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
Thank you, Vishen, for showing up for humanity. I sincerely appreciate that move.
We are facing difficult times worldwide, and I appreciate that you, as head of Mindvalley, are taking a stance. As you say, this is not about partisan politics, but about humanity. If any political party or leadership of any nation backs up anti-human interventions, aims to destroy people, and supports plain tyranny, it isn’t about being rude or impolite to go against it. It is fighting for a civilized and human world.
Thank you for supporting humanity by using your (and our) strong network with its massive outreach. I can imagine it is a hard decision for an entrepreneur to intervene if one doesn’t want to get muddled in day-to-day politics. But we need to stand together now, or millions of people around the world, and eventually, communities like this will be wiped out by anti-democratic and anti-human forces around the world.
I suggest we all focus on sending love, to the victims and to the villains. Lets send love from our hearts, from everywhere to everyone.✨✨✨✨✨✨
Thank you for this report. I get chills reflecting on the parallels between the Nazi’s and Trump admin actions against our people, against all people. Anne Frank’s words hit hard and sadly demonstrates that history repeats itself.
My family immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba over 60 years ago, and it shames me to see how many of my same family support the terrible and heartless policies of our government. We are in a storm that is building in intensity and scope.
As a people, we must join and work together to reject these hateful policies and right the ship before it sinks. Preservation of our precious Democracy and our human rights are at stake, and until such time, no one should feel that they are safe or immune from injustice.
Vishen, thank you for using position and visibility to voice a very important message.
I just read your post and it brought tears to my eyes. I grew up and live in Austria, and my grandfather was a soldier in for the Nazi empire, and what I learned through this history and at the same time being exposed to literature like Anne Frank’s diary is, that there are things that happen around us that are inhumane and that it is our job to look around us and see what we can do to make the situation around us more humane.
I hope that with my everyday actions I do a small part in this process.
11 years ago I went to Israel and Westbank with a group of people from my diocese here. I have not been to Gaza but the walls around Bethlehem were telling a story.
I do believe that if we are looking at history with compassion and open hearts we are capable of healing a lot of things that have happened and make this world a better place, otherwise are more likely to cause much more harm than we can even imagine.
This moved me to tears of passion for the potential of humanity to live a vibrant life on this beautiful planet. I will answer with solidarity and support unity, love in all things. Thank you for writing this powerful piece, Vishen. Interesting too, since about a week ago the idea of reading Anne’s diary popped into my mind.
Thank you so, so much for your words Vishen, I was moved to tears on reading them. I am convinced that the only way to go forward is to see others as ourselves and to be loving and kind to all. I believe that Love is the only way. Thank you again.
Love, live & loyalty, is 3 words that represents Anna Frank’s short lived life, and defenetly points towards living & creating from Unity. When it comes to a higher perspektive, WE ARE ALL ONE. ONE UNITY IN THE ENERGY, IN THE HOLE.
Thank you to Anna Frank and her courage & words. I HONOR YOU. Peace, Love & Unity.
Sofia Rose Sommer <3 <3 <3
Beautiful, Vishen.
Hi Vishen,
Thank you for this powerful newsletter. I read every one of them. The parallels you drew between Anne Frank’s words and our present moment really struck me.
It reminded me of Anne’s own reflection: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Your message is a call to action—that we don’t have to wait for policies or leaders to shift before we choose unity and compassion in our own lives. Every small act of humanizing, of seeing someone as more than a label, is a chance to honor her legacy and create the kind of world she believed in.
With gratitude for the reminder,
Deidra
Deidra, Anne Frank’s words are sacred, but twisting them to draw “parallels” that compare Israel to Nazis is not honoring her legacy, it is erasing it. Anne was hiding from a regime that set out to annihilate the Jewish people. Today, Hamas carries that same ideology of extermination in its charter and carried it out on October 7 through massacre, rape, and kidnapping of civilians.
Choosing unity and compassion is important, but unity cannot be built on misinformation that hides Hamas’s crimes and frames Jews as the new Nazis. That kind of distortion doesn’t humanize, it fuels antisemitism and puts Jewish lives in danger. If we truly want to honor Anne’s legacy, the call to action must begin with truth.
One of the best messages I have read on humanity and what the world is facing right now. Thank you for writing this and sharing it through email.
Rein, it may sound like a message of “humanity,” but it is built on distortion. Comparing Israel to Nazis while ignoring Hamas’s charter and the atrocities of October 7 is not compassion, it is propaganda. When millions applaud that message, it fuels antisemitism and puts Jewish lives at risk everywhere. If we truly want humanity and peace, it starts with truth- and the truth is that Hamas thrives on hate and uses its own people as shields.
I wish you included some nuance here. That Smotrich and Gallant are maniacs but they don’t represent the whole of Israeli society. That there are regular protests in Tel Aviv to end this war. Many Israelis and Jews don’t agree with the war by now or those radical lunatics. The ultraliberal west have lost their marbles on this issue, seeing Israel as pure aggressor and upholding Hammas, Hezbollah and “rape as resistance.” Not to mention mainstream media regularly misrepresents the situation, showing the most horrific images either out of context (like children with cerebral palsy posted as starving). Read the Free Press for some balanced perspective. The Gaza issue is so thorny and while I don’t disagree with the heart of what you wrote, you left if dangerously incomplete, contributing to the un-nuanced picture that makes antisemitism worse, not better.
איזה בוגד אתה….מאשים את האחים שלך במקום לזעוק כנגד חוסר הצדק בדברים שהוא כתב. אני עושה איתך מילואים (אם אתה עושה) ואתה מלכלך עליי בעולם. אנרגיות טובו בטוח לא יגיעו אליך בזכות זה….
