Read Banned Books: The Diary of a Young Girl
- Dan
- 48 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Read Banned Books
Read the books "the man" says are dangerous. Be a rebel! Read banned books! Think dangerous thoughts! Read The Diary of a Young Girl.
Previous entries in this series:
The Diary of a Young Girl
I was somewhat surprised to learn that The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a banned book. Indeed, it was most recently banned in 2024. I never read the book in school, at least in its entirety—I may have read excerpts in middle school. However, I was familiar enough with the book to know it is considered a historical record of Jewish life in Nazi-controlled Europe.
Upon reading the diary, I was immediately charmed by Miss Frank. She was one hell of a writer, without a doubt. Anne, her family, and others in hiding with them are exceptionally well characterized. The anecdotes she relates are often humorous, sometimes harrowing, and occasionally both. Most of all, this is a melancholy read because the reader knows from the get-go that Anne's life and those in hiding with her, with the sole exception of her father, were tragically cut short. I personally found it upsetting that they were betrayed and hauled off to the camps only shortly before the war ended.
I read this diary with a few questions in mind. Are immigrants in the US currently being treated similarly to how the Jews were treated in Nazi Europe? And, are there parallels between the fascism of the Nazi's and what I observe today?
Regarding the treatment of immigrants in the United States, I'd say the answer is a resounding yes—at least, insofar as their treatment parallels the experiences related in Anne's diary. There are numerous news reports about the children of immigrants being afraid to go to school because they fear either being picked up by ICE or leading federal agents to their homes. Anne and the children in hiding with her did not dare go to school for fear of being captured by the security services. Likewise, many immigrants fear leaving the house to go grocery shopping or to work. The same is true for the adults living with Anne. Like people living in fear today, they had to rely on the help and charity of others to survive. You also see news stories about people being dragged out of their homes or vehicles by federal agents without judicial warrants. This is ultimately what happened to Anne and those with her.
As for the second question, I think that's harder to say definitively. Masked agents terrorizing Minneapolis and other cities certainly feel like a descent into fascism. Another example is the purposeful polarization of the citizenry, the division into us versus them. Those are just two examples. I won't discuss any more. I can, however, understand how many people feel there are no or very few parallels between Nazi Europe and the US of today.
This brings me to the question I have with every banned book. Why the hell was it banned in the first place? The saddest reason is that Anne writes about her sexuality, including an attraction to girls. It is my understanding that in some early published versions of the diary, these parts were removed. Regardless, this is a small part of the narrative, and, although I'm no expert, she comes across as a confused teen, exploring her identity. Later on, she's madly in love with Peter, a fellow teen in hiding—the book banners don't take issue with that. It seems like the book banners want to deny the existence of LGBTQ identities and tendencies.
Another reason given for banning is that Anne briefly discusses her period. This strikes me as odd. I mean, half the population goes through it. Again, this is a small part of the overall narrative. It seems like the book banners don't want middle schoolers and high schoolers exposed to anything real, which seems silly since adolescents of that age are presumably being prepared for adulthood. If they aren't mature enough at that age to read a few pages discussing menstruation in a historical document, how will they be prepared for adulthood at 18, 20, or even 25? This attitude really strikes me as a disservice to the young, a dumbing down of the populace, both intellectually and emotionally.
The final reason I dug up for banning Anne Frank's diary is that it is depressing. This is the silliest reason and the most dangerous. Should the Holocaust be erased from the history books because the subject is terrifying or depressing, or makes students consider how low humanity can sink? What about The Killing Fields? Slavery? The treatment of native peoples? Or, the fact that women couldn't vote in the US until 1920?Â
Don't let the book banners deny history or identities. We're doomed to repeat the worst of history if we do.