Anne Frank
Anne Frank is one of the many young heroes of World War II and the Holocaust. Anne was born in 1929 to a German-Jewish family. After being forced into hiding during the Holocaust, she began keeping a diary of the events going on. This diary was published in 1947 initially, and has been translated into 67 different languages and used as the inspiration for many books and movies. It is one of the most popular books in the world. In 1933 when the Nazis took over, the Frank family moved to Amsterdam to avoid persecution.
In 1940, however, the Germans took control of Amsterdam and the Franks were forced to go into hiding to avoid forced labor, concentration camps, and other persecutions invoked by the Nazis. Otto Frank, Anne's father, had an office building with hidden rooms, which is where the family first went into hiding in 1942. They remained here for two years, unknown to the Nazis, living in squalor and getting by on whatever they could find to eat. Eventually, however, they were discovered and taken to concentration camps. Anne and her sister were taken to Bergen-Belsen, and in March 1945 they both died of typhus.
Anne's father Otto was the only one who survived the concentration camps. He went back to Amsterdam once the war was over. Finding that his daughter's diary had been saved, he worked hard to have it published. It was translated into English in 1952 and published as The Diary of a Young Girl. This diary was a gift for Anne's 13th birthday and includes events of her life from June 12, 1942 through August 1, 1944.
Anne was born in Frankfurt, Germany. She had one older sister. Her mother was a devout Jew while her father focused on more scholarly pursuits. The children were encouraged to read and become educated by both of their parents. After Hitler was elected into office, Anne's mother took the girls to stay with their grandmother. Otto stayed in Frankfurt until he received a job offer in Amsterdam. Once Otto was employed at set up in Amsterdam, his wife and children joined him. The girls were enrolled in school and began living a normal childhood.
In 1940, when the Netherlands was invaded by Germany, discriminatory laws and segregation were put into place. The girls were initially re-enrolled in a Jewish school for a short time before going into hiding to avoid Nazi persecution. Anne Frank is one of the most famous victims of the Holocaust as a result of her diary and her family's journey throughout the era.