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.
1,255 Responses
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.
I’m super proud of you, Vishen. 🙏🏿
What an interesting contrast Vishen. Between a teenage girl who had to face the actions of the world of the adults and of nations with their agendas. A girl forced to mature within the impending horrors and of the fate of her own kind. On the other hand, is the seemingly unperturbed era of classroom education where curriculum is drafted with its own agendas, however perfectly intent or imperfectly executed.
If we take the 15 year old between both eras they may be too different in the level of maturity in respect to life and itd brutal consequences. What goes into the decision to ban , I can only think of it as a measure against provocation of a topic , regardless of whether it was right or wrong. Perhaps, as a learning material it was fair. But as a material that could aggravate a situation with no clear direction of use, it would seem to be a strategic decision.
Perhaps the question here would then be – what should the young ones pay attention to and are they ripe for it. This then begs, what is the core purpose of education.
Jen, Anne Frank’s diary is not just another “provocative” book in a curriculum- it is the testimony of a Jewish teenager hiding from a regime that set out to annihilate her entire people. To compare that to modern policy debates or to frame it as a question of “strategy” strips away the truth of the Holocaust.
And when Vishen uses Anne’s story to draw false parallels with Gaza, it becomes even more dangerous. Hamas is not Anne Frank- Hamas is the ideology of those who hunted her. Their charter openly calls for the destruction of Jews, and on October 7 they proved it with massacre, rape, and kidnapping. Education should open eyes, not confuse history with propaganda. If we want young people to learn anything from Anne Frank, it must be the importance of standing up against hate and refusing to allow lies to take root.
It is a different situation. The Jews in Europe were not teaching the children that Europeans were vermin to be killed. The Palestinians are teaching their children to kill the Jews and Israelis and in fact to die as hero’s doing so. The Jews of Europe did not attack Europeans but were consistently attacked well before Hitler and displaced time and time again over hundreds of years. The Palestinians attacked Israel on October 7 through tunnels built under hospitals and schools hiding weapons, built with money that could have housed and fed the citizens. They teach and vow to wipe out Israel and Jews. Is there a realistic and safe way for Israel? I do not have the answer but I don’t think you do either or you would publish that. I am troubled by the situation as a Jew but ask myself how i would feel if my daughters had been raped and killed on October 7 while dancing at a music festival similar to the ones you hold.
You’re one more propagandist of Hamas.
You know nothing of what’s occurring there. Shame on you and shame on your hate. Comparing the words of Israeli right wing politicians to the Nazi movement.
You’ve proven your illegitimacy and your bias. Veiled as compassion you’re no different than the rest of the ignorant and hateful you are trying to sympathize with.
Excellent … I wonder if he will retract this news letter… honestly enough idiots on the streets that support terrorists Maybe they should go in these arab countries and help with reconstruction..
Vishen your words, or perhaps Anne Frank’s words hit me hard. I woke up this morning reading about the atrocities that our government, here in the United States* are doing right now even as I write this. Our new ‘Hitler’ and his entourage are quickly destroying our government and our lives will follow suit. History does repeat itself unless a conscious choice is made and followed through.
Brilliantly expressed, resonates deeply in a very real frightful way.
I hear what you are saying and as a black man in America I fear for my children and my children’s children. But the very people who are being victimized by these American atrocities and that’s what they are, are they very people when given a choice, chose this road. I remember all of the protests at Kamala’s rallys by people who are now the victims. So I cannot and will not support those who put my grandchildren’s future at stake. I remember her saying that all of theses things were put in writing, but they chose not to head the warnings. So the only thing I can do now is protect what is mine and when they come for me, fight with every fiber in my being. You should be reminding those protestors, etc., how they betrayed their own and how they betrayed the human race. Yes, the lesson of Anne Frank’s words is a frightning reminder of what can happen when we put, racism, sexism, and xonophiobia over common sense. God help us.
SOOOO untrue! Is this a leftist site? Because knowledge is definitely missing!