The Diary of Anne Frank Group

Question:

answermequick
answermequick
Student
High School - 9th Grade

Anne listed many of the restrictions the Nazis placed on the Jewish individuals. Based on the diary, what could Anne no longer do?

 

Please be specific as possible. Best if answered by someone who recently read The Diary of Anne Frank.

 

Rate question:

Posted by answermequick on Tuesday August 18, 2009 at 7:32 PM and tagged with anne frank, the diary of anne frank.

Answers:


  1. akannan Teacher
    Middle School

    eNotes Editor

    Anne's diary goes through a rather intense description of the type of limitations and controls placed on Jewish individuals.  The opening of the diary talks about the fact that Anne's father had arranged a hiding place in the annexe of his office upon the Nazi seizure of power in Amsterdam.  This highlights the primary restriction placed on Jewish people.  Deeming them as enemies of the Reich, once the Nazis gained power there was little to protect individuals of the Jewish faith from the Nazi measures, including forced imprisonment, and transport to one of the many emerging death camps.  The mere fact that the Frank family has to go into hiding proves that the Nazis sought to limit the existence of Jewish individuals.  This represented another limitation the Nazis imposed.  The development of a concentration camp, alluded to early on in the Diary, is the idea of collectivizing the movement and existence of Jewish individuals, denying them both political and ethical conceptions of freedom.  The camp, itself, was the embodiment of restriction, and many Jewish people, even those who did not believe the stories, knew that the presence of the camp constituted a force of extermination.  Anne alludes to this throughout her diary, foreshadowing her own end as she is sent to Bergen- Belsen.  Another restriction place on Jewish people was the imposition of the "targeted" label.  The Nazis were very successful in not merely targeting Jewish individuals, but ensuring that no one else, including non- Jewish people, would offer help to them.  The punishment for those who would help and assist Jewish people was the same for being Jewish.  Anne remarks and is astonished at the people who would help out the Frank Family, risking their own lives, such as Miep, to assist those who are in need.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/anne-frank/author-biography
    http://www.enotes.com/anne-frank/historical-context

    Rate answer:

    Posted by akannan on Wednesday August 19, 2009 at 4:58 AM