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The Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

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Student Question

Why are Anne and her family hiding in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl?

Expert Answers

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Anne and her family were Jewish and they were attempting to hide from the Nazi's. There was a hidden compartment behind a bookcase where the family lived. The area was very busy with people and there were many spies and informants so the Franks had to be very careful so they would not be discovered. The Nazi's believed that the Jews were dirty, hateful people who wanted destruction for Christians. They captured millions of Jews and sent them to concentration camps where most of them were murdered. The Franks new of this danger and this is why they were hiding. Eventually, they were discovered, sent to a camp, and murdered.

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Anne Frank and her family are Jews, hiding from the government of Nazi Germany during World War II so they can avoid deportation to the death camps during the Holocaust.  They are hiding in Holland (The Netherlands) in a secret compartment above an apartment building, and had to remain in the building around the clock to avoid detection.

The SS and Gestapo conducted searches for Jews in hiding, and relied on a network of informants and anti-Semitism in the local population to help them in their search.  In the end, Anne and her family's location was given away, and they were sent to concentration camps and murdered.

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They are hiding from the Nazis.  They have to do this because the Nazis are trying, essentially, to kill all the Jews they can find.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany, one of their big ideas was that they Jews were responsible for all of Germany's troubles.  They also thought the Jews tended to ruin all civilizations they touched.

Because of this, they started trying to get rid of all the Jews in their territories.  When Germany took over the Netherlands, Anne and her family had to hide to try to prevent this from happening to them.

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