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.
1,234 Responses
To invoke a Jewish victim of the Holocaust as a means of equating Israel—the only Jewish homeland, the very refuge that could have saved the Franks—with the regime that exterminated them and six million others is both historically obscene and morally indefensible. It trivializes the memory of the murdered, distorts history, and crosses into the despicable and the unforgivable. You and Mindvalley have lost all credibility. I am unsubscribing permanently.
Hi, Vishen.
I absolutely love you and Mindvalley. It has been a lifesaver for me, but I just did a bit of digging on the book-banning point, and it appears that the book that was banned was a graphic novel based on The Diary of Anne Frank, which was deemed to minimize the Holocaust. There are many points in your post that I agree with, but it is important to bring this up, as it appears that this is a quickly spreading story (via The Guardian as well) that does not seem to be true.
I wish I knew how to better convey this to my family…🥺 That unity & compassion is the only way forward rings true to every nano particle in my entire being. This however isn’t true fore some of those I love. I really wish I knew how to flip their switches. Turn their lights on. Until I figure it out I will do my utmost to have my own light shine at its brightest. Seeing me living in light might one day make them want to get out of the darkness too… 🙏
My heart breaks. Feeling powerless, sad, angry and a slight of dispair.
No words for what we make of this world.
Thank you Vishen for using these words and spelling this all out.
Honestly, I trie not to be updated to much, it paralises me.
Just trying to spread kindness and being helpfull to the ppl I work with and encounter in my daily life. Hoping the good vibes travel far.
With my whole being I hope all these troubled souls everywhere may be healed someday.
As a child of a victem of war, I feel how far these tragedies can be forwarded.
Protesting, signing statements, writing to our governements, It does not seemd to help.
Since this week, the dutch do not have a gouvernement anymore. They broke over this precize issue.
Now nothing is happening from that side.
My heart breaks
Thank you for stepping up
Just wanted to say that this article really “hit home”.
If only more CEOs wrote like this, Vishen. Because let’s be honest, what’s happening in the US, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, China, India… isn’t ‘politics,’ it’s humanity on trial. And right now, humanity is failing the test of love.
Thank you for a brave posting. The rhetoric of fascism demeans and dehumanizes its targets. Anything that works from evidence, such as science, is a threat. We can only hope that people see through this and stand up. Having a leader like yourself do so makes a difference.
I wish more people with a voice, a platform and global presence would show the same courage and strength to stand up and speak the truth – without fear and intimidation. This world needs more voices like yours Vishen. I am afraid of the future, the fall of democracy, the rise of fascism, the division and militarization of US cities and I feel powerless. Help us create a movement for change!
This was really hard to read. Vishen has done this a few times now—bringing up political happenings in the world—and honestly, for someone who positions himself as a spiritual leader, I believe the number one responsibility is to avoid fearmongering and instead encourage seeing more light in the world.
If you look for darkness, you will find darkness. If you look for light, you will find light.
What’s happening in Israel and Gaza isn’t about politics—it’s about what’s right and wrong. Israel had to shut off power and aid in an effort to get back the hostages Hamas took by force. If those hostages are released, the attacks would stop.
I’m not here to debate politics, but I am very turned off by the direction Vishen is taking. He now comes across more like a journalist highlighting fear and ugliness, rather than a guide helping people rise above it. That’s not what I’m here for.
For that reason, I’m choosing to step away from Mindvalley.
I am Writing from Israel, and received this column because I am a subscriber of Mindvalley.
if the answer is solidarity, love and other wonderful things, why would you compare Nazis with Israeli leaders? you might have had a good intention, who knows, but you used manipulative expressions to do so.
Politicians are corrupt and they are the ones who approve all wrongs against human beings, and that is the case in every country of the world. that is always the case because that is the methodology. seeing how you expressed yourself politically for the first time (that I have noticed, anyways), is the prove for me that someone has put pressure on you to publish such a column, and that you will now start to lose credibility, since you have chosen sides and not heart.
Well said, Vishen. Thank you.
