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.
1,231 Responses
I understand your intent is good, however the inital premise about AF book is not correct. The governor of FL came out and said not only is this false, the book happens to be on the states recommended reading list. Where we source our information is more important than ever these days, that is, if we really want the truth!
You’ve got this one wrong, Vishen. Please be discerning; don’t fall for the propaganda and the echoing bought bots. Israelis aren’t taught to hate Arabs from babyhood through sick children’s programming teaching them it’s a religious mandate and earns them everlasting paradise if they “kill all the world’s infidels.” The Torah doesn’t preach “kill the Arab wherever he hides” behind trees and stones. Jews don’t yell “praise g-d” and then blow themselves up in crowded public places to massacre as many as possible. Jews don’t publicly hang or throw gay people off the tops of buildings. Jews don’t invade bordering countries and proceed to cut off body parts, viciously rape, mutilate, burn, murder, behead in the most sadistic ways-all while gleefully filming the acts on GoPro cameras. You conveniently left out that all that is precisely what our cousins do. Don’t leave out the precipitating incidents. I know you like Al Jazeera-understand you’ve been propagandized. Don’t confuse cause and effect.
Thank you for writing this.
Thank you for writing this! Confirms for me that I made the right decision in joining Mindvalley! We cannot allow history to be erased!
Hi Vishen,
I hope you’re doing well.
I’m an Israeli currently living in Amsterdam. We actually had the chance to meet at a Mindvalley event here a few years ago, and I’ve been a longtime admirer of your work and mission for consciousness-raising. Your ability to inspire on such a global scale is something I hold in high regard.
The essay’s core message—highlighting the enduring power of Anne Frank’s words, the dangers of censorship, and how compassion and unity transcend fear—is uplifting and rooted in a noble impulse.
That said, I found myself wrestling with a significant dissonance. By focusing singularly on the suffering and suppression connected to Gaza—while omitting the pain, fear, and trauma experienced by Israeli civilians—you risk undermining the very unity you aim to cultivate.
A Few Reflections I’d Like to Share:
Unity feels hollow if it overlooks one side of the suffering.
You powerfully advocate for connection over judgment. Yet, omitting Israeli suffering—even if not intentional—can feel like dismissing human tragedy. Unity, to be real and lasting, must recognize pain on both sides.
Context enriches—not dilutes—the message of hope.
Comparing contemporary events to the Holocaust is a fraught territory; stretching that comparison without context weakens rather than strengthens your argument. Perhaps rather than direct parallels, we could reflect on historical echoes of division or prejudice with nuanced clarity.
A few voices deserve mention for a balanced narrative:
• The Hamas leaders who’ve publicly vowed to repeat October 7th atrocities—they’re part of the full picture and need due scrutiny.
• Some civilians in Gaza who celebrated October 7th—these painful acts matter in understanding the full emotional and moral landscape.
• The 50+ hostages still alive, enduring unspeakable conditions—mentioning them acknowledges real, ongoing human suffering.
The rise in antisemitism is urgent and underrepresented.
Jewish individuals—including myself—are experiencing a growing sense of fear and vulnerability. I can’t always speak Hebrew openly, hang an Israeli flag, or take my children out without anxiety. The rising hate and silencing of Jewish identity in public spaces deserves both acknowledgment and solidarity.
Facts matter—propaganda doesn’t belong in unity.
I worry about the power of selective narratives when they mirror methods of manipulation. Ignoring facts—even in the name of compassion—can fall dangerously close to the ignorance that historically fueled fascism.
What I dream of—and believe you might, too—is a world where Children never experience war or deprivation.
Communities acknowledge all suffering, not just that which aligns with a narrative.
Peace is built on truth, mutual recognition, and a shared longing for safety and freedom.
Your platform has the reach, the nuance, and the moral imagination to shape not just individuals but collective empathy. That’s exactly why this matters so much to me—and so many others.
I hope this comes across as both a heartfelt contribution and a shared hope for a more inclusive, truth-embracing unity.
Thank you so much. Vishen. It takes enormous courage and deep faith in humanity to share these words. Thank you. Its extermely hard to see the reality, to follow the stories of the people, it breaks my heart. But I cant pretend like its not happening, cant stay silent, just like you. Part of my family died in concentration camp, still, when I went to Palestine, I was never judged for my roots, the people I met were the nicest people, so kind, generous and strong. I will never forget them. But even if I havent had the experience… the heart says : no one can justify killing innocent people just because (insert October, political group, hostages, anything). With every new day we have a chance to start thinking differently than those who want to kill, destroy and punish, who wish death and suffering to anyone for any reason. Thank you for making people think. Thank you for making a change. Its so important that we stand with people facing genocide, injustice and hate. I really love you for what you do and the words you wrote and shared
Dear Vishen,
Your profound essay on Anne Frank and her enduring message of unity deeply resonates with the work I’ve done through my X-Ray of a Spirit Workbook—a trauma-informed framework born from my own journey through profound adversity. Like Anne’s diary emerging from darkness to light, this workbook transforms personal fractures into healing pathways, addressing the neurobiological impact of trauma while breaking intergenerational cycles of pain. Your recognition that “cruelty always begins with dehumanizing language” aligns perfectly with my framework’s core premise: we cannot create lasting external unity without first healing our internal wounds and inherited patterns that predispose us to fear-based thinking.
