(Last Modified: 03/03/2025)
Anne Frank, Amsterdam, 1941.
I don't read any non-technical books these days, but I recently got an urge to read something like Viktor Frankl's Man Search for Meaning. I asked a AI chatbot for some suggestions, and Anne Frank's diary was one of them.
I really didn't expect much. I initially read it because I wanted to know the story of how this girl and her family came into hiding, what their thoughts were on the war, and that's about it.
Little did I know that this was no ordinary diary. And in hindsight, I can see why it became so popular. As of this writing, this is by far, the best "book"? I have ever read. technically it's a diary...
I'm not going to go into great detail about Anne's life, if you're curious, I highly recommend reading the diary yourself or just learning about her here. But to summarize, she was a young Jewish girl who went into hiding from the Nazis in the family's Secret Annex from July 6, 1942 to August 4, 1944. She lived with another family in the Annex, and one other person. Eventually, they were caught and sent to concentration camps, only Anne's father survived and ended up publishing Anne's diary for the entire world to see, effectively immortalizing her, which was her dream:
I can’t imagine having to live like Mother, Mrs. van Daan and all the women who go about their work and are then forgotten. I need to have something besides a husband and children to devote myself to! I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me!
Here's another noteworthy passage from her diary:
Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again. Whenever you’re feeling lonely or sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking outside. Not at the houses and the rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you’ll know that you’re pure within and will find happiness once more.
I feel like I'm reading freaking Spinoza or something, her thought process and sentences are so coherent. She was clearly extremely intelligent. Meanwhile my diary when I was 15 looks absolutely feeble compared to this, lol.
By far, my favourite passage in her diary would definitely be this one. I shed a tear reading it because it's so beautiful. Let me remind you that I am not a very emotional person! I'm generally pretty indifferent about most things, so I am not exaggerating when I say that this made me pause and mumble, word for word, "Wow...":
I lie in bed at night, after ending my prayers with the words "I ch danke dir für all das Gute und Liebe und Schöne," and I’m filled with joy. I think of going into hiding, my health and my whole being as das Gute; Peter’s love (which is still so new and fragile and which neither of us dares to say aloud), the future, happiness and love as das Liebe; the world, nature and the tremendous beauty of everything, all that splendor, as das Schöne. At such moments I don’t think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains. This is where Mother and I differ greatly. Her advice in the face of melancholy is: "Think about all the suffering in the world and be thankful you’re not part of it." My advice is: "Go outside, to the country, enjoy the sun and all nature has to offer. Go outside and try to recapture the happiness within yourself; think of all the beauty in yourself and in everything around you and be happy." I don’t think Mother’s advice can be right, because what are you supposed to do if you become part of the suffering? You’d be completely lost. On the contrary, beauty remains, even in misfortune. If you just look for it, you discover more and more happiness and regain your balance. A person who’s happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery!
Here we have a girl who is in the midst of one of the most brutal wars in all of mankind. She is surrounded by the sounds of gunshots, sirens, and shouting. And yet, she is still able to find happiness and beauty despite her circumstances. Even though she, unfortunately, lived a very short life, she was far more enlightened than most people would ever be in their entire lifetime. Anne's response represents the correct solution, and it is a solution that is attainable to anyone, regardless of their circumstances.