Anne Frank was 15 years old when she died in a Nazi concentration camp. Yet her words outlived her body. Words scribbled in a diary from a secret attic in Amsterdam became one of the world’s most powerful mirrors.
This summer, I found myself in Amsterdam for Mindvalley U. By chance, my Airbnb was on the street next to Anne Frank’s house. Each morning, I’d step outside and see the same canals, the same cobblestones, and the same rooftops Anne may have glimpsed in stolen moments when she dared peek out from her hiding place.
A few mornings later, I opened the news and froze. The Diary of Anne Frank had just been banned in Florida schools under new book-ban laws. Imagine that. In 2025, one of the most important human documents ever written—the testimony of a teenage Jewish girl hiding from Nazi genocide—was deemed “inappropriate” for children to read.
The synchronicity hit me hard. I was standing before the building where those words were written. Words that survived Anne, even though she did not. Words that outlived war, genocide, and cruelty—only to be silenced again today by politicians who fear truth more than hatred.
And this got me thinking.
If Anne Frank were alive today, what would she say about America? About Israel & Gaza?
What I’m about to share may feel uncomfortable—but Anne’s words demand we face discomfort.
Who was Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt in 1929. When the Nazis rose to power, her family fled to Amsterdam, hoping to escape persecution. In 1942, when deportations began, they went into hiding in a small annex behind her father’s office. For over two years, Anne, her sister Margot, her parents Otto and Edith, and four others lived in silence, relying on the courage of Dutch friends who smuggled them food and news.
Anne wasn’t just a symbol. She was a teenager—funny, sharp, sometimes rebellious, and always observant. She dreamed of being a journalist. She once wrote, “I want to go on living even after my death.” And, tragically, she did—not through her life, but through her words.
In August 1944, they were betrayed. The Gestapo stormed the annex. The Franks were deported to Westerbork, then Auschwitz, and finally Anne and Margot to Bergen-Belsen. In early 1945, both sisters died of typhus—just weeks before liberation. Anne was 15.
Only Otto Frank survived. After the war, Miep Gies, one of the helpers, handed him Anne’s diary. He published it, fulfilling her dream. Today, it has sold over 30 million copies and been translated into more than 70 languages.
Anne’s body was silenced. But her voice became immortal.
Anne’s words in today’s world
Anne once wrote:
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor, helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”
She was describing Nazi roundups in Amsterdam.
But doesn’t that sound eerily like ICE raids in America today? Parents taken in the middle of the night. Children left crying, bewildered, abandoned. Different time, different uniforms—but the same cruelty.
Anne also wrote:
“We are chained to one spot, without rights, a thousand obligations… waiting for the inevitable end.”
That could be the voice of Gaza today. Entire families locked in. Starved. Bombed. Denied freedom of movement. Children asking, “Why must we suffer simply because of who we are?”
Her words, written 80 years ago, read like dispatches from the present. History is not past. It is a loop—unless we break it.
A hard, controversial mirror
Anne’s diary teaches us to look at cruelty honestly, no matter where it comes from. And one thing history proves: atrocities don’t start with bullets. They start with words.
Dehumanizing language always comes first.
So let’s talk about Gaza, as uncomfortable as this may seem.
Consider the echoes:
- Nazi leadership (1943): Heinrich Himmler at Posen: “I am referring here to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people….”
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (2023): On the Palestinian town of Huwara: “[Huwara] should be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”
- Hitler, Mein Kampf: Jews as “the typical parasite, a sponger who, like an infectious bacillus, keeps spreading.” Nazi propaganda routinely cast Jews as vermin.
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (2023): Announcing a siege of Gaza: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel… We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
- Nazi propaganda (Goebbels echoing Hitler): Jews blamed collectively for war, threatened with “extermination.”
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog (2023): “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible….” — words widely criticized as endorsing collective punishment.
- Nazi euphemisms: “Evacuation” as code for extermination.
- Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (2023): Suggesting a nuclear strike on Gaza was “one of the options.”
Different contexts. Different scales. But the same pattern.
