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 am horrified at what is happening in the world and in the United States. It is almost as if evil aliens have invaded human minds and are seeking to reek havoc on the planet and all living things, human beings included.
The teachings I follow show that all things happen for a reason and yet…….there is so much suffering, why? Each day I meditate and pray for peace. Peace for our planet, peace for all living things, peace for all those suffering as a result of war, illness and more. Can we as good humans influence the state of the world simply by meditating collectively on a better, more peaceful world? One that is not full of greed and destruction? What have humans become? Humans, the most destructive species on planet earth. Perhaps this is why humans suffer so much.
I am reminded of the well known statement from Martin Niemöller:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Thanks for using your platform to speak out about this Vishen. It’s so important. Silence=Agreement. None of us can afford to be silent right now. As someone who is horrifyingly living in the U.S. (after 9 years in Japan I returned this year) I can’t believe this is my country. I am encouraged by all the people protesting and working hard to change things, but I’m also angry and frustrated. We should have never let this happen. I worry about what the future holds for my daughter and especially her fiancé, a dark haired brown skinned man, they both carry their passports with them at all times because they are afraid of ICE. Everyone not in America, please pray for us. It’s heartbreaking.
Thank you for this powerful connection between Anne Frank and today. Yes, we can break this loop if we stand together. Those of us who care about humanity far outnumber those who seek tyrannical rule through fear, intimidation and unthinkable violence. The key is to claim our power and take our role in shaping history.
Thank you. Sometimes in the USA it feels like we are voices in the wilderness. We speak, does anyone hear?
I have been pondering a question from the 1930’s. At what point is it too late to escape? My great uncle brought my father out in the 1920’s. He crossed the Atlantic 14 times in the course of his education before he was able to stay and become a citizen. I hear the bigots say, “Well, that’s OK he came legally.” We are all immigrants. He was white. I am safer than many friends.
I don’t think my great uncle had a premonition of fascism. It was more the family business and the wreckage of Budapest . He brought his sister and her husband out in the early 30″s. They were early, or were they just in time?
Thank you. You have a platform and a voice. I am so glad you are using it. We all must until we are all heard.
Thank you Vishen for making this connection for all to read, and bringing it to us in such a meaningful way. Thank you too, for your courage as there remain too many powerful voices who have chosen silence over morality and humanity. I understand their fear, we’ve read about it in books and watched it in movies. I’ve lived it. Or shall I say, my parents did. I’m forever grateful that i no longer live in a country where my voice is silenced to protect myself, my family and those I care about. There was a time when I believed the narrative of the media. I was a little girl, I didn’t know better. Now I do. I am repulsed by what is being allowed to take place. What is tragic is that not even the forefathers imagined this, as if they had, they would have ensured that no individual could destroy 100 years of progress in less than 6 months. Keep doing what you’re doing Vishen.
Dear Vishen,
I am honoured to be reading your thoughts on such an important topic. It warms me to know you have chosen to use your voice to highlight the urgency that faces us today and to bring humanity together at a time most desperately needed. I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this, really… Your voice is a well recogised and respected one that bears a heavy weight when it speaks. This conversation is such a large one, that i am afraid I cannot fit it all or broaden it into this space right now. But what I will say is that..
History has shown us that atrocities repeat themselves over time in different places of the world, with the same elements of power fuelling the same elements of fear in peoples in order to achieve their objectives.
History has also shown us however, that in the end, the universe always brings justice, sooner or later.
To know that in the end, the good in humanity, their hearts, their compassion, their unity, always has the last word.
Always.
With all my respect and admiration.
Sunday.
