Monday, May 24, 2004

Anne Frank Educates Another Generation

Mackenzie watched The Diary of Anne Frank yesterday. This is one of my all-time favorite books and such a powerful movie. I have read the book no less than 10 times, and seen several different versions of the movie, yet it never fails to create an ache in my heart. The cruelty and inhumanity baffle me to an extent that I cannot comprehend, and each time I relive it in either print or on the screen, I end up sobbing. Not only for the for the millions who died, but for the millions who were defeated and demoralized. What a travesty that anyone should say that The Holocaust didn't happen. I find myself weeping for Anne, that she survived 9 months in concentration camps, only to die of typhus 2 weeks before Bergen-Belsen was liberated.

Then it occured to me. Had she not died, and her diary not been published, how many people around the globe whould have been ignorant to the horrors of Nazi Germany. Her diary, published in 1947, is one of the most widely read books today, read by both children and adults. Maybe she had a greater purpose in life. I stop short of saying that her suffering was meant to be, but I did say a prayer last night and thank God for the adolescent girl whose death would enlighten millions.

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