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Anne Frank would have been 80 years old on June 12th. How ironic that within days of this anniversary, once again Jews were attacked - this time at the Holocaust Museum, a place designed to memorialize the victims, including Anne, of the Holocaust itself. It's an ironic reminder of what all our mothers - and most of our rabbis -- told us -- that there will always be people who hate Jews and that they will always find ways to try to hurt us - singly or in great numbers.
As someone who grew up at the end of World War II, I remember Anne, who felt like someone my age even though, in real terms, she would have been much older. Listen toLea Lane, at the Huffington Post:
I took Diary of a Young Girl home and read it through, crying along the read. I identified with the sensitive, Jewish teenager who could write openly and freely, who didn't get along with her mother, who was feisty and flirty and curious.
The book was everywhere then: school libraries, book stores, a play and a movie. The play was revived in the early nineties and starred Natalie Portman. It's impact has not gone unacknowledged. Our own Megan Smith listed the film in her post "Ten TV Shows and Movies That Taught Me Something About War." Julia Buckley at Mysterious Musings offers a sweet contemplation of Anne, and a lovely photo.
Many bloggers have connected the two stories: the Holocaust Museum shooting and Frank's birthday, among them: Weave and Sew Dust, Hummingbirdminds, and Feministe.
I came upon a couple of other posts that round things out, both here at BlogHer. Britt Bravo has a lovely interview with Janessa Goldbeck of the Genocide Intervention Network. Britt writes that her interest in genocide arose at least partially from all the Anne Frank stories and Holocaust films she grew up on. Their conversation summarizes many of the issue surrounding Frank - and creating the need for a Holocaust Museum, whose halls fill with new horrors from Darfur and Rwanda and wherever comes next. And another BlogHer mainstay, Mata H, offers us The Forgiveness Project, which encourages, and enables, efforts to forgive- countries, individuals -- whomever needs forgiving. Anne would have liked that.
