Opinion
What would Anne Frank make of today's politics?
Novelist Nicole Burstein visited Amsterdam this week. This is her reaction to the city's most famous address.
January 25, 2017 12:49
3 min read
Novelist Nicole Burstein visited Amsterdam this week. This is her reaction to the city's most famous address.
January 25, 2017 12:49The compulsion to write is a fierce thing when found in young women. I felt it at a very young age. Some of us do. I was probably about eleven when I first read Anne Frank's diary, and her determination, and the conviction of her thoughts and feelings, had a massive affect on me. We shared the same spirit, like sisters across time: Jewish, extrovert and with unruly hair; both of us wanted to be famous writers when we grew up.
But Anne wouldn't see her success in her lifetime. Nevertheless she spoke with a voice that still resonates through the generations, and one which only seems to be becoming more and more relevant as politics descend towards a form of fascism once again.
As I walked through the narrow hallways and rooms of the Anne Frank House Museum, today, I read all the diary quotes stencilled on the walls. A frightening number of phrases could easily be written today - perhaps not in a notebook anymore, but on the internet - and I thought of those other spirited girls who are currently acting on their compulsion: Malala Yousafzai and the young Bana Alabed who tweeted from Aleppo and is now a refugee in Turkey. There are probably countless more who are yet to be heard. I half dread their voices, because who wants anyone to suffer in pain or anguish? And half look forward to it too, because there is no writing as powerful and beautiful as that which comes from a tormented soul.
But I wonder, when the evidence of the past is so blatantly clear to us, why does history repeat itself? How and why do people choose to hate? Who is it that wakes up in the morning, and after looking at themselves in the mirror decides that they are going to be hurtful, and spiteful, and full of anger? I struggle with the empathy of it. I look for reasons: does hate feel good? Like biting into a bar of chocolate, decadent and naughty but oh so worth it? Does hate bring about riches? Is it a financially viable option? Do people hate under the misconception that what they are doing is good?
This, I think, is the most likely answer. Are their beliefs so strong and so worthy to their mind, that going out on the streets and throwing eggs at Jewish families walking to or from shul on Shabbat is somehow a positive thing? Who are you that chooses to throw a swastika-emblazoned brick through the window of a Jewish home, who knows that it is hateful and does it anyway? I want to know. It may be folly, but I am desperate to understand it.
As Donald Trump stops funding abortion services in developing countries, and as he threatens the sacred land of an indigenous people with an oil pipeline, I wonder who is it that thinks this is force for good? He may be one world leader who isn't coming for the Jews, but does that mean we should let him do his thing? "He's good for Israel..." someone might mutter, shrugging their shoulders because 'what can they do anyway?' To which I might respond: "first they came for the socialists..." and all that.
Just because this isn't necessarily a 'Jewish problem', doesn't mean that we shouldn't be concerned. We are human beings before we are Jewish, and therefore the hate and/or persecution of any other human being should be our business too. If you think that the rise of hate groups, fundamentalists or far-right wing politicians isn't your problem, wake up. This is not the time to sit back and let the world be. If all you can do is read and educate yourself, do it. Do it now before the world turns into a place that you don't recognise.
I'm writing this from the cafe of the Anne Frank House Museum, and wondering what Anne would make of the world today. I think she'd be appalled. This is not the world she died for. She would be fighting for compassion, for understanding, and for liberal tolerance. She'd be writing. She'd be inspiring other young people, who like me, read her diary and recognise themselves. Please do not shut your eyes and close your ears to hate. Choose kindness every single time. I strongly believe that we can be active participants in the world we live in, and re-create it into something good. Make compassion happen, and teach it to others through our actions. And don't give up.
Nicole Burstein's latest YA novel is Wonderboy (Andersen)