The X-Ray methodology provides practical tools for the unity consciousness you champion—helping individuals develop what I call “mature masculinity” or “mature humanity,” the capacity to respond to difference with wisdom rather than react from trauma. Through comprehensive life domain assessments, nervous system regulation techniques, and empathy-building exercises, the workbook creates humans who are literally incapable of participating in the dehumanization that enables cruelty. When someone has genuinely healed their own fractures and understands their interconnection with all life domains, they naturally embody the compassion and spiritual courage needed to stand against oppression wherever they encounter it.
Your platform’s reach to millions globally, combined with this trauma-informed approach to transformation, could create the kind of humans capable of building the unified, compassionate world you envision. The workbook offers what Mindvalley’s mission ultimately requires: a scientifically-grounded pathway for developing the inner capacity necessary for outer unity—proving Anne Frank’s faith that “people are really good at heart” by giving them the tools to heal into that goodness.
Marc DeTomaso
Author, X-Ray of a Spirit Workbook
Founder, Platinum 360 Life Tours LLC
In reference to your statement, “ 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.”
While I agree with many comments in your article, you fail to mention that the last administration in America allowed 12 million people from all over the world to enter our country illegally! There are very few countries anyone can enter, let alone reside, without legal documentation and some sort of Visa. This ver act by our former President was illegal.
Many of the people who walked across our border are murderers, rapists, human traffickers and drug dealers. It has nothing to do with race, or the color their skin – if they are criminals, they should not be roaming freely in our neighborhoods! Especially if they broke the law to be here! People from other countries that come here on Green Cards or Work Visas are not deported – unless their Visa or Green Cardhas expired, or they have committed a crime.
Honestly, do you think other countries would allow this behavior?
Our current administration is absolutely not telling us to fear the legal immigrants! This unfortunately is another lie that is being told.
You, Vishen, should be above all of this, and certainly learn all the actual facts before you write or speak about it.
You are doing exactly what HAMAS wants to get done…spreading the hatred against Israel and Jews….If Hamas wanted peace they would release the hostages and they would never have committed the Oct 2023 genocide, which is included in its charter. Furthermore, the Arab armies started the invasion and persecution of Israel in 1948 and continued in 1967 and 1973. While any premature death is or should be avoided and the Israel government could have managed this Hamas genocidal initiative better, comparing Israel to the Nazis and using Anne Frank to do it shows a serious lack of discernment, historical knowledge and ethical sensitivities. Maybe you are following Chat gpt’s recommendations ?
This is scary times we live in. I grew up in post world war 2 Germany and even in the 70s you could still see the destruction. I have time to donate. I need to help get this planet back on track. Your words touched me. Please reach out to me at victoriapock1970@gmail.com
We need to stick together and stand together to get a normal president back in office, before it’s too late. And trust me when I say this, it is getting too late. Please tell me what I can do to help
Vishen, You are twisting the truth, associating good people and leaders with very bad and evil ones; associating a good brave hero story (Anne Frank) and twisting it to make your story and perceived righteousness standout (a manipulative injustice); and you are inaccurately speaking for a hero (Anne Frank) and twisting and assuming her words, which is an injustice to her and us readers.
On top of this your bias against a great nation (America) and its effective (although brash) elected leader, is ignorant and manipulative.
Take me off all mailing lists that are political as I’m not paying for that part of your belief system, which to me is flawed.
Happy to discuss with you more if you are willing to consider other views from good, loving, caring, peaceful people who seek to make the world a better place (for immigrants, Gaza citizens, Israelites, Americans and all in the world) in ways that elites appear to inaccurately try to position as evil.
What would Anne Frank say about your post? It may be quite different than you think.
Dear Vishen, Thank You so much for reminding us about the legacy of Anne Frank. I am sure that Anne Frank would be defending all innocent people, including immigrants, and especially children. A lot of wonderful American people defend innocent immigrants — the United States of America is the most wonderful country for immigrants. A lot of Israeli activists and Israeli people are defending innocent Palestinians — Israel has the greatest humanitarians. I am very impressed with how Israeli activists defend innocent Palestinians in the West Bank and how many Israeli people help people from Gaza. With that said, sometimes war may be the only way forward. The American Civil War was an extremely brutal conflict. Israel is defending itself. I wonder why our attention is not focused on the plight of Christians, for example, though Jewish, Muslim and Hindu people are attacked as well, in parts of Africa, Indonesia, India; Why do we forget millions of innocent people who are attacked by their neighbors and various terrorist organizations?
