May 13, 2004

Her spirit lives on, Anne Frank 1929-1945
Web site helps build memorial wall at Bret Harte Middle School

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Fifty-seven years after her diary was first published, the memory of 16-year-old Anne Frank continues to live on, especially at Bret Harte Middle School, where a memorial wall containing nearly 500 photos from all over the world has been growing for the past two years.

According to eighth grade language arts teacher Jim DeLong, Anne Frank symbolized the power of the written word—a power that ultimately made her the most memorable figure to emerge from World War II.

“Writing allows me to record everything, all my thoughts, ideals and fantasies.” This entry in her diary on April 5, 1944 became the foundation for DeLong’s class project—a continually growing “wall” depicting photos of people from all over the world, holding copies of her diary in over 60 languages.

“The idea to build the wall first came from my desire to show students the power of the act of writing,” admits DeLong. “Because writing is portable in time and space, it takes on a life of its own, separate from its author. As a teenager, Anne Frank tried honestly to capture her life experience in writing and because she made that effort daily, we now can carry her experience with us throughout our lives.”

Following the study of her diary in class, along with a showing of the Oscar-winning documentary, “Anne Frank Remembered,” and special appearances by local Holocaust speakers, students were given the assignment to find copies of the book in a language other than English, and then take photographs holding it in other cities or countries. His goal is to help them discover how alive her spirit remains almost six decades later. “The “wall” of their pictures shows in a small way how powerfully her story lives on, even after her tragic and senseless death,” he says.

Last year, with the help of former student Jon Erickson, the wall became “virtual,” a collaborative attempt by current and former students to build a global Internet version of the one that literally covers the walls in their classroom, and with it, an invitation for people everywhere to submit their photos. Erickson initially spent six hours each week getting the Web site ready to launch. Although he is now a freshman at Leland High School, he remains committed to the project and devotes approximately two hours a week toward keeping it current.

“It’s a way for people all over the world to connect to one event in history,” says Erickson. “I just wanted to be a part of that. I plan to continue working on it for years to come and keep it alive for as long as I can.”
“He’s worked countless hours on this to make it what it is,” praises DeLong. “What’s great about this is that former students will still send photos in—it’s still a part of their lives.”

The world famous diary charts the Dutch teenager’s life in Amsterdam from 1942 to 1944, while her Jewish family hid from the German Nazis in a secret annex above her father’s office. In one of her first entries after receiving the diary for her 13th birthday, she wrote, “I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

Her entries consisted of captivating letters to her imaginary friend ‘Kitty,’ describing her fear of being discovered by the Nazis, living in tight, restricted quarters, and her struggle to contain her hopes and dreams within its tiny walls. As the journal progresses, optimism turns to doubt and confusion—even rage as the teen tries to come to grips with a myriad of feelings, from, “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are still truly good at heart…” to, “I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.”

Her words have inspired students to start chronicling their lives as well—but not to sugar coat them. “She’s not writing through rose-colored glasses,” explains DeLong. “She writes about petty arguments and squabbles.

They’re learning that someone their age, just by writing down their life can have an effect on other people, that when you write, it doesn’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to be great—you just have to write what’s true.”

“I learned a lot about what her struggles were to hide from the Germans,” explains Lauren Cao. “How powerful it was to be caught and how scared they were. It was really kind of scary. Now I keep a journal because of how it can keep track of what’s going on in my life.”

“It was really moving how somebody my age went through all that hiding and went to the concentration camps,” states Ashley Pezzoni. “It makes me write a lot more. Now, when I’m down, it helps me get my feelings out.”

“It teaches me not to give up,” observes Andrew Hartman. “Because you can always get out if you really try.”

“What’s powerful about this is that kids are realizing that they can live through very difficult times as teenagers,” adds DeLong. “By writing about those times, they can somehow rise above them. It can give them a power over the suffering that they may be going through.”

After hearing a radio broadcast requesting war diaries and letters, Anne Frank began to dream of becoming a writer and started to chronicle her life “I want to go on living, even after my death,” she wrote. Now, through the efforts of DeLong and his students, the growing “virtual” wall of photos, along with the power of her writing and the triumph of her spirit will secure her dream.

Anne Frank entered her final words on August 1, 1944. Three days later, she and her family were discovered in the annex and taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she died at the age of 15 from typhus—just three weeks before the liberation.

Left behind as a pile of notebooks and papers stuffed in a briefcase, her diary was kept safe and returned to her father Otto Frank, the only family member to survive the death camps. Although she didn’t live to realize her dream, he dedicated his life to championing her diary so that her spirit would live on. Today, “The Diary of Anne Frank” is available in over 60 languages and has been read by millions around the world. More than 25 million copies have been sold, and her story has been adapted into both stage and feature film productions. She is considered “Hitler’s most famous victim” and a remains a symbol of the over 10 million people murdered during the Holocaust.

For more information on the Bret Harte Anne Frank Wall, log on to www.annefrankwall.org