Thank you for posting this Vishen. It’s so heartening to me that you use your platform to share these views, even though many would censure you for them. Sometimes I don’t know what to do with the despair I feel about the ongoing cruelties in the world. The past two years have been a journey of grappling with rage and despair. It’s easy to become distorted by those emotions and find one’s self treading a bitter path. In a moment of clarity recently, I realised that the only way to feel safe in a threatening world is to feel connected to others. Judgement isolates us whereas love and compassion binds us together. Life keeps life-ing in all of it’s terror and glory. There’s no holding it back but together we can find grace in the hardship. Through friendship, kindness and community we can lift each other up. There is no personal development without spiritual development and I believe that our spirits yearn for unity and kinship. So it’s doubly great to hear this from you 🙂
Thank you, Vishen!!! You are amazing!!! As a Mexican United Statesian (aka – American) living in Idaho, it has been hard. I recently found out that next week they will be bringing in the National Guard to assist with ICE raids here in Idaho, and it has been hard to think about how we have gotten to this point with our Governor allowing this! I do fear that I will be targeted, kidnapped, and disappeared because of the color of my skin and Mexican/Native American features, even if I have proof and tell ICE/DHS that I am a US citizen, which has not stopped them from arresting people because they are racially profiling. I have two young children that I will leave alone if that happens until they investigate me and are satisfied with proof that I am a US citizen. I have heard that this can take more than two days, even weeks, before people who are arrested are allowed to communicate with anyone or are set free. The fear is real, but I will not let my fear consume me. I will stand strong and continue fighting to seek justice in whatever capacity I can. What is happening in Palestine is horrendous, and we need to keep talking about it so that people can understand that what is going on is horrible and that it is a genocide. Knowing that there are people like you who have a platform that fosters empathy and morals, and who dissent from these atrocities, is what motivates me to stay positive and dissent whenever possible.
Thank you Vishen for making me pose and think, think to how many times my silence either has become guilty of denying what you so clearly affirmed: we are one unique humanity and life shall be kept sacred in all its forms. I read Anna Frank’s diary when I was almost her age and it impressed me so much, it impressed me figuring out the banality of evil and how close it’s to us all. I do really hope this message can reach as many people possible, to turn our silence in a loud voice of unity!
So glad that there are leaders like you speaking up, not afraid & remember what really matters is all these. When we are gone, people remember not the status, the accolades, etc, they remember how we made them FEEL. Big hugs!
There are exactly 50 people starving in Gaza: the Jewish hostages. Vishen is now joining and supporting the ones who murdered Anne Frank and 6 million Jewish people 80 years before – and are murdering Jewish people till today.
If you, Vishen, are even citing “echoes” please do cite the Charta by Hamas aiming to find and kill every single Jew:
“The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, so that the Jews hide behind trees and stones, and each tree and stone will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him,’ except for the Gharqad tree, for it is the tree of the Jews.” (Hamas Charter, Article 7).
Peace is not an option for Hamas, only violence:
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.” (Hamas Charter, Article 13).
…cancelled and unsubscribed, no support for murderers.
This is one of the most powerful, timely, and necessary reminders I’ve read in a long time. Thank you for using your platform to speak truth with such courage and compassion.
As you wisely expressed, Anne’s diary wasn’t just a story, it was an awakening call to humanity. When history begins to echo itself, we are being asked to wake up, to rise, and to choose differently.
May we each be the light that Anne believed in. Thank you Vishen for sharing this. Thank you to Mindvalley, for community, for unity, and for confirming the deeper energetic calling I felt to visit Anne Frank’s house while in Amsterdam for the Supercoach experience. 🌍💛
Thank you Vishen. A very timely reminder. It is unfathomable that Florida would ban Anne Frank’s book. I remember reading it in high-school.
I agree that we as humans need to take a stand. I was all for removing dangerous criminals from our country as well as securing our borders. However, the current activity of ICE is objectionable.
As for Gaza, BB is doing to the Palestinians what Hitler did with Jews. I fear for our humanity.
Dear Vishen, first of all, I love you and all the great work you do.. my advice to you is this, don’t mix politics with your business of helping people here on this platform. Nor you or I know what is really going on behind the scenes (we only hear reports and commentary that may or may not be correct or incorrect, as everyone has an agenda) and if we buy into one side or the other, the chances will be that you will (A.) not accomplish anything other than causing non stop debate, and (B). Alianate someone who could otherwise use your University and fantastic programs etc. to improve there lives.. I’d focus on being the best at what you do and leave the politics (and religion) out of it.. I do not look to you to voice an opinion on things as you mentioned in your article, that is not the reason I am a long time subscriber and follower of all the great stuff you have going on. I am not looking for a rebuttal to this feedback, at age 65 I have seen plenty of folks get destroyed by going hard one way or the other on theses kind of topics .. and don’t want to see this happen to you or your business.. I wish you the best always my friend.. John
Thank you, Vishen, for this powerful newsletter and for shining light on the injustices still present in our world. The story of Anne Frank—and the reality that her diary is now banned in public schools in Florida—is a reminder of how urgently we need to protect truth, compassion, and humanity. I no longer recognize the country I have lived in for the past 62 years of my life!