Humanity is good at heart. Thank YOU. Keep loving extraordinary Vishen and expressing your miraculous divine love. You, inside and out, and all you do can be felt world wide and beyond. I am so much more … immensely better and stronger and even more aware and spiritual and intuitive than ever because of you – and my family is thriving more than with all my growth and learning from your programs, videos, books … You and your Mindvalley communty are fantastic beyond all the words. Beautiful. Beautiful life. “Yes, let’s prove Anne Frank right and together continue to keep her torch burning so very brightly.
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.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.”
Deeply reflective newsletter Vishin, I give gratitude for the strength of your voice to speak on the behalf of humanity and the call for us all to unite and usher in peace and to embrace one another with authentic love and compassion.
I was at a Native American powwow this past weekend and have had similar touch points in my heart after hearing story after story of their persecution and intentional extermination.
I know of a few thought leaders organizing global meditations that bring the collective together to usher in the next level of consciousness, heal various grid points, and amplify world peace.
Could a “quest” or something similar from Mindvalley be offered to help heal this fracture in humanity?
I am a bilingual librarian and we read and Frank Astoria biography for kids and thank you for this comment. I’m gonna share it in a different way for kids to reflect more. But I’m very proud to say that in our school we live through inclusiveness, respect and the protection of our community. Thank you 🙏
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing this text. It is so important and I hope that many, many people read it. I love the way you put Anne Frank in a „modern“ perspective and how you scarily demonstrate that history is indeed a loop. More tragically even, those once hunted are now the hunters. Immediately the 6 phase meditation comes to mind. „Hurt people hurt people“. On a large scale. How do we miss to see, that we are all human? Or as you put it „one humanity“? Thank you again for putting emphasis on this fact. ♥️
While reading this article and listening to CBC radio at the same time. The radio interview with Malcolm Gladwell started talking about Anne Frank! What are the odds of reading about an existing synchronicity with Anne Frank, only to layer another one upon it 🙂
Thank you for sharing this message. It’s a powerful reminder that we all have a responsibility to stand up for what’s right and ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Every word echoed my thoughts.I do believe that people are good at heart, those who seem other wise are just products of circumstances that corrupt and twist their soul into something ugly.In my country, racism is what keeps us divided. Being divided keeps humanity in segregation and is in my opinion a deep human issue that touches on social, political, and psychological dimensions. I wish that as human beings we would all come to resent the evil snare of fear: fear that difference is a threat, a weakness, something to be hated, crushed, exterminated.
Being divided creates barriers to understanding, cooperation, and mutual respect.To move toward a more unified and inclusive society, is essential to challenge these divisions through education, dialogue, policy reform, and a commitment to empathy and understanding.We cannot sit idly by and choose the safety of silence.There’s a powerful African proverb ” Out of hatred for the cockroach the ants all voted for the insecticide.They all died,including the house fly that didn’t even vote.”Moral of the story, hate destroys, not just the one who receives it, not just the one who gives it but also the one who sits quietly and does nothing to stop it.
I have been so moved by your recent comments. I admire your courage in refusing to smother your humanity or your moral sense for commercial purposes. You speak your truth to those around you in your commercial network, and in doing so your humanity and moral courage stand out. Kudos to you for using your platform to speak out against the eradication of democracy in the US, and Israel’s loss of their righteousness. Oct 7 was an atrocity. Unfortunately Israel has since lost their moral pedestal. Hamas bears equal blame for allowing this to happen to their own people. But the right wing in Israel has shown their true colours: “from the river to the sea” applies to the right wing in both Hamas & Israel. But back to your main point: elements in the US banning Anne Frank’s diary? We never thought history would repeat itself by the US becoming 1930’s Germany!
Thank you, Vishan, for the thoughtful words. In times like these, it’s been easy to feel alone and lose faith in humanity. From Anne Frank to Gaza to ICE, we have seen the many faces of inhumanity and cruelty. Time and again, we see that oppression begets hatred, and hatred begets violence. The only way to break this cycle is through compassion and empathy; but, I worry that only a small minority of people truly understand this.