In this segment, Anne Frank’s father returns to the Annex at the conclusion of the war. He reads Anne’s diary for the first time. The rest of the movie can be viewed on you tube, Anne Frank: The Whole Story.
Throughout her time spent living in the Annex, Anne finds hope and peace from studying the sky, the birds and the chestnut tree standing in the garden. At the end of her life…so close to liberation, knowing that her sister Margo has gone and thinking that the rest of her family has gone, the forces of evil become too much for her as her hope gives way and she dies. If only…..
February 23, 1944
The two of us looked out at the blue sky, the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew, the seagulls and other birds glinting with silver as they swooped through the air, and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn’t speak.
April 18 1944
April is glorious, not too hot and not too cold, with occasional light showers. Our chestnut tree is in leaf, and here and there you can already see a few small blossoms.
May13, 1944
Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.
How could I have suspected that it meant so much to Anne to see a patch of blue sky, to observe the gulls during their flight and how important the chestnut tree was to her, as I recall that she never took an interest in nature. But she longed for it during that time when she felt like a caged bird. She only found consolation in thinking about nature. But she had kept such feeling completely to herself. Otto Frank
Like Anne, we must know what to hang onto …what to hope for if we are to survive. May we never forget what we are capable of, nor what we can endure through suffering.
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