There are endless facts and figures depicting the total number of deaths during the holocaust & all are truly horrifying and saddening, yet somehow the focus on one girl’s story left me, and others, with a stronger sense of sadness. Along with the observations, stories & thoughts that Anne Frank documented in her diary is the overriding sentiment that Anne gave a face and a voice to the millions of people persecuted by the Nazi party, in particular the Jews.When the focus is shifted from a death toll of 11 million people killed to 8 people in hiding, their helpers & their lives for 2 years, it becomes somewhat less difficult & more heartbreaking to process the horrifying extent of the holocaust & the variety of lives that the Nazis destroyed.
Particularly during our visit to Anne Frank’s annexe in Amsterdam, I really began to consider how many other people documented the Holocaust whose stories were eradicated with them when they died. Anne was one girl who wrote everything down & thanks to her father Otto, millions of people have been able to hear her story, which was her wish. However there must have been thousands, if not millions of people whose stories were never heard and were perhaps killed before they even got to have their own story. For me, this was what made the visit to the Anne Frank house so incredibly poignant. As well as highlighting the life of a young girl which was so tragically cut short, it brought to light the fact that in such a terrifying era, Anne was so lucky to have her words saved, when so many other people’s were silenced along with them.
– Hannah M
History Trips 