Dehumanize → Justify → Destroy.
Anne Frank’s words remind us: when we hear this language, it is never “just rhetoric.” It is the runway to cruelty.
You see, cruelty always begins the same way: when leaders tell us to fear “the other.”
Fear the immigrant.
Fear the refugee.
Fear the neighbor who looks different.
Fear the people beyond your border.
That is the oldest political trick in the book. And it works—unless we refuse to buy it.
Anne Frank didn’t write her diary so we could cry in museums. She wrote it so we could recognize her suffering in others—and have the courage to stop it.
Why giving people a chance matters
This message hit me with even greater force because, while in Amsterdam, I also had a chance encounter.
I bumped into a young Syrian man who once worked for me back in 2016. At the time, he was a refugee in Malaysia. He and his friend had escaped a country torn apart by war. One had seen his home blown to rubble. The other had lost a brother when a bomb fell on the very place his brother was resting.
Both had lived through horrors most of us can barely imagine. And yet, when I met them, I didn’t just see refugees. I saw brilliant young minds. I saw hope, determination, and resilience.
That year, I had an idea for a new learning model called Quest and needed someone to build the app. These two young Syrians built it in record time. That app became the Mindvalley app—today used by millions worldwide and even featured in 200,000 Apple stores on the iPad.
Yes, our app was built by Syrians. Yes, it was built by refugees who were given a chance.
Anne never got her chance. But when we give people that chance, look what can happen.
This is why I am so adamant about this message. When politicians tell you to fear refugees, or immigrants, or minorities, they’re not just lying. They are robbing humanity of its future.
The rule we must all live by
If there’s one rule we must all live by, it’s this:
The moment a leader tells you to fear refugees, minorities, or immigrants, you are looking at a tyrant.
Do not believe them. Do not reward their fear with your silence—or your vote.
Because fear divides. And division always leads to cruelty.
What the world needs now is unity.
Unity across stripes, colors, races, and ethnicities. Unity across cultures, religions, and especially across borders.
Because the only way we solve the greatest challenges facing humanity—from climate change to war to poverty—is to remember this truth:
We are one humanity.
And kindness cannot stop at the invisible lines of race, religion, or border.
The higher vision
Anne Frank once wrote:
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
That may be the most extraordinary line ever written. She believed it while hiding from people who wanted her dead.
If Anne could believe in human goodness then, we can believe in it now.
Let’s prove her right.
Let’s choose compassion over cruelty.
Let’s stand up for one another across borders.
Let’s silence the voices of fear not by shouting back but by choosing unity again and again.
Because Anne’s diary isn’t just a warning.
It’s a torch.
And it’s in our hands now.
So here’s what we can collectively do.
Stand for unity. Across color. Across race. Across borders. Across religions.
When you hear fear, answer with love.
When you hear division, answer with solidarity.
When a politician uses scapegoating, vote the other way.
The only way to honor Anne is to prove her right—that humanity is good at heart.
And that goodness becomes real when we act.
Because history doesn’t just happen to us. It is written by our choices—and our silence.
I’d like to hear from you: Drop a comment below—let’s create a conversation around unity, compassion, and what it means to stand for humanity in our time.
1,050 Responses
Thank you for speaking your truth. I am a 71 yr old woman and I came with my mother and 4 older siblings in 1957. We came legally and followed the process to become citizens of this country. We followed the rules and worked hard to live,love and bare children along with grand children. Now we are watching as families are being deported regardless of whether they are documented or not. My grandchildren whom I have taught to be proud of their heritage and culture, which is a loving and gentle culture, I now feel fear for them. This is not right and for those who don’t recognize how very wrong it is to randomly allow citizens to take violent actions to arrest and jail family members simply because we look Hispanic is a crime! To deport people who want a better life and come here to work jobs that others don’t want, is wrong. This country is made up of immigrants and those of you who now believe because Trump has such a strong hatred of those he believes are not his equal, shame on you! Your forefathers were immigrants, no better,no worse. They came seeking a better life. Vishen, I stand with you wishing we can have unity but it’s hard to see at the moment. I have not and will never vote for anyone who is racist and biased against all the people he or she should be representing.
