Anne Frank: The girl who wanted to write | CNN

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Anne Frank is pictured in 1941, the year before her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.
Anne Frank is pictured in 1941, the year before her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.
Anne Frank House/AP
World

Anne Frank: The girl who wanted to write

Updated 11:35 AM EDT, Fri June 12, 2020
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Anne Frank's diary is often many young people's introduction to the horrors of the Holocaust.

It has been more than 75 years since her final diary entry.

Three days later -- on August 4, 1944 -- she was arrested with her family in the "secret annex" of a house in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where they had hidden for two years. She later died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp when she was 15.

For her 13th birthday, Anne received a red plaid diary, her first journal. She brought it with her into hiding and began writing in it in 1942. After her death, her father, Otto Frank, edited and compiled the diary. It was published in the Netherlands in 1947 as "The Secret Annex. Diary Letters From June 14, 1942, to August 1, 1944."
For her 13th birthday, Anne received a red plaid diary, her first journal. She brought it with her into hiding and began writing in it in 1942. After her death, her father, Otto Frank, edited and compiled the diary. It was published in the Netherlands in 1947 as "The Secret Annex. Diary Letters From June 14, 1942, to August 1, 1944."
Anne Frank Fonds Basel/Getty Images
Pages with text and photos from Anne's diary, written in October 1942.
Pages with text and photos from Anne's diary, written in October 1942.
Anne Frank Fonds Basel/Getty Images
A handwritten page of Anne's diary includes photos of herself on the beach during a holiday with her sister, Margot. The two sisters would live hidden in the annex with their father; their mother, Edith; and another family.
A handwritten page of Anne's diary includes photos of herself on the beach during a holiday with her sister, Margot. The two sisters would live hidden in the annex with their father; their mother, Edith; and another family.
Anne Frank Fonds Basel/Getty Images
In her diary, Anne describes a 1942 picture of herself: "This is a photo as I would wish myself to look all the time. Then I would maybe have a chance to come to Hollywood."
In her diary, Anne describes a 1942 picture of herself: "This is a photo as I would wish myself to look all the time. Then I would maybe have a chance to come to Hollywood."
Anne Frank Fonds Basel/Getty Images
Two pages from the diary, written in 1942. "Her inner life and her voice seem almost shockingly contemporary, astonishingly similar to the voices of the teenagers we know," said Francine Prose, author of "Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife."
Two pages from the diary, written in 1942. "Her inner life and her voice seem almost shockingly contemporary, astonishingly similar to the voices of the teenagers we know," said Francine Prose, author of "Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife."
Anne Frank Fonds Basel/Getty Images
When her diary was almost full, Anne continued writing, using several notebooks. In 1944, she decided to rewrite her diary entries in the form of a novel, intending to publish it after the war, according to curators at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Shown here are the different versions of her diary, known now as versions A, B and C.
When her diary was almost full, Anne continued writing, using several notebooks. In 1944, she decided to rewrite her diary entries in the form of a novel, intending to publish it after the war, according to curators at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Shown here are the different versions of her diary, known now as versions A, B and C.
Anne Frank House
"The Diary of Anne Frank" has been translated into more than 70 languages in more than 60 nations.
"The Diary of Anne Frank" has been translated into more than 70 languages in more than 60 nations.
Anne Frank Fonds Basel/Getty Images

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