The brilliant teen Anne Frank had to live in self isolation for two years, before she was betrayed

The diary of Anne Frank, a teenage girl living in a small hideaway for two years in Amsterdam, is relevant as she too had to undergo self-isolation, along with her family and others, in a confined space.

Anne Frank’s Jewish family, living in Amsterdam before the Second World War, found themselves in a somewhat similar predicament to what’s happening at the present time, when all-conquering Nazi-Germany was spreading all-over Europe, including the Netherlands, presenting an existential threat for Jewish people.

The Frank family sought safety, along with five other Jewish refugees, in an annex attached to a warehouse in Amsterdam. They lived secretly, in uncomfortably tight quarters for two years, supported and helped by a small group of courageous Dutch sympathisers.

Towards the end of the war the hiders were betrayed and taken to Nazi death camps.

Anne was a few months short of sixteen when she died in Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

Anne Frank is a brilliant writer with a sharp mind and an understanding that is well beyond her tender years. She was, in my opinion, a genius.

I recommend that her writings, including her famous diary, be taken up by readers, especially those who find themselves in self-isolation during the present hiatus.

I will end by giving a small extract from Anne’s diary, “You’ve known for a long time (she addresses her diary as a person) that my greatest wish is to be a journalist, and later on, a famous writer. We’ll have to see if these grand illusions (or delusions!) will ever come true, but till now I’ve had no lack of topics.”

Her wish was granted.

Micheal O’Cathail, Fermanagh