Vishen,
Thank you for saying what needed to be said — plainly, unapologetically, and with heart.
In a time where truth is being buried under propaganda and fear is the political strategy of choice, your willingness to connect the dots — loudly — matters. You didn’t just honor Anne Frank’s legacy, you reminded us what it actually means: not just to remember, but to act.
Fascism doesn’t knock on the door wearing a swastika anymore. It shows up in soundbites. In book bans. In dehumanizing language and collective punishment. And it’s on us to call it out, or we become part of the silence that lets it grow.
This piece? It’s a flare in the dark. A reminder that love isn’t passive — it fights back. And it wins.
Thank you for using your voice while so many are scared to. Keep going. We’re louder together.
— Cyn
Thank you for using your platform to speak out on these issues, Vishen. You’re spot on, and on the right side of history.
Isreal, the present “holocaust denier”…..the isrealhell offence force is overwhelmingly NOT SEMITE!!!
And carrying out antisemite genocide…….the Palestinians ARE SEMITES!! THEY ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED BY
Zionist, moron zombie non Humans!!! Screaming anti Semitic!! We are poor victims!! Complete satanic, ( yes, it is true!) ABSURDITY!!!
Thank you so very much for this heart wrenching article , I believe as you do . We are one in humanity , united we stand , divided we fall . I am so grateful for for you .
Racism and Hate is what our “leaders” want to propagate! Until your average people around the world join together with one voice things will never change. It takes nothing to be kind! It takes effort to be cruel “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing!” It’s time we STOP doing nothing!
I respect you Vishen. I hope that my experience touches you. I am amazed that you were right next to Anne Frank’s home. That dear, dear child. I am 75 years old and I remember my grandmother telling me about concentration camps according to my uncles who were in the military during WWII. These camps demonstrated how far hatred can go. The Jews remember this. Hamas attacked Israel for no reason. This is what they want to protect themselves from. I read Lisa’s comment from August 26 and she said Anne Frank’s Diary IS recommended in Florida schools. Please have mercy on the Jews. Haven’t they dealt with enough? The comparisons you made between the Nazis and Israel shows what Israel had to face. And the 2025 Trump Administration has allocated $30 million for food aid to Gaza through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. I see caring there. I must tell you that I am a high school teacher and I was transferred from the middle school when a student asked me in 2019 who I voted for. I said Trump. You say there is hatred now. I experienced the hatred during the former Administration. One person I know of was removed from Twitter a few years back when he showed an image of an American flag. And as for the racism that Republicans have been accused of, my classes are Latino and African American. I think of them as my grandchildren. I have heard (don’t know if it is fake news or not) that ICE is entering schools. If they come to my classroom, I will ask them to take me and I am a white MAGA Republican. Maybe you think we are haters because that’s all that is broadcasted (unless you watch Newsmax). You will never hear the good that Trump is doing by watching the liberal media. Please take a look at my side. We are under attack because the truth is ignored. Seek the truth. Thank you Vishen.
Hi Vishen,
You’re awesome, but I feel for you because as I read the article I thought, “Uh oh, his heart is in the right place, but he’s a victim of the media.” The media is there to distract, create fear, manipulate people to make decisions based on misinformation. It’s divide and conquer, the oldest game in the book. The term “television programming” says it all – they are giving you the program they want to create (and repeat), no matter in what modern media form. Repeating their “news” reinforces the reality they want us to create.
We have to dream a different dream (and ignore the media) for things to change, not repeat what we hear in the media.
I don’t understand how humanity believes they know anything that is truly going on in the world. The shaman knows he/she knows nothing yet he/she knows the most about what is going on. We need wisdom, not more information. There is shadow on both sides, not just in the current administration – its everywhere. It’s an inside job not to project our shadows onto any person, organization, gov’t, etc. Clearing the personal shadow is the work of our time – rising above the media to create a unifying vision.
