Holland 1945
Somehow I missed reading Anne Frank's diary in High School. Perhaps its because 'Night' by Elie Wiesel (another classic book about the holocaust) was paired with some book about exisentialism and the holocaust by my Grade 12 English teacher. Though, that book was good too.
I finally decided to read it after learning that Neutral Milk Hotel's masterpiece album 'In the aeroplane over the sea' was actually largely inspired by Anne Frank. Reading a book about going into hiding from the Nazis also seemed like a great book to read to get over the culture shock of living abroad in Korea and realizing, 'hey, its not so bad when you think about it'.
Those random reasons for reading the book being said, I'm glad I finally read it, since it really is one of the quitessential books to read about the holocaust. Reading about a family successfully going into hiding, living 2 years in a tiny living space eating terrible food while gaining hope that they will survive the war only to be caught shortly after D-Day really helps to understand the sheer loss of millions of others in the holocaust.
Its relatable because it was a family that nearly made it. Knowing that Anne Frank died in a concentration camp just weeks before British troops found the camp makes it all the more tragic.
I think its easy to sometimes get lost in the numbers. That 6 million Jews died in the holocaust, 90% of the jews in Poland died in the holocaust, etc. But reading personal accounts of the holocaust and knowing the terrible end that awaited so many innocent people truly helps to understand the vast lost that occured in this dark period of history.
What kind of person would have Anne Frank been if she would have survived World War 2? How many more Jews in the world would have lived if 1/3 of the population was not slaughtered when the global population was only 2 billion? Not to mention all of the millions of other people who died in concentration camps?
I may have been one of the few to have not read this book, but I'm more than pleased to have finally read it, and discovered why it is so important to read. I should really get around to reading more of the classics.
I finally decided to read it after learning that Neutral Milk Hotel's masterpiece album 'In the aeroplane over the sea' was actually largely inspired by Anne Frank. Reading a book about going into hiding from the Nazis also seemed like a great book to read to get over the culture shock of living abroad in Korea and realizing, 'hey, its not so bad when you think about it'.
Those random reasons for reading the book being said, I'm glad I finally read it, since it really is one of the quitessential books to read about the holocaust. Reading about a family successfully going into hiding, living 2 years in a tiny living space eating terrible food while gaining hope that they will survive the war only to be caught shortly after D-Day really helps to understand the sheer loss of millions of others in the holocaust.
Its relatable because it was a family that nearly made it. Knowing that Anne Frank died in a concentration camp just weeks before British troops found the camp makes it all the more tragic.
I think its easy to sometimes get lost in the numbers. That 6 million Jews died in the holocaust, 90% of the jews in Poland died in the holocaust, etc. But reading personal accounts of the holocaust and knowing the terrible end that awaited so many innocent people truly helps to understand the vast lost that occured in this dark period of history.
What kind of person would have Anne Frank been if she would have survived World War 2? How many more Jews in the world would have lived if 1/3 of the population was not slaughtered when the global population was only 2 billion? Not to mention all of the millions of other people who died in concentration camps?
I may have been one of the few to have not read this book, but I'm more than pleased to have finally read it, and discovered why it is so important to read. I should really get around to reading more of the classics.