i have been thinking about anne frank and the pearls of wisdom that she wrote down for us to have forever. i wanted to share with you some of the quotes that spoke to me from the many times i have read her diary.
“How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day.”
“And finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside, and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and could be, if there weren't any other people living in the world.”
anne's struggle to be "good" is a familiar motif in my life. twisting my heart so that the good is on the inside, trying to do right, trying to be right, trying to act right. striving to be good. striving to become what i would like to be. striving to grow my wings.
anne was so aware. forced to grow up too soon, she took it all in and wrote about it each day.
“Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there as long as you live, to make you happy again. Whenever you're feeling lonely or sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking outside. Not at the houses and the rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that your pure within and will find happiness once more.” ― Anne Frank
to be in that attic and to firmly believe in the happiness in your heart being unable to be lost ... it amazes me every time i read the book. anne told us to look fearlessly at the sky ... to gaze upon the sky as a way to find the happiness within yourself.
“A voice within me is sobbing, "You see that's what's become of you. You're surrounded by negative opinions, dismayed looks and mocking faces, people who dislike you, and all because you don't listen to the advice of your own better half." Believe me, I'd like to listen, but it doesn't work..." ― Anne Frank
i would like to listen to myself too. i know perfectly well how to take care of myself, and yet i fall into the trap of our high tech fast paced society.
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” ― Anne Frank
how wonderful it is that despite it all, anne believed that the world could be improved - moreover, that it could be improved by ordinary people in their everyday lives, with immediacy.
“People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn't stop you from having your own opinion.” ― Anne Frank
'nuff said. you can shut my mouth, but not my mind.
anne, you were brilliant.
“What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.” ― Anne Frank
genocide continues to be part of human history. it is something that i will never understand. this summer, i visited a concentration camp. it was an experience that i will never forget. we stood where thousands of people were murdered. we stood at the ovens where they burned the bodies. and the part that stuck out for me was how close the prison was to the farmhouses. people used to come to the prison to watch soccer matches on the field beside the sick barracks ... they would have heard and smelled the sick and dying prisoners.
and no one did anything.
Mauthausen was the only category III concentration camp, the classification with the most brutal detention conditions. In the first years the inmates of Mauthausen and Gusen worked in the quarries and on construction of the camp. Ill-treatment, punishments, disease, constant hunger and the ever-present threat of death were the abiding features of everyday life in the camp and work sites.
The SS had various ways of killing the inmates. They were beaten to death, hanged and shot; sick inmates were frozen to death, starved or killed by lethal injection or gas. - http://en.mauthausen-memorial.at
above is a photo of the swimming pool where the guards would swim and relax.
above you can see how close the farm houses were to the prison.
above is a photo of the juxtaposition of the horrors with recreation. on the right is where the sick were isolated from the other prisoners. on the left is where the soccer field was. professional matches were held there.
For certain periods in the special infirmary there was no medical treatment for the sick. They were left or helped to die by reducing their rations, having them stand outside in all weathers wearing just their underwear or spraying them down with cold water and then driving them naked into the cold. - http://en.mauthausen-memorial.at
and only we can work to prevent this from happening again. by talking about it. by teaching about it. by keeping the memory of people like anne alive.
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” ― Anne Frank
this was anne's most famous quote. and it amazes me each time. people are really good at heart. how? how could she think that knowing what was happening? stuck in that hidden attic? anne believed in the good of people doing evil. i often wonder if she still believed that when she was taken away from that attic and murdered.
“Crying can bring relief, as long as you don't cry alone.” ― Anne Frank
i cry a lot these days ... no, really ... a LOT. crying alone doesn't bring me relief. but crying with someone is healing. cleansing. and freeing. writing this post has made me cry. and yet i still feel strongly about the importance of teaching and remembering this part of our recent history. this isn't from the 1300s ... this happened to people who are still alive today. and this happened to children who could have still been alive today.
although i cry out of sadness for this part of our history, and for anne and her family, i do not regret writing this post and sharing it with you - to keep anne's memory alive and to reflect on the thousands of prisoners who were taken to mauthausen.
be kind to yourself, and to others. i leave you with this thought:
Her voice was preserved. Out of the millions that were silenced, this voice was no louder than a child's whisper... It has outlasted the shouts of the murders and has soared above the voices of time.”
xoxo
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