Anne Frank’s Diary
By Elaine Meyers
My conversations with the Emily Howland 6th grade classes would begin on June 4 at the Southern Cayuga Anne Frank Tree. I was so grateful to Diane Kulas for choosing the tree site as our meeting place. I always love reading the history of the tree and am so glad the site is open to the public https://sccsannefranktree.org/. I encourage all readers to make a visit.
I was looking at Anne Frank’s youthful photo when the first 6th grade class arrived. We began with a rapid quiz review of Anne’s life. Anne was born in Frankfurt Germany on June 12, 1929 into a Jewish family. Anne’s father Otto Frank, aware of the dangers posed by Hitler and the Nazi party, moved the family to Holland in 1933 where Anne attended Montessori and public schools. Anne received a diary from her family for her 13th birthday in 1942. The family moved to the Secret Annex on July 6, 1942 where they lived until they were discovered on August 4, 1944. Otto Frank was the only family member to survive the Holocaust.
We moved from family milestones to a discussion of Anne’s writing. On February 23, 1944, Anne described the constant comfort of nature provided by the chestnut tree outside her window. “The two of us (Anne and Peter) looked out at the blue sky, the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew, the seagulls and other birds glinting silver as they swooped through the air, and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn’t speak…” Finally, we listened as Anne told of her desire to be a writer in her April 5, 1944 entry. “I finally realized that I must do my schoolwork to keep from being ignorant, to get on with my life, to become a journalist, because that is what I want! I know I can write. A few of my stories are good, my descriptions of the Secret Annex are humorous, much of my diary is vivid and alive, but…it remains to be seen whether I really have talent.”
I shared that Anne’s diary was first published in the Dutch language and over the years in 70 languages. When the first American edition of the diary was published, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the introduction. “These are the thoughts and expressions of a young girl living under extraordinary conditions, and for this reason her diary tells us much about ourselves and our own children…I felt how close we all are to Anne’s experience, how very much involved we are in her short life and in the entire world.”
We ended by breaking into groups to discuss quotes taken from Anne’s writing. Anne’s quotes inspired insights from the sixth graders. “We need to find what makes us happy. There is never a wrong time to give to the poor. There is good in all people. It is better to be kind—in the long run this is most beneficial. Everyone is born equal, and everyone has similarities. In short, Anne is wise, brave and inspirational.”
The conversation continued on June 16 in Diane Kulas’ classroom. Five students divided into two teams to write an article about Anne Frank. After a brain-storming session, the two groups reported their ideas for their articles. Both groups had decided to focus first on Anne’s family. To begin the writing process, we brainstormed on our families. The positives included love, support, fun and being the people that you can always count on in trouble. We agreed that families aren’t perfect and that teasing, playing favorites, being loud and spending too much time on the phone was part of family life. I smiled and said that this group would understand Anne Frank’s family very well as they read her diary.
Cody, Caylee and Evan‘s article wrote about the tensions of family life in the Secret Annex. “When they were in hiding, they were around each other all of the time and had to be silent from eight in the morning until the store closed. This means that they couldn’t talk, use the bathroom, or do anything that made noise. When they walked during the day, they had to wear socks or they would make a noise that someone might hear. In her diary Anne wrote, ‘As if I don’t hear ‘shh, shh’ enough during the day because I’m always making ‘too much’ noise, my dear roommate has come up with the idea of saying ‘shh, shh’ to me all night too. According to him I shouldn’t even turn over’.”
Victor and Dylan’s article observed, “We talk about Anne Frank because our lives are so much easier. Anne could barely sleep without being scared, Anne barely had anything to eat. Anne had no people to talk to because Anne had to be quiet. They were crowded in an attic, and they also had to share rooms. The only food they ate was what they got and they did not complain. They were just happy to have food.”
Just as the tree site is open for our readers, so are the complete articles by Southern Cayuga student writers at Here are the links to these articles: http://sccsannefranktree.org/dylanandvictor/, http://sccsannefranktree.org/codycayleeandevan/. It is good to know that our young people are still providing written records of their thoughts, feelings and insights. With time, we will learn if we have a future journalist in our midst.