skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl in her early teens. She led a normal life being born into an upper-middle class family with one older sister, Margot. Her greatest challenges were going to school and growing up. Then, she heard rumors of Jewish ghettos and Germany's campaign against the Jews.In a matter of three days, her life changed completely. Her parents, the Van Daans, and Mr. Koophuis are rushing around secretively to move into hiding. Anne's family and the Van Daans now live behind a cupboard and in the attic of an office building. They cannot be discovered because the SS will take them or kill them as soon as they are found. They only took with them what they could carry. Her parents arranged for their other belongings to be given to friends for safe-keeping becuase the SS takes Jewish belongings.Living conditions were cramped especially with eight people. They had to have the shades drawn all the time so they were not seen moving around. They had to restrict their movement so they are not heard. They had to rotate shower times and pick places to take them becuase they did not have a perminant shower. Every knock or voice coming from the rest of the building struck fear that the SS had found them. Margot, Anne and Peter (the Van Daan's son) had to have a private tutor in order for them to be able to continue school. Their meals were carefully calculated and none could be wasted. After business hours, they snuck down to an office to listen to the radio. They heard on the English radio about the death camps, more and more Jews being moved to the camp by cattle carts, and the gas chambers. Mr. Koophuis told hem news he heard on the streets and updates on thier friends' activities when he visited them. As time went on, the news became more and more disturbing.Anne Frank was a normal teenager just like any other. However, her life took a turn that no teenager should have to face. Anne Frank was a Jew; a target or genocide.
After WWII, many changes swept the world, especially Europe, to restore order, the balance of power and prevent other world conquests. Essentially, there were two kinds of changes that came about in modern times: improvement and new dangers and crises. Many improvements followed WWII because of the need to rebuild and restructure Europe. Immediately following the war, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund organizations were created in December 1945, by the Articles of Agreement. They head an overseas financial system to rebuild Europe after its economy had collapsed during the war. Today, these "sister organizations" are working to eliminate poverty. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established to prevent the spread of communism. NATO has since been getting involved in world conflicts in effort to solve and prevent wars. Along with these changes, globalization has been a constant effort to get the world communicating. Its purpose is to spread culture, communication and technology around the world and create a freer world market. In doing so, it spreads economic growth and technological advancements and helps to balance the world. The next big improvement was the creation of OPEC in 1960 to coordinate petroleum policies. Recently, OPEC is looking into global warming. The biggest change to Europe came about by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. It created the European Union which was a community that focused on security, foreign policy and citizens' rights. It also created the Euro, the official currency of the EU, that helped to strengthen the economies of the member states.On the other side, new dangers and crises developed after the war. A massive population decline had plagued Europe due to a baby bust and changing gender roles, especially for women. Europe as a whole is becoming older. Large scale immigration has also become a problem as immigrants are fleeing their war-torn and terrorized homelands. The largest wars/conflicts of the time were the Korean Conflict and the Chinese Civil War. Both were clashes between democratic and communist citizens each wanting their way of government to be dominant. Terror and genocide are rampant in Europe. In Israel, the Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over control of Israel and the Gaza Strip. In Tibet, the Dalai Lama is head of "Tibet's government in exile" and is not recognized by China; breeding conflict. On September 11, 2001, the United States were attacked by an extremist terrorist group. Also, genocide plagues many countries such as Rwanda, Darfur and the Balkans. Bloody campaigns are being led to exterminate groups of peoples. All of these issues are dangers to global security as well as enviormental dangers such as global warming. In the wake of the destruction of WWII, changes swept Europe good and bad. Many improvements such as the EU and globalization has improved things around the world. But, dangers and crises threaten global security. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, said that the UN has come full circle in terms of preventing violence, terror, and wars and promoting peace, reform and human rights.
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl in her early teens. She led a normal life being born into an upper-middle class family with one older sister, Margot. Her greatest challenges were going to school and growing up. Then, she heard rumors of Jewish ghettos and Germany's campaign against the Jews.
