Context.
When Anne Frank was born, in 1929, she was born into a Europe that was quickly evolving. Europe was just entering into a Great Depression. As a result of being built upon foreign capital, the German economy was specifically vulnerable. When the stock market in America fell, and the overseas funds began to dry up, Germany’s financial system came to an abrupt stop. Germans quickly began to lose their jobs, and production grew increasingly slower. Banks closed, and savings accounts were depleted, leading to an increasing situation of inflation. The comfortable and common middle class standard of living was gone, and German citizens began to look for any solution they could find.
Hitler saw this as his opportunity to strike, and launched an extreme campaign of propaganda in an effort to obtain power for the Nazi party. Hitler knew that the general population of Germany was still in a depression, and using his powers of persuasive speech, offered them what they needed: hope and encouragement. In 1930, the year following the Great Depression, Hitler gained total control of Germany. Hitler quickly outlawed all political parties, labor unions and church groups that did not support his own beliefs and efforts. In an attempt to enforce these laws, Hitler created the Gestapo, a military police force designed to ensure that only the ideals of the Nazi party were allowed to be promoted.
Over the next years, the intensity and extremist tendencies of the Nazi party only increased. In the spring of 1933, Theodore Eicke, who is considered the father of the SS-run concentration camp system, opened the first concentration camp, Dachau, in Germany. At the entrance to this camp read a sign that stated, “Arbeit Macht Frei” which means work sets you free. Many who were taken and arrested were those who had never been in any sort of conflict with the law before, and some were even taken to prevent crimes they were considered likely or possible to commit in the future. The number of innocent people being taken away increased continuously, and more labor camps were created, along with a new concept of the death camp.
During Anne Frank’s early years, the great depression was affecting not only the United States, but also the entirety of Europe. Tensions were escalating between countries and the Second World War was breaking out. And finally, Hitler was quickly rising to power in Germany, making the country unsafe for its Jewish citizens.
Hitler saw this as his opportunity to strike, and launched an extreme campaign of propaganda in an effort to obtain power for the Nazi party. Hitler knew that the general population of Germany was still in a depression, and using his powers of persuasive speech, offered them what they needed: hope and encouragement. In 1930, the year following the Great Depression, Hitler gained total control of Germany. Hitler quickly outlawed all political parties, labor unions and church groups that did not support his own beliefs and efforts. In an attempt to enforce these laws, Hitler created the Gestapo, a military police force designed to ensure that only the ideals of the Nazi party were allowed to be promoted.
Over the next years, the intensity and extremist tendencies of the Nazi party only increased. In the spring of 1933, Theodore Eicke, who is considered the father of the SS-run concentration camp system, opened the first concentration camp, Dachau, in Germany. At the entrance to this camp read a sign that stated, “Arbeit Macht Frei” which means work sets you free. Many who were taken and arrested were those who had never been in any sort of conflict with the law before, and some were even taken to prevent crimes they were considered likely or possible to commit in the future. The number of innocent people being taken away increased continuously, and more labor camps were created, along with a new concept of the death camp.
During Anne Frank’s early years, the great depression was affecting not only the United States, but also the entirety of Europe. Tensions were escalating between countries and the Second World War was breaking out. And finally, Hitler was quickly rising to power in Germany, making the country unsafe for its Jewish citizens.