The Journalist Who Never Became One : Anne Frank

10.18.23 / 5784

It’s with a heavy heart that I write this article in the year 2023, October 18^th. Hebrew year Cheshvan 3, 5784. War-torn areas of Israel and Palestine lay in ruins, millions displaced and suffering, several thousand already perished. Yesterday 500 innocents were killed in a hospital bombing and there are reports of another hospital being hit as well. The now internationally-recognized war seems to barely have begun and protests are rampant across the world.

We seem to have learned nothing from the Holocaust. The lesson of the holocaust should not have been that Jews are never slaughtered by the millions again, but that inhumane acts across all races, religions and borders should cease forever…and that we learn our lessons too late.

The week before the news of the Hamas/Israel conflict my son and I watched the black and white film, “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The same week I put off the announcement of my new website due to the nightmare battle we had with my son having Impetigo. This week I questioned again if I should I put it off. Launching the website was supposed to be fun and exciting, but how can I be happy or ask others to celebrate the occasion with me when so many, including myself, are grieving over current events? (Not to mention getting derailed from my planned articles to covering events and losing lots of sleep to nightmares that are actually reality…)

I wanted to have a special article to commemorate the launch, so, I finally settled on this one as a compromise.

I’m announcing my journal by writing a tribute to another journalist who went through similar struggles as what the world is facing now.

Anne Frank’s diary became possibly the most well-known diary of the world after Nazi war time. It’s claimed that more than 31 million copies have been sold in 67 languages, initially published as “The Diary of a Young Girl.” She wrote in her diary while locked in an upper-room-apartment type living arrangement with her family and several other Jewish occupants during the Nazi genocide of World War II. Most people know her for this, but probably lesser known is the fact that she, at her adult age of 16 (in the movie, not sure about her actual diary, she insisted she was not a child even at 13), aspired to be a journalist upon the war ending. She heard by radio that diaries were being used to share war stories.

I can definitely relate to Anne’s feeling of weight being lifted off when journaling. The years following my husband’s passing, I found that personal journaling and script copying was really good for me, like a form of therapy; and of course, as any good researcher does, I found supportive evidence that keeping a diary really can be a mood booster and therapeutic, especially if you choose the old fashioned pen and paper instead of digital.

When it comes to my online journal though, I can’t say writing always shakes off my cares or sorrows, especially when I have to write about the suffering of others and injustice in the world, but it does give me an outlet to help me feel I don’t just have to watch the news, hear stories or look out my window and feel helpless to change the world, I can do something about it by sharing the knowledge I know and encouraging activism, good works and goodwill through expression of the values I want others to embrace. I might not have the physical strength, financial means or individual stability to care for others as much as I’d like, but I have a voice and I can be a voice for the voiceless.

With the increase of media we are now globally connected to all the world’s suffering and more aware of the global scale of so many levels of corruption and imbalance in the world. At times people feel the evil will overcome us all. Anne and her “room mates” spent 2 years hiding from the evil of antisemitism and evolutionary eugenics ideology of then extremists. Even while in her own version of prison, she couldn’t turn her back on the whole of humanity. She found a way to have hope by viewing the endless sky of opportunity from the solitary window in the attic. She said she still believed in the goodness of people.

I agree with Anne. I think most people are generally well-meaning and decent people. The way I look at things is like a classroom (or maybe the idea of what a classroom used to look like since teachers are dropping like flies from inability to deal with kids these days…). Most of the kids in the class are conforming and well-enough-behaved. It only takes one or two kids to entirely disrupt the order into complete chaos and mayhem. I think it’s the same way in larger society. Most people are generally law-abiding citizens. It only takes one or two renegades to cause waves us disruption in the community, and I think its the same way with countries. You only need a few half-cocked leaders ready to show their might by force before world wars erupt and the whole world is shaken in the wake.

I wonder what Anne would think now? If she were alive in our time. Would she be proud of how her journal reached such a wide audience and equally proud of how its influenced those readers? Or would she wonder how, as I sometimes do, that barely anything has been gained from the lessons of history? That people are still branding themselves and others to a degree of hypocrisy and social deterioration? I just wonder…

Years ago I started trying to warn people of the shift I saw happening as we’ve come closer to that abyss of self-righteous patriotism and dehumanizing attitudes and behavior. People think “we’ll recognize it when we see it.” Do people see it now? Or will we look back on this time in the future and ask again, “How did humanity let this happen? Why didn’t we wake up sooner? Why were we so afraid to stand up for what’s right?”

The millions of Jews punished by false, but ‘successful’ war propaganda would most likely be labeled “terrorists” in modern times. A tragedy resounding “Never Again.” And yet… here we are again. I think its really important we understand that the Holocaust does not belong only to the Jews. While Jews indeed took the bunt of targeting, they were not the only people to suffer unjustly under the same demoralized, dehumanized ways of thinking that had become completely normal. Unless we recognize this, it will happen again and again with different people groups.

I implore everyone… We don’t need to have sympathy for those who are long gone and buried when there are so many people alive right now who need our sympathy, compassion, help and support. I think that’s what they would want. Love > Hate.

Irrespective of my differences with the President, his words and advice here are true and honorable:

“This is a moment for the United States to come together, to grieve with those who are mourning.”

“Let’s be real clear: There is no place for hate in America — not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against anybody. We reject — we reject — what we reject is terrorism. We condemn the indiscriminate evil, just as we’ve always done.” – President Joe Biden¹

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.” – Anne Frank (Quote Ref)

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Anne Frank never became a journalist… After the 25 months in hiding, they received news of final liberation and prepared for freedom. Her last journal entry was August 1, 1944. Three days later she and those with her were arrested and taken captive to multiple concentration camps. She and her sister Margot both died in 1945, Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Her father, Otto Frank, was the only survivor and lived on to publish his daughter’s diary, saving her dream.

Anne is gone and she never lived the life she wanted to outside of the secret annex, but she lived a life that left a legacy for so many others to be inspired by. As Anne said expressed in her quote, I don’t know what the future holds for me either. I have already had my fill of suffering and pain and disappointment with life not going the way I want it to, even though I’ve always been a loving and happy-spirited person. I don’t know if any of my articles will be published as great pieces and I highly doubt I would outlive a legacy like hers or others, nor do I really aspire to, I only hope to be a little light to the world. To make it a little bit brighter in some way or another. To give others hope is my hope.

I’ve already had several readers tell me how inspired they’ve been by different articles as well having several authors and journalists commend my work and tell me to keep going! I appreciate everyone who’s read my writing so far, liked, commented on and shared articles, encouraging me to keep it up!

Thank you for reading my Journal and supporting me in my passions!

Hope to see you back soon!

“I’m blessed with many things: happiness, a cheerful disposition and strength.”

Anne Frank – Diary, 3 May 1944

Writing for Angle and Perspective Journal,

iam:ForeverBlessed … And I hope you are too!