PHOTO THANKS to Chris, aged 15.

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be..." ~ Anne Frank,The Diary of a Young Girl. 

These words of wisdom were written when Anne was in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. It is one of the world's best known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.

Anne was born in Germany but lived most of her life near Amsterdam. She was born a German national, but lost her citizenship in 1941 and became stateless. The persecution of Jews, by Hitler, increased in July 1942, and Anne and her family lived in some hidden rooms behind a bookcase in the building where Anne's father worked. From then until the family's arrest by the Gestapo in August 1944, Anne kept a diary.