A Candle in the Dark

The stairs creaked as I peered over the top step of the steep spiral staircase. I heard a

noise below, and glancing down the dark stairwell, I glimpsed the edge of the bookcase that just

swung closed behind us. We were plunged into darkness. I could imagine how Anne Frank, the

young Jewish girl who lived here during the Holocaust, had felt, when she was forced to hide

from the Nazis. In the secret annex, there was not a single light, except for one window. As my

family and I moved through the rooms that used to be her home and refuge, I looked down from

the window and saw the murky canals of Amsterdam. Out there, people moved around the streets

and bridges, but inside, it seemed like time had stopped. Anne Frank’s secret annex was hidden

from the rest of the world, and inside, it was still the time of the Second World War.

Our visit to Anne Frank’s secret annex in Amsterdam last summer inspired me to read

her diary, which she wrote during the Holocaust. Anne was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but

moved to Amsterdam with her sister and parents before the war started. Unfortunately, they

weren’t safe there either; the Nazis captured the Netherlands, too. Anne and her family hid in a

factory building to protect themselves from the Nazis. While there, they had a strict schedule for

showering, cooking, and even using the bathroom, so that noises would not give them away to

the factory workers. They could not venture out to buy groceries. Food was secretly delivered to

them, and they lived in fear of being caught every day. We visited the secret annex during the

80 th anniversary of the date when Anne and her family were discovered and sent to a

concentration camp. I read her diary throughout the remainder of our trip, and when it ended

abruptly, I knew that Anne’s dream to be a writer had also ended.

Anne dealt with severe discrimination during the last few years of her life, when her

family and community were not welcome anywhere. However, despite their hardships, Anne still

believed that “in the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” At one

point, she mused, “It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals…I keep them,

because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” What struck

me most was that Anne continued to have faith in every person, teaching through her writing that

we should think the best of people and situations, because things could always be worse, and

because she believed that even cruel people could change for the better. As a child in school, I

feel her words resonating with me because I see students being “outsiders” at lunchtime, and

being excluded from groups during recess. I want to work even harder to befriend them, to

include them in class and afterschool activities, because every child deserves to belong.

Anne and her sister Margot also continued their education during the war. They both

continued to learn and do homework while in hiding! Anne held onto hope, and she dreamed

even through the scariest times that she would become a writer when she grew up; Margot

wanted to be a doctor. Even though they were both fighting for survival, they persisted in

working toward their futures. As a student lucky enough to go to school without the constant fear

of war, I don’t want to waste my chance at education, when so many others did not have this

chance. I want to learn as much as I can now, so that I can use my knowledge to help rid the

world of hatred and war, and help Anne’s peaceful and inclusive beliefs to finally come true.

From the darkness of her secret annex, Anne believed that a single person could be the

spark that changes human history: “look at how a single candle can both defy and define the

darkness.” Anne herself used her words to do this, and those words have lived beyond her death.

She was a trailblazer, not only for those who lived during the turbulent times of the Holocaust,

but for children and adults living regular lives almost a century later. Kindness towards others,

inclusiveness, perseverance -- all of us in this world can learn more from Anne Frank, because

“we can’t control our destiny, but we can control who we become.”