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Caitlin Roy Grade 9, East Granby High School, East Granby Dear Anne Frank: A few years ago I read your diary. Since then I have read it at least once a year. I could be described as a very negative person and when I read your diary and other accounts of your life and ideas from various sources I was just blown away by your ability to stay so cheerful despite what was happening in the world around you. I am likely to get annoyed at the simplest thing and I had a very pessimistic outlook on life for no apparent reason. You however managed to stay upbeat when the world was basically crashing down around you. At first it wasn’t so bad but I probably would have cracked there. You were living in constant fear of being arrested and whisked off away from your family in the middle of the night and friends are disappearing one by one. Once you were forced into hiding, you couldn’t talk to your best friends, you only saw your family and if that was me, there would be a fight breaking out every five minutes, despite everything, all you though about was how lucky you were to be alive. Through out your entire diary I read horrible things. I read about the bombings, the death, and the lack of good food. Since the whole book was from your point of view, it made those appalling things seem much less appalling. Your inner strength and courage just astonished me. Right after a fight had broken out in the household you wrote "…I’m doing my best to be helpful, friendly, and kind…" I was thinking "How is that possible?" Even when people around you were filled with hate and anger and took it out on you, you remained calm and just brushed it off. It is hard enough for me to do it only once but you did it consistently for about two years! That must have taken will power! I guess the only way to keep sane was to stay positive no matter what. One more thing that amazed me even more than your personality was your faith in people. One of the last entries you wrote was about how deep down you really believed all people were good. How could you think that at that time? Hitler was practically ruling Europe and men were going into houses in the middle of the night and tearing families apart! It would be hard enough to believe that at a regular period in time when there were robbers and killers but at that time you were seeing how ruthless, power-hungry, and ignorant people could really be. You still looked for the good in everything …even people who didn’t care whether you lived or died. I was affected by your writing in two ways. First I learned to be a little more easy-going and less selfish. For example, you did not have a very elaborate birthday party and you didn’t get much. That alone would have caused me to throw a fit. After reading about your life I saw how petty I was being. You made me look around and be happy with what I ad because many people in the world were much worse off than I was. While I was having a temper-tantrum over a shirt or a pair of shoes, people could be fearing for their lives. Also after reading your diary, I started reading other world war two stories and even researching facts on my own. The Holocaust was a very interesting period of time, though being one of the saddest. Many other people will read your memoirs and hopefully be as touched as I was. Sincerely, Caitlin Roy
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