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June 14: Anne Frank
Anne Frank made her first full diary entry on this date in 1942, two days after receiving the diary (an autograph book, which she dubbed “Kitty”) from her father for her 13th birthday. The entry described her birthday festivities, including the viewing of a film about Rin Tin Tin, the heroic dog. Two years later Anne would add a notation on a loose sheet of pink paper about how strange and new it was for her to keep a diary, especially since no one would be interested in her ideas. On July 6, the family moved into the “secret annex” behind her father’s company building along one of Amsterdam’s canals. They would remain there for more than two years until an unidentified informer tipped the German Security Police to their presence. Anne’s final diary entry is dated August 1, 1944. She died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March, 1945.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” —Anne Frank
I’m Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents. Before you go, I need to ask something of you.
In recent years, I’ve watched as mainstream Jewish institutions and media have chosen ethnonationalism over liberal democracy and mass slaughter over the pursuit of a just peace. Jewish Currents offers something different. It’s a magazine built on intellectual curiosity and respect for the dignity of all people.
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Lawrence Bush edited Jewish Currents from 2003 until 2018. He is the author of Bessie: A Novel of Love and Revolution and Waiting for God: The Spiritual Explorations of a Reluctant Atheist, among other books. His new volume of illustrated Torah commentaries, American Torah Toons 2, is scheduled for publication this year.
