call was made to Gestapo headquarters by an unknown caller and the entire group was taken to concentration camps. Miep Gies, the main caretaker of the family rescued Anna’s diary and saved it. Since Otto Frank was the only one of his group to survive the war, Miep gave it to him.
That is the basic story and it goes along with Anna’s writings in her diary. Yet having to do with Anna Frank and her life in the annex, there is more for you to know than meets the eye. You need to know the characters to the point that they become alive for you. You need to live the story. For that, you have to dig into the details to the point, that you feel you know and understand the characters in the story.
The story of Anna Frank in the secret annex includes the way she was brought up. To know that you have to become familiar with those who brought her up. Who had influence over Anna during her earliest years? What were the influences that affected her before the war? How did the move from Germany to Holland affect Anna from then on? How did German influences, her friendships and her family make Anna into the person she became? How did the others Anna lived with in hiding influence Anna? This is a great story and even today It is still immerging.
How did things work out for the eight people who lived together in the secret annex? Seven of them perished before the end of the war. otto Frank survived. What would have happened to the story of the annex if Anna any of the others who were with her and died, wound have survived?
If Anna would have remained alive after the World War II, she would have never become a household name. Meip Gies would have returned Anna’s diary to her after the war and it is likely Anna would not have made it famous. It would never have become a best seller. It would have become bedtime stories she would have read to her children to put them to sleep. It is likely that no one else would have read it and no one would have known her name. That is because Anna did not believe her diary had in it anything worth reading. She called it a nickname, Musings of an Ugly Duckling. To her, the writings in the diary were dribble and she could not represent it with confidence. There would have been no Anna Frank foundation, no Anna Frank House, and no diary. There would have been no plays or movies about Anna and to everyone, Anna would have been one more holocaust survivor. Child in school would have never heard her name. Anna wrote diary because she needed to express herself.s She never through it would become world famous, She would have pursued other interests.
Besides Anna and her father, there were six others who lived together in hiding. What would have happened if anyone of them would have survived the war? Anna’s mother was one of the six. Anna did not usually get along with her and she had certain issues with her sister Margot, who got along with the others in the annex. Mr. and Mrs. Van Pels lived with the Frank’s in the annex. According to the diary, Mr. and Mrs. van Pels’ suffered in the annex. Mr. van Pels was addicted to cigarettes and he could not get hold of one very often. He was overweight and eating lightly, as they all did in hiding, was a struggle for him. Mrs. van Pels tried to give him more to eat behind peoples backs. She thought of herself as kind and delicate, but her behavior showed others the opposite personality. The Frank’s found the van Pels to be difficult people. Peter, their son was shy and was disrespected by his father the entire time in hiding. Fritz Ppeffer was the eight person to join. He was lonely because he missed his fiancé and there was no one in the annex he could call his friend. He also had run ins with Anna.
Each individual was hand-picked or had to be accepted by Otto Frank. They lived in the annex because of their circumstances. They were Jewish and had nowhere to go to escape the Nazis.
Let us look into this story from another angle. Let us say the people who lived in the annex were there because that is how G-d wanted it to be. Each had an important role to play in Anna’s diary. Each was hand-picked by G-d because they were the best individuals for the story. They were examples of various human behavior styles Anna could learn from. They were the exact personality types Anna had to study.
G-d was always with the hideaways in the annex, being with Anna, guiding her thoughts, and directing her in her writing. Anna dissected the personalities of the others, and wrote about them, sometimes in anger, sometimes with sarcasm, and sometimes with beautiful words. It seems that before ending her diary, Anna learned that each person deserves respect. She wanted to open up to them and show them her empathic side, but because of her sensitive feelings, and a lack of confidence in her inner-self, she avoided closeness with them.
Each of us have certain gifts from G-d. Anna’s most precious gift was her ability to be introspective. Her second great gift was her ability to put her thoughts into just the right words and write them down.
