Sideways
June 25, 2007Today, it’s exactly 60 years ago that the first edition of Anne Frank’s diary was published. If you haven’t read the most famous diary in the world, shame on you. There is absolutely no excuse, whatsoever, for not having read it. It’s a vital part of your education. It ought to be mandatory reading material for every person on this planet.
In addition, it also ought to be mandatory for anyone with the financial reserves to do so to visit a concentration camp. I have been to Theresienstadt myself, and to this very day, it almost brings tears to my eyes even thinking about this visit. It has made such a huge impact on me, I can’t even put it into words. I’ll try anyway.
There are two very, very distinct graphical images in my mind. The first is seeing my mother walk through the gates; she was walking a few metres ahead of my father & brothers and I. Passing through the gate is a very disturbing moment; suddenly, you don’t hear the birds anymore, you don’t hear the wind ruffle the leaves, you don’t feel the sun shine on your skin. The air seems dryer, almost bitter, as soon as you pass through the gates. The grass seems less green, the gravel on the ground seems less noisy. It’s as if you have passed into another reality, where there is no time, no senses, nothing. And then, all of a sudden, it dawns on you.
33000 People died here, 88000 more were deported to Auschwitz. People.
I really cannot remember if I cried. The overwhelming reality of it all creates a sort of emotional void. I really can’t describe it. That specific feeling makes you feel so guilty sorry and powerless for the worst crime in human history. It is this very feeling that makes you realise you will never be able to fully comprehend it all.
The second distinct image. We are all standing in one of the dorm rooms, with those bed-sized wooden structures. For minutes on end, in dead silence, we stare at the beds. “They’re still pretty large…” I hear my middle brother say. He had a point.
“They slept sideways on it, Kai,” my father replies, “10 On one ‘bed’.”
I was 8 or 9.
You mean there are people out there that haven’t read Anne Frank’s Diary???
I’m amazed, I have 3 daughters, 2 of them received this book for their 12th birthday and the 3rd one is getting it this year!
The daughters that already have it read it often, their copies have that well loved look, as my own copy does too.(I actually have 2 copies myself, a dutch one and an English one)
Comment by Jolanda — June 25, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
I’m equally surprised if there isn’t anyone in any sort of 1st world educational system who hasn’t read this book…here in the states it’s required reading in either secondary or high school.
I’ve been to 2 concentration camps, both in Poland: Bitom and Birkenau.
Comment by jayson knight — June 25, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
It should be mandatory reading indeed.
I have been to an extermination camp, Majdanek in Poland, the end of the line. One of the barracks is filled pretty much top-to-bottom with the shoes of those that were murdered there. A chilling experience indeed, esp watching the gas chambers.
Comment by Edwin — June 26, 2007 @ 12:11 pm