Participate in the Message to Anne Frank Twitter Campaign 
Help us to honour the memory of Anne Frank, who died in the Holocaust 65 years ago in March 2010. Anne was a young German-Jewish girl who kept a diary to record her struggle to make sense of World War II, and why the Jewish people were being persecuted under the Nazi regime. She shared her personal thoughts about the people she loved, her fear of death and her hopes and dreams in life.
While many of the European Jews had been arrested and sent to concentration and death camps, Anne was hiding with her family and others in an annex of rooms above her father’s office in Amsterdam for two years. Take an online tour of the secret rooms. After the group was betrayed and discovered by the Nazis, they were transported to concentration camps. Anne and her sister Margo died of typhus at the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in March 1945. Anne was just 15 years old.
Here is a passage from her diary:
photo credit © AFF/AFS
"It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.
It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more"
- July 15, 1944
If Anne Frank had had a way to receive Tweets while in hiding and could have been communicating in secret with other young people in the world about the persecution and hatred that her family and friends were experiencing,
- What messages of support would you have sent Anne?
- What would you have told Anne that you have learned from her life and experience?
Tweet your message to the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme at @UNandHolocaust (*)
(*)The United Nations is not responsible for the content of any messages posted on this site or sites linked to from this page. The inclusion of a message does not imply the endorsement of the message by the United Nations.
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Watch this webpage in the upcoming days to see if your tweet will be posted.
The event also marks Yom Ha Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day on the Jewish calendar, observed on 11 April 2010. The United Nations observes this day on 27 January (annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust) as mandated by UN General Assembly Resolution 60/7, to mark the liberation of the concentration and death camp Auschwitz in Nazi-occupied Poland.
"Anne Frank's persona and legacy lives on in her diary, which still talks to people all over the world in over 70 languages. It touches people on many levels and her thoughts are that of a 15 year old girl, who found her voice in her writing. Let's meet Anne's writing on the level she intended it to, with contemporaries, in a language that is universal and can be understood by all."
Yvonne Simons, Executive Director, Anne Frank Center USA
This twitter campaign is co-sponsored by the Anne Frank Center USA. Founded in 1977, The Anne Frank Center USA, a partner organization of the Anne Frank House, uses the diary and spirit of Anne Frank as unique tools to advance her legacy, to educate young people and communities about the consequences of intolerance, racism and discrimination, and to inspire the next generation to build a world based on mutual respect. The Center fulfills its mission through the North American Traveling Exhibition Program, the Exhibition and Education Center in New York City, the Annual Spirit of Anne Frank Awards, and through the development of educational materials and programs for teachers and students.
Press Release: United Nations launches Twitter Campaign with Anne Frank Center USA (29 March 2010)
UN News Article: UN turns to social media to raise awareness about Holocaust (29 March 2010)