Living During Holocaust Described in the Diary of Anne Frank

December 14, 2021 by Essay Writer

“I only knew its funny never to be able to go outdoors… never to breathe fresh air… never to run and shout and jump”. Anne Frank wrote this in The Diary of Anne Frank, while she was hiding in a dark loft with two families, knowing that at any moment, her life could be over. Anne Frank was living in fear like this for two years. During the time period of the Holocaust, when the Nazi’s were sending Jews to concentration camps, Anne and her family, along with two other families were in a small, cramped loft that barely had any space to fit them all. The main problems the families living in the Annex faced were harsh living conditions, fearful tension and a scarcity of supplies.

To begin, the living conditions the residents of the Annex were forced to live with were very dreadful and cruel. The place in which Anne was driven to take refuge was obviously not the most ideal place, seeing as they had to live “off the grid”, meaning they had to do whatever it took in order to be safely concealed from the public and from the Nazis. The residents of the Annex couldn’t run water, which included using the bathroom, talk, and they had to walk lightly. “So, to be perfectly safe, from eight in the morning until six in the evening we must move only when it is necessary, and then in stockinged feet. We must not speak above a whisper. We must not run any water.” Mr. Frank had said this in The Diary of Anne Frank. This quote explains the hardships that the residents of the Annex had to deal with. Given these points, if people in the Annex didn’t adhere to these precautions, wouldn’t be safe.

Moreover, fear is a catalyst that fuels the residents into hiding from the Nazis in 1942. The subjugation of Holland by the German Nazis stimulated this apprehension. Jews were afraid the Nazis would drag them from their home and force them to a concentration camp. In The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank said, “Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of day, poor helpless people are being dragged outside their homes”. Anne Frank explains to the reader that every family in the Annex and the Jews outside are living in terror. Anne also explains how the Nazis are locating and deporting the Jews straight from the comfort of their homes to the hellish environment of a concentration camp. The families in the Annex were also in fear of losing all of their supplies. In addition to a very harsh environment and the trepidation created invasion by the Nazis, the members in the Annex were restricted even further by now having a scarce amount of supplies and necessities.

In addition to isolation and fear, the lack of supplies in the Annex made the living conditions harsher. The residents in the Annex had such a lack of food that they have been sharing the food rations. “The bread! He was stealing the bread-Mrs. Frank. It was you, and all the time we thought it was the rats! -Dussel. Mr. Van Daan, how could you! -Mr. Frank. I’m hungry- Mr. Van Daan. We’re all of us hungry! I see the children getting thinner and thinner. Your own son Peter… I’ve heard him moan in his sleep, he’s so hungry. And you come in the night and steal food that should got to them… to the children- Mrs. Frank.” This quote explains how Mr. Van Daan pilfered food at night to ease his hunger. Mrs. Frank then goes on to describe how the children are growing thinner and go to sleep starving. The lack of resources is another factor in the Annex that the residents have to suffer through.

In the final analysis, Anne Frank and her family lived in fear for two years, as they had to deal with very harsh living conditions; they lived in fear, and barely had enough food to survive. The three families in the Annex got eventually got caught by the Germans and were sent to concentration camps. But, Anne Frank and her glorious legacy will forever be resonant.æ

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