Understanding Anne Frank's The diary of a young girl

by Hedda Rosner Kopf

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is the most widely read text about the Holocaust, yet it reveals only one example of the tragic consequences of the Nazi policy to eliminate the Jews. This casebook enriches Anne Frank's remarkable diary with historical documents that illuminate the political and social context of anti-Semitism in Germany and the Holocaust. Documents and discussion materials are organized into chapters on the Frank family history; the Jews in Holland; children in the Holocaust and their rescuers; a narrative overview and chronology of anti-Semitism in modern Germany; and other Holocaust accounts. Kopf also addresses the psychological issues of adolescent development so dramatically illustrated in Anne's diary and looks at her writing as carefully crafted literature. Each chapter contains study questions, topics for research papers and class discussions, and lists of further reading.