The History of Judaism Through Anne Frank

Judaism

                          The History of Judaism through Anne Frank

        Throughout history and the study of religion, we take into consideration the variety of beliefs, customs, and troubling times that each specific religion undergoes. Like all religions, the Jews have been dealt their fair share of hardship and loss. The history in time dates back to the year 1933 when the Nazis took full control over the men, women, and children of the Jewish culture. To this day, The Holocaust is read about, reviewed, and studied in schools worldwide. A young Jewish girl, Anne Frank, is an iconic person through this act in history.

        Anne Frank, was born Annalise Marie, on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt. She was the younger sister to Margot, and daughter to Otto and Edith Frank. Due to the rising power of the Nazi reign, The Franks relocated to Amsterdam in her father’s strong willed attempt to protect his family.  Anne had to transfer to an all Jew school once Holland began hitting an economic failure due to the invasion of the German’s.  At this point in time, all Jews in Holland were required to wear yellow stars which represented the Star of David. According to Rosenberg, “the Frank’s could foresee death amongst the Jews in the Netherlands.” Their only way to escape from the Nazis, as Rosenberg continues, “was to go into safe hiding. Anne referred to their hiding place as the “Secret Annex”, which consisted of eight people all together living in a small home like setting for 2 years.” Their secret home was hidden behind a small bookcase located in an office building. Miep Gies was one of five people who helped this family hide in isolation and kept alive from the world outside. Prior to their escape to hiding, Anne Frank received a gift from her parents for her thirteenth birthday that will later become a symbolic element, an autograph album which was used as her personal diary for the next two years of her life.

Word got out and their hiding place was invaded by the German and Dutch police. Upon the arrest of each of the Jews, Anne and her sister were taken to a concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen, where they both later died from typhus. Anne Frank was 15 years old.

        The Holocaust is one key event in the history of Judaism that is significantly related to this person. During World War II, an act of hate and discrimination that fell into the hands of Adolf Hitler, whom as the leader of the Nazis, called for both young and old to be deported and killed. It was a hate crime like no other where young children were taken away from their parents; families were separated and never seen again. Within the twelve years in which the Holocaust lasted, statistics state that more than 11 million men, women, and children were murdered in the Holocaust. Approximately six million of these were Jews, and 1.1 million were young children. (Random History) It has been studied that the reason Hitler chose to murder the young was because if they were to grow old, they would most likely reproduce more Jews. The victims of this hate crime were transferred to concentration camps and gas chambers.