Speech - Who Was Anne Frank?

"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." (Said this, in her famous diary, written in the Secret Annex.) Who was Anne Frank?

Brief timeline – and then she will tell you what life was like in the annex.

• Born June 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany – stay-at-home mother Edith, big sister Margo, father Otto – businessman.

• When 4 years old, moved to Netherlands, thinking they would escape Nazis there.

• When 11 years old, Nazis invaded Netherlands, shattering this hope.

• Life became harder – could no longer go to a non-Jewish school. Otto Frank began planning for a hiding place.

• When 13 years old, Margot received a call-up notice to a German "work camp" and this sped up the timeline for going into hiding. Moved into Secret Annex with her family and 3 others, the Van Daan family. Brought along a diary, that she had just received for her 13^th birthday. A few months later, they were joined by Dr. Dussel, a dentist.

• 8 of them lived there for 2 years

• August 1944 - arrested by Nazis, for being a Jew

• End of February 1945 or beginning March (nobody knows for sure), she died of typhus in a Nazi work camp.

Anne’s story:

• Her room – shared with Dr. Dussel – and where she writes.

• Living with 8 people for 2 years – tension, squabbling, growing up fast! Something about all of them …

• Keep busy – father giving me school lessons

• Story of burglarly.

• (Digress to explain that this is annex behind Otto’s office.)

• Heard noises downstairs.

• (Digress to explain that they are always quiet during the day, but can make noise at night.)

• Very frightened!! Hope the burglar didn’t hear us, because he could go to the police.

• "Must go back to my studies ..."

What we know happened after that … and what we don’t know (who turned them in).

How I felt when I was preparing this speech ...