Perspectives

Anne Frank writes The Diary of a Young Girl between June 12, 1942, and August 4, 1944. Anne shapes the 195 entries according to developments of that period. She reports not only on her thoughts and feelings but also on the fears and hopes of those in hiding with her regarding to the persecution of the Jews and the development of the Second World War.

The Perspectives section begins with the origins and publication of Anne Frank's diary, as well as the three versions of the diary. After that, we offer you a short biography of Anne Frank. We also describe Hitler`s rise to power and the persecution of Jews by the Nazis in Germany, which were the reasons for the emigration of Anne's Jewish family. This helps you understand the historical background of the reason why Anne Frank had to go into hiding with her family and how much her life was affected by events in the outside world.

The following sections describe the flight of German Jews who tried to save their lives by emigrating. One section provides a detailed account of the war and the persecution of Jews in the Netherlands based on Anne's daily observations. The next section deals with the Holocaust and the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, to which the members of the Frank family were deported.

Afterwards, we look at Anne Frank's diary as a literary genre. As the months pass, the nature of the stories changes. They are revised by the author with a view to future publication. Finally, we will discuss the reception and adaptation of the work, which was published in 1947 at the request of Otto Frank. 

Being familiar with the historical as well as the literary background of Anne Frank's diary provides a valuable and necessary foundation for understanding her touching and tragic story.