After the Nazi Political Party lost the election the year Anne was born in 1929, there was no sign of them possibly winning the next election.
However, their Austrian leader, Adolf Hitler, wasn't going to stop his fight for power. Soon after the election, he published an autobiography called Mein Kampf ( translated into English:My Struggle). In his book, he warned his adopted national community of the so-called dangers, of communism and the perceived evils of the Jewish peoples ( in his words, he called them "the destroyers of culture").
When the economy collapsed in later that same year, several Germans opened their ears to his call for a stronger and "purified" country. The Germans felt desperate for someone to blame their misfortune on, and Hitler was willing to give it to them. He blamed the Jews for Germany's financial troubles that came with losing World War One and the Great Depression that followed it.
When the next election arrived more and more people adopted Nazism; the formation captured eighteen percent of the vote, and in July 1932, the Nazis won, and the imminent threat that the Franks feared, became reality.
They and other Jewish families were discriminated against and forced to follow a set of specific rules: Jewish children could not go to school with German children, they had a curfew, and they could not go to the many public places, including stores and the cinema. They were forced to bring the Star of David on their clothes so that they could not group together and rebel against the rules without the police noticing.
Shops and businesses owned by Jews were boycotted. Soldiers were stationed ahead of doors with signs saying "Germans, defend themselves. Don't buy from Jews!"
Slowly the Jews were called to labor camps located in the countryside. No one back in the cities knew what exactly these camps were. A letter would arrive at your door calling you to the camps. These were called call-ups. If you disobeyed and refused to go to the camp you and your family would face persecution. Sometimes the people called-up to go were never seen again. jews where disappearing from the city one by one, but where were they going? It was clear now that it was time to leave. The Franks were quick to look for a safer place to raise their children, before a call-up arrived at their door.
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Anne Frank: The Life of Girl With A Million Thoughts
Non-FictionAnne Frank was a Jewish teenage girl during the Second World War who defended her thoughts through her writing. Wherever she went she kept with her a small autograph book she used as a diary. After the war, her diary entries were published. Her wr...
