Everyone knows Anne Frank: her face, her diary, her voice. But this video asks an uncomfortable question: did she become the world’s Holocaust symbol because her story was easiest to face? A young girl, a hidden attic, a message of hope—offering millions, even nations that failed Europe’s Jews, a way to “remember” without confronting complicity. We trace her real fate and how her diary was shaped, taught, and universalized.
00:00 Intro
00:49 Anne’s Childhood
02:34 When Holland Fell to Hitler
03:29 The Franks Become Targets
04:01 Hiding in the Secret Annex
05:01 Life Inside the Annex
08:16 Betrayal, Arrest, Deportation
09:39 What Happened to Anne and Margot
10:51 Otto Survives
11:52 The Diary Goes Global
14:09 Anne’s Legacy
16:08 The Story People Miss
Sources
Franklin, Ruth. The Many Lives of Anne Frank. Yale UP, 2025.
Ozick, Cynthia. “Who Owns Anne Frank?” The New Yorker, Sep 29, 1997.
Anne Frank House. “Who Was Anne Frank?”
Anne Frank House. “The Diary.”
Anne Frank House. “Reconstruction: The Arrest of the People in Hiding.”
Anne Frank House. “The Publication of the Diary.”
Shandler, Jeffrey. “Anne, from Diarist to Icon.” Anne Frank House.
Rosenfeld, Alvin H. “Anne Frank and the Future of Holocaust Memory.” USHMM, 2004.
Fernandez, Laura. “How the World Has Appropriated Anne Frank.” El País English, May 1, 2023.
Axelrod, Toby. “Roger Waters Uses Anne Frank’s Name at German Concerts…” JTA, May 24, 2023.
Kehila, Ofek. “Why Is Anne Frank in a Keffiyeh?” Mideast Journal, Dec 21, 2025.
Lapin, Andrew. “Graffiti in Norway of Anne Frank Wearing a Keffiyeh…” Times of Israel, Jul 26, 2024.
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Image and footage credits:
Getty Images
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With Assistance from Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance
Executive Producers:
Michael Steinhardt
Co-Executive Producers:
Marc Shmuel Levine
Iris & Shalom Maidenbaum
Gold Level:
The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
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Translation credits:
Portuguese: Saymon Pires
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