Presentation "Anne Frank – A History for Today"

At the reception, Professor Pham Quang Minh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) welcomed the Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam to the University. The Rector stated that Ambassador Meirav Elon Shahar's presentation was of great significance not only to the faculty but also to the students of the University, aiming to share understanding of the Jewish people and World War II.

Professor Pham Quang Minh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) welcomed the Ambassador's presence.Meirav Elon Shahar

Beginning her presentation, Meirav Elon Shahar introduced the biography of Anne Frank and the historical context of Nazi Germany. Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929, the second daughter of Otto and Edith Frank, both from respected German Jewish families. The Frank family had many friends of various faiths and nationalities. In 1933, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party for short, came to power and launched a campaign to expel Jews from Germany. At that time, the Nazis blamed the Jews for the economic, political, and social difficulties that Germany was experiencing.

Ambassador Meirav Elon Shahar introduces the biography of Anne Frank.

In this context, many German Jews were indifferent to the social situation at the time. But the Frank family was different; they decided to leave Germany and move to Amsterdam, Netherlands, which had long been a safe haven for the Jewish community. However, in May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, and once again the Franks were living under Nazi rule. Fearing for their lives, the Franks planned to find a place to hide, so they chose the attic above Otto Frank's office at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam.

On July 5, 1942, Anne's sister, Margot, received a call informing her of her deportation to a "labor camp." Anne shared her fear in her diary entry on July 8, 1942: "Going into hiding…where will our family hide? In the city? In the countryside?...". Although their hiding place was not yet prepared, the Franks left immediately. On the evening of July 6, they moved to the attic. Because the attic was above a company and the neighboring buildings were occupied, the eight people living there had to maintain complete silence to avoid being discovered. Anne Frank wrote about the gloom of living there: "Every time someone enters the house, the wind still clings to their clothes and the cold still lingers on their cheeks…When will we be able to breathe fresh air?"

The apartment where Anne Frank lived

At around 10 a.m. on August 4, 1944, the Frank family's worst fears came true when German police appeared at their home searching for Jewish fugitives. Those living there were arrested, put into trucks, and taken to prison. They were held there for nearly a month, and on September 3rd, deported to the death camp of Auschwitz in Poland. Anne Frank expressed her fear mixed with hope in her diary entry on July 15, 1944: “I heard words that struck me like a thunderbolt, that one day they will kill…millions of people. But…I think that this atrocity will end, and peace and tranquility will return.”

In March 1945, a fever epidemic spread throughout the camp, claiming the lives of approximately 17,000 prisoners. Margot, too weak, fell from her bed and died of exhaustion. Anne, too frail to realize her sister had died, had a premonition and said that she thought her sister was probably dead. A few days later, Anne died, at the age of fifteen.

The grave of Margot and Anne Frank

Ambassador Meirav Elon Shahar's presentation received numerous comments and questions from faculty and students of the Department of International Studies on issues such as anti-Semitism and solutions to this problem, the role of youth and young people in social justice, the differences between adult and child perceptions when reading the diary, the secrets of the Jewish people's resilience after the war, and the connection between racism and the preservation of ethnic identity.

Professor Pham Quang Minh and students from the Faculty of International Studies pose for a commemorative photo with Ambassador Meirav Elon Shahar.

The Diary of Anne Frank is a book containing excerpts from a diary written by Anne Frank while she was hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. First published under the title Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 – 1 Augustus 1944 by Contact Publishers in Amsterdam in 1947, the book received widespread public attention and commentary when it was translated into English as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Doubleday & Company (USA) and Valentine Mitchell (United Kingdom) in 1952. In 2009, The Diary of Anne Frank was inscribed on the Memory of the World Register by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to UNESCO, The Diary of Anne Frank is one of "10 most widely read books in the world."