Holocaust Remembrance Day is when we bring to mind the people—most of them Jews—who were exterminated by the millions in World War II by the Nazis.
Maybe you’ve read The Diary of a Young Girl (or The Diary of Anne Frank), a real diary of a young girl just turned thirteen. In it, she chronicles her days of hiding out with her family and another family in an annex (an unused portion of a building, like an attic) in Amsterdam. Why are they hiding? Because if the Nazi soldiers find them, they’ll be sent to a concentration camp and likely be killed.
Eventually, this is exactly what happens to them. They are discovered, hauled off, and separated at concentration camps, where Anne dies. Anne’s diary is later found in the rubbish in the annex by a neighbor and given to the only surviving member of Anne’s family, her father Otto.
In May, before they are discovered, Anne writes of a tree she sees out the window of the annex: “Our chestnut tree is in full bloom. It’s covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.”
The tree recently fell in a storm, but its seeds have been used to grow other chestnut trees. These new trees have been sent all over the world in commemoration of the Holocaust. They have become symbols of the endurance of the human spirit despite tremendous odds against it.
You may be surprised to learn that Anne not only wrote of her life but she also enjoyed writing short stories. In fact, she was quite good at writing them. You can learn more about her stories in Tales from the Secret Annex by clicking on the image of the book cover here.
Now it’s your turn: Chose from any of the options below.
An Object
If you had to live in cramped quarters for two years with another family, hiding out from enemies, what object would you save from your experience that would be meaningful to you? What would you want people to think about or ponder when they look at your object?
A Tree
What location do you think would be appropriate to plant one of Anne Frank’s chestnut trees? Write about why you chose that location.
An Entry
Write a journal or diary entry of a teen hiding from a dangerous situation. Anne Frank began her entries with this: “Dear Kitty.” How will you begin your entry?
A Story
You are hiding from mortal enemies, but you want people to know that you’d like the world to be very different from what it is. Write a short story to convey this message to readers.
Photo credit: Jewish families debarking a train at Auschwitz, 1944 /German Federal Archives / Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-N0827-318 / CC-BY-SA 3.0
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