Three months ago, I created the Global Peace Frequency Project to bring awareness globally—not only of injustice, but of the truth that global peace begins within: with me, with you, with each one of us. On the UN’s International Day of Peace (September 21st), SOMA Breath Instructors and artists around the world will be holding events to raise the frequency of the planet for peace, love, and compassion—for all, as one humanity.
I look forward to meeting you in Estonia next July!
With love and gratitude for all you bring to the world,
Maria Brown, MS
Serenity Wellness & Coaching, LLC
Maria Brown Breathwork
Dear Vishen, thank you for speaking from the heart about this relevant topic. We need to keep our souls open and our prayers strong to send strength to the ones in need and compassion to the prosecutor’s. May God stay besides both, please 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 And may the light give me the chance to do something to help 🕊️
Namaste Vishen. xo
I love that you are referring to Anne Frank. She was a hero, a victim and a symbol. And I am sickened that her autobiography, her story, had been banned in Florida. I also hate seeing what is happening to immigrants in the US. America was built by immigrants. And I’m thrilled to hear you gave two Syrians an opportunity to build your app.
However I draw the line at comparing Hitler to what is happening in Israel and Gaza. You have sidestepped October 7, and deaths of Jewish people, men, women, children and babies who were slaughtered simply for being Jewish and living in or visiting Israel. Israel is retaliating in a war it did not begin. In fact, Israel provided food, water, medical care, education and more to Palestinians. A Jewish Israeli surgeon saved the leader of Hamas years ago with life-saving brain surgery. Only to have him years later orchestrate 10/7, including murdering the surgeon’s family.
What did the Jewish people do to deserve the Holocaust? Nothing except not look Aryan. Not pray to the same G-d.
What did Israel do to deserve 10/7? Nothing except live their lives in Israel, as proud Jews. They were attacked, murdered, hostages taken. Did Jews start the Holocaust? No. Did Jews start the war with Hamas? No.
Jews don’t say from the river to the sea. Palestinians do. They want and pray for the Jewish people to die. It’s in the Koran. It is not in the Torah.
Jews want to survive.
Hi Vishen, I truly appreciate you as a person, and I respect your desire to express compassion. But I find it very troubling that someone who sees themselves as compassionate can look at reality in such a one-sided way. True compassion cannot ignore the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza under unbearable conditions, the victims of the horrific October 7th massacre, or the millions of Israeli citizens (myself included) who have lived for years under the constant threat of rockets and terror tunnels. Instead of placing full responsibility on Hamas—the group that launched a war of extermination and put both Gazan and Israeli civilians in danger—your text directs blame solely at Israel while ignoring the other side of this war. Compassion that excludes entire groups of victims is not true compassion, but rather a distortion of reality. The irony is that you invoke the story of the Holocaust to preach morality to Israel—while being blind to the suffering of the Jewish people today.
I have been a huge admirer of Anne Frank since I read ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ as well as watching the movie and reading her collection of short stories. She is definitely one of my lifelong inspirations and I immediately felt a deep connection to her. Firstly, she was a talented writer which is what I always dreamed to be, especially at that age. Secondly, the way she stayed so uplifted in her situation and still dared to dream was very inspirational and I do think of Anne Frank sometimes (along with other inspirational people) when I am in traumatic situations to give me strength. I think of the struggles she went through and intense traumatic experiences she witnessed and went through and it helps me face my own difficult or traumatic situation.
I am very grateful for stories such as Anne Frank’s. These stories and many more, have cultivated my compassion. I too have questioned why these horrific things have happened throughout history and continue to happen today (such as Gaza, ICE etc.) and so I became passionate about understanding why. Through understanding I have developed my compassion. We all go through traumatic experiences of some sort and at some point or another most have us have acted in a harmful way in a trauma response (or out of fear). I know I have a ted in irrational, unkind and harmful ways in the past due to certain traumas experienced. And so, as well as trying to understand why other people act in hurtful ways, I also have spent a lifetime trying to understand my own actions too. And, when you can have both understanding and compassion for yourself and the ability to put yourself in other peoples shoes to understand their actions you can step back and give them space. Instead of simply judging or labelling them as a bad person, you can see all their reasons and see what they have been through. A magical thing happens when someone comes along that understands us, then we have a bit of space and freedom to see ourselves ina more positive light. We all just want to be seen, heard and understood. There have been and still are atrocities in the world, but the more understanding and space we can give, the more healing that can happen. The more we can bridge the gaps between all of the opposites and the more we are able to see the valid perspectives from both sides of the equation the better chance of unity or harmony ☺️