Annelies Marie Frank, better known as Anne Frank, is an auto-biographical icon who was a Jewish by birth and a victim of the dreadful anti-Semitic holocaust that took place in Nazi concentration camps during the Wold War II. Â Born in 1929, she lived until 1945 and in the concentration camps suffering from Typhus. Originally, her family held from Germany, but had to migrate to Amsterdam after the rise of Adolf Hitler. During the German occupation of Netherlands, the Frank family was arrested and put into concentration camps. Anne Frank has left a diary which records the day to day incidents of her life from 12th June, 1942 to 1st August, 1944. It was found after her death by her father and was published posthumously titled ‘œThe Diary of a Young Girl’. The diary is of invaluable literary and historical value as it is the only autobiographical account of victim of the Nazi holocaust. The literary merits of a teenage girl like Anne were also acclaimed by literary critiques. To this day, the diary of Anne Frank remains the single most influential account of the Nazi holocaust.
Although Anne Frank is a well-known figure to the historians and students of literature, there are facts about her which remain lesser known. Some of these facts are as follows:
Anne had received the blank diary on her 13th birthday as a gift.
She was actually gifted an autograph-book which she used as a diary. Anne had to actually resort to papers later on which she stitched to this book.
Anne did not write an orthodox account. She actually wrote the incidents in the form of letters which were addressed to ‘œkitty’, a fictional character in Cissy Van Marxveldt’s Joop Ter Heul.
When the family was arrested by the Nazi police on 4th August, 1944, it was an open secret that someone close to the family had disclosed their identity to the police. But that person remains unknown to this day.
There is actually a video footage of Anne Frank, the only existing one which shows a 12 year old Anne watching the marriage ceremony of her neighbour. This footage was recorded on 22nd July, 1941.
Anne Frank’s diary has sold more than 30 million copies till now and has been translated into 67 different languages.
The diary of Anne was first published in Germany and in France in 1950.
A play was actually written by Frances Goodrich based on the diary of Anne Frank.
Anne had a lack of affection for her mother. This was not in the original publication but the relevant pages were actually torn away by Otto Frank before he submitted it for publication. It was revealed only after Otto’s death.
An asteroid has actually been named after her in 1995 and it is called Asteroid 5535 Annefrank.
These are only some of the lesser known facts about Anne frank and her diary. It is one of the most valuable auto-biographical account in the history and is certainly invaluable for understanding World War II and the Nazi rule.
