Born: Annelies Marie Frank

D.O.B.: June 12, 1929 

Died: March 12, 1945 

Cause of Death: Typhus 

Cool Quote: “I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more."

Many innocent lives were lost during the Holocaust, including that of a smart and curious young girl. Fifteen-year-old Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Edith and Otto Frank. Anne also had a sister named Margot who was three years older. They were an upper-middle-class German-Jewish family living in a religiously diverse neighborhood. When Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Otto Frank quickly moved his family to Amsterdam, Netherlands in the fall of 1933. While attending grammar school, Anne Frank lived a happy life until her sister received an official summons to report to a Nazi work camp in Germany. The next day, the Frank’s went into hiding in the back of Otto Frank’s company building, which was referred to as the "Secret Annex."

The Frank family, as well as Otto’s business partner’s family, spent two years in hiding, never once stepping out into the world. Several of Otto’s employees provided them with food, water, and information about the war. For Anne’s 13###sup/sup### birthday, she received a red-checkered diary that she managed to bring that into hiding and she wrote entries daily.

In August 1944, the families were discovered in the Secret Annex. They were first shipped off to Camp Westerbork concentration camp and then transferred to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. When they arrived at the death camp, the men and women were separated. It was the last time that Otto Frank ever saw his wife or daughters.

In March 1945, Anne and her sister came down with typhus and died within a week of each other. Anne died at the age of fifteen. Anne’s father Otto was the only member of his family to survive. When he returned to Amsterdam, he found Anne’s diary. He was shocked at what he discovered about his daughter. He later wrote a letter to his mother saying, “There was revealed a completely different Anne to the child I had lost. I had no idea of the depths of her thoughts and feelings.” He saved the diary and has now shared it with the world.

Today, the “Diary of Anne Frank” can be purchased everywhere. The diary reveals Anne's thoughts and writing of creativity and knowledge far beyond her years. Her house in Amsterdam has been preserved and is visited by millions of people each year.

Obituary: http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/womenenc/frank.htm