The Diary of Anne Frank

No one could have imagined what was about to happen in January 1933 when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.  The nation did not know of his dreams for the "Aryan ideal" and of his great desire for power.  In March, 1933, the German Parliament gave him dictatorial powers and in April the Nazis issued a decree stating that non-Aryan people were "anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially Jewish, parents or grandparents."  In July, the Nazi Party was declared the only legal party in Germany and they passed a law to remove Jewish immigrants from Poland of their German citizenship. Just one year after his appointment, Hitler began his strategy to take over Europe and to eradicate the Jewish people.  Jews were banned from the labor front and were not allowed to have national health insurance.  In August, Hitler became Fuhrer, after the death of President von Hindenburg.  In 1935 Jews were no longer allowed to be in the military and a law was passed, forcing abortions on women to prevent them from passing on hereditary diseases.  Things only got worse.  In 1937 Jews were banned from professional occupations and in 1938 Jews were forced to register wealth and property.  Jews over age fifteen had to apply for identity cards from the police and had to show them on demand. 

As you will learn as we read The Diary of Anne Frank, concentration camps were eventually set up and Jews were forced to leave their homes and perform manual labor on these camps.  Many were killed upon arrival, while others were permitted to live as long as they were healthy.  Disease was rampant and living conditions were inhumane.  Anne Frank was a young, Jewish girl during this time and she saw firsthand all the atrocities that were taking place.  She, of course, could not understand why all of this was happening and she needed to know the causes leading up to World War II to help her better understand what was taking place.