If Mindvalley doesn’t have one already, it would be awesome to have a quest about the media and their tactics. I learned about this in college I believe. Back then it was more about print advertising, lol – How they appeal to our heartfelt emotions for their greedy purposes, how they conveniently remove important information, etc. in order to get people to believe in their agendas. It would save humanity from a lot of lies and division if they just understood how they are being played. When we are busy with divide and conquer, or making a stand, we are missing the most important point – it’s never what we think it is.
Cheers,
Awake from my daily morning timing, came across an email notification on Anne’s Frank column, for a long long time it got my mind & eye good l hooked on a piece of a mind boggling , heart shattering of the reality on the other side of the world. As I am reading while laying on my bed, a sudden piece of discomfort, a nudge in my heart, shook me into feeling this piece of storytelling via mindvalley. Thank you Vishen for your precious mind & remarkable observation and identification of these historic patterns creating a loop. As the Ecclesiastical biblical note said; ‘nothing is new under the heaven’, I once again see it thru your lens especially for people like me who is unaware of the events around the globe. You are being on torch for us to focus on the focal point deep inside us, for all changes starts from within. Hope this blog have change an individual and also the large masses into a better future remembering ‘Unity is strength’
Thank you Mindvalley & Vishen ❤️
Awake from my daily morning timing, came across an email notification on Anne’s Frank column, for a long long time it got my mind & eye good l hooked on a piece of a mind boggling , heart shattering of the reality on the other side of the world. As I am reading while laying on my bed, a sudden piece of discomfort, a nudge in my heart, shook me into feeling this piece of storytelling via mindvalley. Thank you Vishen for your precious mind & remarkable observation and identification of these historic patterns creating a loop. As the Ecclesiastical biblical note said; ‘nothing is new under the heaven’, I once again see it thru your lens especially for people like me who is unaware of the events around the globe. You are being on torch for us to focus on the focal point deep inside us, for all changes starts from within. Hope this blog have change an individual and also the large masses into a better future remembering ‘Unity is strength’
Thank you Mindvalley & Vishen loads of love from India.
I noticed you forgot these statements from Hamas leaders as part of the “echoes”
• Fathi Hamad (Senior Hamas leader, July 2019):
“You have Jews with you in every place. You should attack every Jew possible in all the world and kill them.”
• Yahya Sinwar (Hamas leader):
“Over is the time Hamas spent discussing recognizing Israel. Now we will discuss when we will wipe out Israel.”
• Fathi Hammad (Senior Hamas official):
“We must attack every Jew on planet Earth! We must slaughter and kill them.”
• Marwan Abu Ras (Hamas official):
“Jews are the vilest and most despicable nation in history.”
• Mahmoud al Zahar (Hamas co-founder):
“When we talk about ‘peaceful resistance,’ we are deceiving the public.”
• Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas leader, October 7, 2023):
“Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was launched from Gaza, but it will extend to the West Bank, to Al-Quds and to our people within the territories occupied in 1948, as well as to the Resistance and the Palestinian people abroad. … With this epic presence of men who write history with their blood and their guns; with their footsteps that crush the occupying invaders.”
• 1988 Hamas Charter:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
• Mahmoud al-Habbash (PA Religious Adviser):
“Jews are humanoids, creatures that Allah created in the form of humans, those who Allah has cursed and made them apes and pigs.”
“Israel … because it is a Jewish state, is Satan’s project.”
“The Quran says kill them.”
• Ghazi Hamad (Senior Hamas official, October 24, 2023):
“October 7 is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, until Israel is annihilated.”
• Hamas media adviser Taher Nounou (November 8, 2023):
“I hope that the state of war with Israel will become permanent on all the borders and that the Arab world will stand with us.”
• After October 7, 2023 attacks before Israel responded:
Hamas leaders released videos showing and celebrating the massacre, “pledging more to come until there is no Israel left.”
Why aren’t you acknowledging and speaking against this dehumanizing, genocidal, and violent rhetoric from the Palestinian side?
These are just a sample of their statements that reflect outright rejection of coexistence, calls for physical extermination worldwide, racial and religious dehumanization, and glorification of violent resistance… “echoes” that strongly parallel the historic Nazi slogans and modern extremist rhetoric cited in your blog post.