AG, thank you for saying this. You’re right- extremists like Smotrich or Gallant do not represent Israeli society. Israel is a democracy where people protest openly, even in the middle of a war. At the same time, Hamas is not a fringe voice- it is the “government” of Gaza, with a charter that calls for the extermination of Jews, and it carried that out on October 7 through massacre, rape, and kidnapping.
What Vishen’s article does is strip away this context and feed a simplistic story that frames Israel as the aggressor and Hamas as the victim. That distortion fuels antisemitism worldwide and leaves Jews exposed. You’re also right that much of the media spreads half-truths or out-of-context images that only make the hate worse. If people really want balance, they need to hear from Israelis themselves and from those who expose Hamas’s crimes. Without that, unity is an illusion built on propaganda.
Thank you, Vishen, for having the courage to shine a light on injustice and remind us, through Anne Frank’s words, that history repeats when we stay silent. Your call for unity and compassion across borders is so needed today.
Zehra, shining a light on injustice is important, but this article does the opposite. It twists Anne Frank’s words to compare Israel with Nazis while erasing Hamas’s own charter that calls for the extermination of Jews and the atrocities of October 7 – rape, murder, and kidnapping of civilians. That is not a call for unity, it is propaganda that fuels antisemitism when millions applaud it without question.
If we really want compassion across borders, it has to begin with truth. And the truth is that Hamas thrives on hate, holds Palestinians hostage, and openly promises to repeat October 7. Ignoring that reality doesn’t stop history from repeating- it guarantees it.
As a spiritual new human who has identified as a Warrior against injustice, I am asking myself, how do we maintain peace and love
while battling darkness? We have spoken as a group and yet, they do not hear. All the evidence is there, and yet they are blinded by the paradigms of fear. Fear that comes from religious dogma.
We are all part of one. The ascended master, Jesus said, we are one body. But his message has dimmed in the light of the darkness of mankind’s heart. Man has chosen fear over love.
I believe love wins. We have to address the truth from a place of power, which is love.
This is the most difficult part of leaving the paradigms of
Religious fear. True love does not judge.
And yet we seem to be collectively judging.
We need to link in unity.
We have power in our numbers and an anchor into this world
Meant to bring
Light and love.
I believe all
Of us living at this time, chose to be here for this great spiritual awakening which will bring the new earth into existence.
We are the badasses of the universes (plural) because we said yes to the journey. At this time
Of extreme darkness.
I also believe we have support of
Many looking
On and guiding light workers to show up in love and light. Together we can
Cultivate the new earth.
Between now and then, the old
Concious is crumbling.
Buckle your seatbelts and follow the enlightened path. Always ask, Is this what love would do?
Thank you, Vishen. For these sobering words. For not turning away.
For honoring where we are but offering hope. For using your voice for Good, and taking a stand for Oneness.
I share your sentiments, and am poised, curious for what’s next.
I’d love to witness a boomerang that unites us stronger, with an renewed awareness of what makes us Human.
Holly, using a voice for good means refusing to spread distortions that erase reality. This article compares Israel to Nazis while leaving out Hamas’s charter calling for the extermination of Jews and the atrocities of October 7- rape, murder, and kidnapping of civilians. That is not a stand for oneness, it is misinformation that fuels antisemitism.
If we truly want unity that makes us stronger, it has to be built on truth. And the truth is that Hamas thrives on hate and keeps both Israelis and Palestinians hostage to its violence. Oneness without honesty isn’t hope. it’s propaganda.
Sending you light and Truth
While the sentiment around unity and compassion is compelling… It is highly irresponsible, dangerous, and unethical to compare Nazi propaganda to Israeli leadership who are making these comments in 2023 in response to Hamas’s mission – death to Jews, Israel and the US. Shameful to exclude Hamas from this distorted and misleading comparison. Israel’s mission is to eliminate Hamas, the deadly terrorist group that controls Gaza and uses their own people as human shields. So disappointing…
I hope you never have to feel backed into a corner and faced with feeling trapped, and hopeless. I don’t condone Hamas’ words or actions. Yet they have taken a stand after more than 50 years of oppression, more than 50 years of losing land, resources, access to travel and commerce. If I were caged and trapped, I do not know if I could endure it. What about you?
Holly, I hear your compassion, but this framing is dangerous. Israel did not “cage” Gaza. In 2005 Israel withdrew completely, dismantling every community and pulling out all its soldiers. Hamas then took control, destroyed the infrastructure left behind, and turned Gaza into a terror base. They built tunnels instead of schools, rockets instead of businesses, and indoctrinated children with hate.
On October 7, they showed the world that their fight is not about borders, travel, or commerce- it is about the destruction of Jews. That is written in their charter, and it is exactly what they carried out through massacre, rape, and kidnapping. Comparing this to being “trapped” erases Hamas’s responsibility and spreads misinformation that fuels antisemitism.
If we truly want compassion for Palestinians, the first step is freeing them from Hamas- because Hamas is the reason they are suffering, not Israel.
The rise of fascism and Tierney, the atrocities of greed breed an atmosphere of fear. I find it difficult to create with positivity and expansion when fear has me closing down and building protections. I flee into ignoring to keep my sanity. This is what fear does. For me, I have to fight the fear first so that I can stand for justice, peace, compassion, creativity, inclusion and awareness. How do I fight though? What price is exacted on my soul? Do I have to adapt violence?
❤️
Beautifully expressed. Powerful parallels. Sound advice. Thank you for your vision, Vishen!
Thank you for this. The cruelty I’m seeing in from the US government is devastating. I’m 73 years old, and have always been skeptical of people in power. But never before have I witnessed the cruelty and destruction of basic principles that we are seeing now. I have an underlying faith in human goodness, so I am hopeful that kindness and generosity and humanity will prevail. We are better than this. But we have to do the next needed thing to stop the cruelty.