Vishen, once again you feel it’s your job to comment on American/global politics. I don’t understand why you just don’t stay in your lane? Plenty of others have already called out your misrepresentation of facts re the Nazis and Israelis… Though I thought interesting you didn’t provide any examples of the ICE raids… Frankly, it should not be lumped into this discussion.
I am so DISGUSTED that you feel compelled to repeatedly call out President Trump (although never by name, which is cowardly) for things you’re ignorant to understanding. There is absolutely nothing wrong with deporting illegals who choose not to immigrate and become naturalized citizens. Ironically, my grandmom (who turns 100 in 2 weeks) escaped Nazi Germany with my father and applied to become American citizens, the right way… She is proud to be an American and eagerly adopted all the values upheld by our Constitution.
Trump’s pursuit to eradicate the U.S. of illegals who are violent criminals, rapists, gang members, etc is something many Americans are grateful for! Stop trying to spin this into some sob story. How about we deport them all and send them to Dubai? How would that feel to your safety? I don’t believe the citizens in Dubai take kindly to criminality…I believe they often sentence criminals to death. So perhaps stop being hypocritical with the country you choose to reside in, with the standards of the U.S.
People who come to America need to come over thru the legal channels that are provided, so they can be vetted and then tested on our Constitution, the framework which governs this country. If they don’t like it or don’t want to adopt American values, there are PLENTY of other countries they can invade. And yes, sadly some illegals who are not criminals will be deported, but if they came over legally, they would not be in this position…
Finally, your job is not to be a political commentator, although you seem to believe it is. Instead, perhaps do something PRODUCTIVE with your platform, something unifying, like creating world-wide meditations for peace?
Again, stay in your lane, bro. Your propoganda-filled beliefs continue to influence your writings… And honestly, it makes me wonder if you’re being paid to push more propaganda as an “influencer.” Sadly, nothing would surprise me at this point…
I love the writing you’ve been putting out! Thank you for using your power and influence for good. I wish everyone could read this and feel the truth in their bones.
I understand your sentiment. But the Jews of Germany were just normal people. Gaza is run by a Hamas a terrorist organization that gets billions is shadowy funding to overthrow the government.
Simply put, given the cyclical nature of things and the apparent inability of the human race to learn from our mistakes, time and time again, the atrocities will no doubt continue in various guises – but I absolutely applaud Mr Lakhiani for speaking out in a measured considered tone – the absurdity of arbitrary division – be it through race, religion, politics or much else – is something that can only gain traction in a world where the absolute inter connectedness of the web of life has been obscured, often, as in the current conflict in Gaza, by ‘belief’ coupled with an ego driven sense of righteousness or a particular reading of history or religious texts – such couplings tend to fuel destructive behaviors and obscure even further the spiritual dimensions of the shared human experience – a freer acknowledgement of this core reality, spirit, as to the source, well spring and nourishment of our being will help us all to be reminded of our commonality, the very foundation at the root of our being
It don’t matter if she was Jew. She was a little girl. I strongly feel that when I became a mother all children became my children. Thank you.
Thank you for speaking up and encouraging our voices to sing loudly alongside each other – in unity.
Thank you for this message. It sure feels like we are repeating history, like we never learned. War and hatred will never be the answer.
This is dominated by false equivalencies and repeated comparisons, equating ICE raids in the U.S. or Israeli military actions in Gaza with the Holocaust. That is historically and morally distorted. Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager murdered in a systematic, state-organized genocide that claimed six million lives. Comparing her suffering and the industrialized extermination carried out by the Nazis with modern political conflicts or law enforcement actions trivializes that atrocity and exploits her memory for political messaging.
Then there is selective quoting and context omission. Only Israeli officials are highlighted in provocative ways, while no statements from Hamas or other actors responsible for violence are included. This one-sided presentation frames Israelis as morally equivalent to Nazis, ignoring the complexity and asymmetry of the conflict.
The use of emotional manipulation is also clear. Anecdotes, dramatic language, and moral imperatives (“politicians who fear truth more than hatred”) are used to provoke outrage rather than reasoned reflection. Combined with political polarization, issues are cast in stark “good vs. evil” terms, turning historical reflection into partisan advocacy.
Finally, there are overgeneralizations and hyperbole, such as claiming that fear of refugees or immigrants always leads to cruelty. These sweeping statements oversimplify complex realities and amplify emotional responses.
In short: Vishen has written a biased and inflammatory propaganda piece, distorting history through false equivalencies, selectively quoting one side, and weaponizing Anne Frank’s story to push a political agenda. Comparing Nazis to Israelis is not only historically inaccurate but also morally troubling, exploiting the memory of Holocaust victims to provoke outrage rather than foster understanding.