This type of rhetoric is ingrained in the Palestinian culture, and children are indoctrinated with this from birth, and there is no desire to stand for unity. Across color. Across race. Across borders. Across religions. And their actions have demonstrated that, leading them to where they are now.
Maybe you should go to Gaza and hand out flyers around there with your Anne Frank blog post and ask them to “stand for unity across color. across race. across borders. across religions” and get to the root of the issue.
As for the USA, we’re quite happy that ICE is capturing criminal illegal aliens who are rapists, sex traffickers, human traffickers, murderers, gang members, and pedophiles and shipping them out of the USA. If you would like us to send them to your neighborhood so you can give them a job working on your next app, give us the address.
Dear Vishen
Deine Worte berühren mich. Du hast mit allem recht und ich bewundere deine klare Haltung. So wertvoll, dass jemand mit deinem Einfluss aufsteht und diese Ungeheuerlichkeiten benennt ohne Hass zu schüren. Hass bringt uns nicht weiter, Verständnis, Respekt und Liebe ist der Weg.
Herzliche Grüsse aus Thailand.
Vishen…this is my first time reading your blog and engaging with the Mindvalley community. Thank you for your courage and for sharing your heart regarding the very sad and challenging time. It has made me an even bigger fan of the platform. I imagine it was a difficult piece to write and to publish. I wondered how the community would respond and I can see that this community is another microcosm of the macrocosm. I will never understand how intelligent, decent people can defend MAGA or Netanyahu’s genocide. I teach social-emotional leadership development, compassion and spiritual principles for a living. I strive to be gracious and kind in my interactions with others, as I try to be the change I want to see in the world. Because I believe in compassion, dignity, respect and equity for all, I have literally been called a radical and a leftist lunatic. ! My response is…if my care and compassion for others makes me a radical…so be it. I will proudly wear the label. I appreciate you and others who have the courage to speak the truth and take a stand, even if it means ruffling a few feathers or even possibly losing a few subscribers. Having a sense of integrity, purpose and peace of mind is priceless. Continue to stand your ground and keep telling the truth. Not everyone will like it, but not everyone has to. One day we will look back on this time and know we were on the right side of history. Courage is contagious. Bless you and your work in the world.
You should not compare Anne Frank to want is happening in Gaza. The Jews didn’t attack the Nazis, they didn’t put Gazans in a concentration camps, it was Hamas that started the partial closure of Gaza when they started to shoot rockets into Israel. No one forced Hamas to do what it did, the Jews didn’t go into the Nazis homes, murders them, beheaded raked them, and much more. How can you even say that? Where do you get the moral high ground to damn Israel, because a few people said a few things. Israel is the only army ever that actually tells Gazans where to go before they bomb anywhere. Israel didn’t arrack them, they attacked Israel. There is so much more I can say on that subject. but at the moment I can say that your train of thought is so corrupted, when you know what Anne Frank had to endure with her family, in hiding and then ending up in a camp where she died, while gazans residents were at the mercy of their own leaders, not Israel. in one sentence: How dare you ?
How beautifully you’ve depicted each phrase from the past of Annes’s written diary to what’s happening in the present world!
Imagine if each & all of us would embrace & portray these core values within us, than believe me there could be a ripple effect of gradually seeing the true beauty of diversity & cultures of our amazing world!
Where there’s no cast, race, color or border differences but pure love, acceptance & the desire to make this world a better place to be for the present & future generations to come.
May we all embrace & value the differences in each & all of of us for true beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder! Like a rainbow in the sky with the sun shining bright after a downpour of rain, to cleanse & bring in the warmth & splendour for all living beings in this beautiful world of ours – The Earth! Stay blessed all!
I am Jewish, and I am deeply disturbed by the misinformation you are spreading, fueling more hatred in the world instead of truth.
There is a huge difference between 1944 and 2025.
In 1944, the Jews did absolutely nothing to Hitler, yet he chose to slaughter 6 million innocent Jews along with countless others, including Gay people and more.