In the end, all of the hideaways had to leave our world before the war ended. It seems that from the highest perspective, that was the only way the story would go out to the world and grow and grow. If one person had lived and criticized or belittled Anna, that could have dampened the effect of Anna’s diary on the world. That could have decreased the importance of the book. Therefore, before G-d, no one in the annex would live through the war accept Otto.
After the war Otto was alive and returned to Amsterdam. Let us say, G-d made him the designated survivor. He possessed the personality, behavior, and character to get Anna’s book into the hands of everyone. He was logical, he loved his family more than anything else, he was ethical and stood up against those who challenged the authenticity of Anna’s diary and he never took credit for himself. When others came out saying, Otto wrote the diary, he brought evidence that was beyond a shadow of a doubt that Anna wrote it in hiding. He also had the determination to stand up for the importance of the diary, and make proper decisions regarding it, until Anna’s name became world famous.
The entire story of live in the secret annex had to be told. It had to be powerful enough for the world to know, war victimized the unfortunate. It is unfair punishment for the individual. It should never happen again.
The greatest question is, is that it? Is that the entire reason Anna’s diary had to be remembered or is there another reason much greater that we have never looked into? The story teaches us about the suffering of Jews during the holocaust, yet, it is more than that.
G-d wants the world to know what Anna was not ready to explain. Let us say, it is true that each individual counts very, very much and war is an unbelievable waist of life. Yes, it is a black mark on G-d’s creation but here is the rest of the story.
Anna writes in her second book, Get to Know G-d, it will happen again. G-d has made His judgment, that further destruction will happen. Those who want to destroy our planet will not get their way but they will drag the world down as far as G-d is willing to let that happen.
Anna wrote Get to Know G-d, and do something she could not do in her diary. She wanted to warn the world and say, prepare yourself for the most difficult times that are to come. Reach your potential. Use your gifts of greatness G-d has given you. She means to say, at a time of danger, save water, food, and money, no matter how affluent you are. At the time of the most danger, anything you have will work against you because someone else will take it away from you. The best thing you can do to prepare yourself is develop your character and personality and get closer to G-d. Honor others and convince them to do the same. We have not reached that time of danger yet, but the thought of it is not far-fetched.
Coming out from the annex is this message. If history has taught us anything, it is, learn from the past. Learn some messages that came from World War II, and some new messages that are coming up now. Anna has this to say. You believed her when she spoke to you from her diary, when you were a child. She wants you to hear her once more because she wants to get you out of the mess we are in, which is only in its early stages. It seems, our book Get to Know G-d is another book G-d wants all of us to learn from. How can that be correct?
When I had just finished writing the final letter in the final word of Get to Know G-d, I could go no further; my pen ran out of ink. Anna wanted to add in some words to me, that everyone would read, through automatic writing, but apparently, that was extra. There was no more ink in my pen. I pressed down hard in order to indent the paper with Anna’s final words and that was the best I could do. I questioned, why did my pen run out of ink at that precise moment? I learned, G-d had changed the laws of nature to allow Anna’s letter to me to be written. Once they were complete, G-d restored the laws of nature over us and not one more letter in a word was allowed to flow down from heaven to my hand. Anna’s letters were closed. The book was complete. G-d is saying to all of us by that act, this book is not about Anna or Mark. It is from heaven and it has in it information each individual needs to know. You need to care about what it says because it is for you. G-d is saying, I prepared the entire story of the secret annex before it happened. I prepared Anna so she could write her diary, and I am now preparing you for what is to come. From the beginning of Anna’s diary, it seems, G-d had in mind that I would be a participant in her story many years later. In 1942, G-d sat Anna down to write. Now he has sat me down to write. We look towards each other across heaven and earth in a confused amazement and experience whatever we can understand about G-d. We acknowledge our gifts, and feel so much distance between us. Maybe it is not a coincidence that my last name is Frank. Who would have thought? Through pens, word processing programs, tears, and joy, G-d is saying to everyone, I do all that I do because, I love you.