Today, the reality is very different. The leaders of Hamas are the ones killing their own people. When humanitarian aid and food arrive, Hamas hoards it, sells it at outrageous prices, and keeps it from the people who need it most. It is eye-opening to notice that while images are circulated of children appearing to starve, their parents are often visibly well-fed. Compare this to Palestinians under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. They work in Israel, live in peace, and have food and stability.
Even in Gaza itself, restaurants remain full. I can prove that to you. Israel is not killing the Palestinian people. THE LEADERS OF HAMAS ARE DESTROYING THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
History shows the same pattern. King Abdullah of Jordan once killed thousands of Palestinians. The harshest oppressors of Palestinians have often been their own leaders. Meanwhile, the IDF protects over 2 million Muslims living peacefully in Israel, enjoying full rights and freedom. There are four Muslim members serving in the Israeli parliament with the same rights as any other member. Half a million Christians live freely in Israel. So does the LGBTQIA+ community.
The facts are undeniable. Out of 51 Muslim-majority nations, not a single one welcomes Hamas. It is an insult to compare the unimaginable suffering of Anne Frank to the people in Gaza who are trapped under the rule of Hamas murderers.
Please get your facts straight.
Sincerely,
One of your followers,
And a proud Jew
Am Yisrael Chai!
Mr Vishen you are a gem of this era where people are so afraid to lose their business and jobs if they voice their support for the palestinians in gaza but you are doing it bravely with honour and courage. I wish you success and good health in your life
I’m in awe to read this email. My name is Maria Ignacia. I’m from Chile. 🇨🇱 my sister is married to a jewish and I have many friends jewish. I see in my story feeds on Ig that people comment only in stories from my life or at the most send a emoji reaction. They prefer to stay at the safe place where they don’t get involved. I often write that my feelings are not against jewish or antisemitism. I’m only stating that what is happening in Gaza is pure cruelty and I choose to rise my voice. Even for awareness. 2 of my friends are sharing my feed or other in their accounts. It’s so easy to look the other way. Excusing under the pretense that they don’t do anything because they don’t want to have problems with friends from Israel. So easy.
It hit me hard to read your comparison between Anne Franks words and what is happening. I can’t believe the book has been banned. Like Who has the right to do this? Soon will they ban wwII because it’s controversial? Uncomfortable truth.
People CHOOSE to Look aside. When humanity as it is needs our voices the most. I’m so sad reading your email. I often cry with Gaza stories O want to ask you, besides sharing in the hopes to make people wake-up to reality ,
What can we do? My hopes are also in the sumud flotilla. My hopes are in the brave ones who speak up. who speaks for others.so thank you for sharing this. People like you will make a difference in the world. In always choosing to voiced those who have no voice. In choosing the uncomfortable instead of looking the other way. God (any God, Good Vibe, Energy , everything you believe in) bless you.
I am the child of two Polish Holocaust survivors, each having spent 6 years in various ghettos and concentration camps. I had no grandparents, aunts,uncles,cousins. I am surprised that you have made a comparison between out of context quotes from Israeli leaders with those of Nazis. Jews were exterminated simply because they were Jewish, nothing else. Gazans are experiencing the current awful situation, because Hamas, their chosen leaders, refuse to give up the hostages, and are hiding among their people. Why aren’t we demanding that they give up, so the misery of their people will end?
Gazans are not experiencing pain because they are Gazans.
What should Israel have done after October 7? What should Israel do now? How many times has Israel been attacked since it was established? How many potential peace treaties were blocked because Arab leaders backed out at the last moment? We have no idea what Anne Frank would have said, had she survived the war. I do remember my mother screaming from nightmares. If you can make sense of this world insanity, please help me understand. World unity would be wonderful. Would love to know how to make it happen.
Totalmente de acuerdo con lo que escribes y con el exhorto que haces. Me sorprendió mucho tu iniciativa. Creo que estamos viviendo tiempos de muchos cambios, tiempos para ser valientes y actuar por el bien común. Gracias.