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.
903 Responses
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Vishen.
Thank you, Vishen, for your courage in raising such important political and human questions, and for daring to share uncomfortable truths, even when that means facing diverse standpoints. You speak when many remain silent, and that is what truly makes a difference.
I also believe we create history every day—through the way we think, speak, and act. Compassion, for me, is one of the most apparent forms of awareness and understanding: first of ourselves, and then of others. Sadly, inner conflict often reflects in our political choices, our relationships, and even in the small, routine decisions we make. This is why self-awareness and compassion are not just personal values, but the foundation for a better society.
I deeply value Mindvalley because it helps us grow in this direction. It has already made a huge positive impact in my life, and I am certain it will continue to do so for many more people.
This was so beautiful. I feel the same as you. Thank You for sharing this in a world so divided. Hopefully hearts can be touched and possibly changed.
You should really educate yourself and stop drawing similarities with Anne Frank and terrorism !
Did you see the IRGC is now responsible for all Antisemitic attacks. Why don’t you look at the bigger picture.
Ouestion sir: What other country in this world, can you just disobey laws and that country will bend over backwards to make you comfortable and care about your rights? This is not an ideal situation and hard on so many levels and everyone’s case is unique, but vilifying America while living out your dreams and benefiting from this country is not right. Where else? Comparing our president to the Nazi’s is deplorable and berating hard working law enforcemement officers who are carrying out the laws enacted by congress for years is just not right.
bravo ! this man is disgusting
I am extremely grateful for this post dear Vishen, I am boycotting genocide supporters in my private and professional life, and I am happy to see the alignment between your your message and your actions.
There is a media battle by those who hate Jews to compare Israelis/Jews to Nazis, and to say as Jews suffered under Nazi rule, how could they behave like that now? Israeli Arabs, Christians and Druze have equal rights in Israel, and religious freedom. Jihadi Muslims want to kill all Jews, not just Israeli Jews. Anti Zionism is the new face of Anti-Semitism, and there is massive funding by Qatar and Iran into anti Jewish and anti Israel propaganda, for many years before October 7th. The Palestinians in Gaza have been oppressed by Hamas since it took over, and killed all their opponents. They took all the international aid and instead of building up the people, they put it into terror tunnels and weapons to kills Israelis, and abused their children by educating them to hate Jews and want to kill them, to die as martyrs. Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, and has been attacked by Arab countries many times, as well as suffered terrorist attacks as a part of daily life. Less extreme Arab countries have signed the Abraham Accords to cooperate with Israel, and criticise Hamas for their violence, and still holding Israeli hostages and starving and torturing them. We should all want peace, but not appease the Jihadists, who don’t want peace.
Thankyou Vishen. Your words are truth and the truth always prevails. I support your every word here and Thankyou for your courage. Bernadette 🦋
Thank you for writing this and putting things into perspective. It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness and minutiae of everyday life, but your words reminded me to zoom out and consider the bigger picture. I recently watched #Unfit and was struck again by how history has a way of repeating itself when leaders tap into people’s fears, insecurities, and pain. They use these emotions to build movements against “the other,” dehumanising whole groups and fuelling a dangerous crowd mentality.
It brought to mind Niemöller’s haunting words:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out… Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Your piece was a powerful reminder that the most important choices we make are about how we show up — not with fear or silence, but with humanity, compassion, and connection.
I’m not always seen eye to eye with everything that Vishen has said or done since I became acquainted with Mind Valley. I found his association with Elon Musk, as an example, troubling. That said I am absolutely applauding and cheering for his speaking so clearly and beautifully the truth of what so many Americans are singing in our country right now.
We need more influential and spiritual leaders to step forward and speak this truth without fear. Perhaps easier, admittedly, when you’re not within US boundaries… but nonetheless needs to be said.
We are in very troubling times here in the United States. Half the time I laugh at the absolute lunacy and Ludacris of someone what’s going on… Other times I fall into a deep despair wondering how much worse is going to get before it can ever get better.
Thank you to Vishen for this and for the absolute courage that I had to take to make the stand knowing that it could offend people within the community that he has been working so purposefully to create.
Gracias Vishen por compartirnos este mensaje y llamado a la UNIDAD, realmente no podemos ser insensibles a estas acciones y temas que siguen dividiendo más a la humanidad. Le felicito por su valentía al escribir de esta manera sobre la realidad que están viviendo miles de personas, particularmente me ha llamado a la reflexión del privilegio que tenemos muchos de no estar en dicha situación y simplemente nos quedamos en el silencio, indiferentes como si no estuviera pasando nada.
Thank you Vishen for being an upstanding human and using your success and platform to help your fellow humans. The way the world is turning is dark and cruel and absolutely nothing new. If we continue to promote love, unity, and compassion we will win against this wannabe fascist and the newest Hitler wannabe. I say both those titles with full contempt. As for the other people in these comments shaming Vishen for ‘spreading his political agenda’, 1. Politics is in everything from our groceries to our schools. Every part of everyone’s life is influenced by politics so maybe you should get used to seeing it everywhere. 2. This is not about left or right but MORALS. Yes morals. Your morals. If a country is breaking the Geneva Convention something is wrong. Israel has been accused of numerous war crimes by the UN and other human rights groups. Their unapologetic nature and continuous breach of international law is not an opinion but a fact.
Thank you Vishen for using your platform to speak on behalf of those who are being silenced. We must all stand together in unity and love against violence, fear and hatred. Human consciousness is evolving however awareness is only uncovered through lived experiences, they often appear in cycles, and as part of this process of unveiling and growth the shadows must be brought to light, transmuted and integrated to create a better future for human kind. Sending love, support and gratitude.
Thank you. I don’t usually leave comments, but I was so impressed by this courageous piece of writing that I felt compelled to leave a note of gratitude. May Anne’s belief in human goodness be a reminder for us all, and may kindness towards all living beings be our guiding light home 🩷
I’m so proud of you Vishen. Thank you for taking a stand against evil.
Thank you Vishen, for having the courage to speak about this openly and repeatedly. Loved you anyway for what you have created with Mindvalley, but now have even more respect for you. May we all have the strength and clarity to speak our truth and stand up against evil always.
Thank you, Vishen, for bringing this topic up. Thank you for trying to unite, as the world leaders are set on scaring, dividing, and controlling people.
We can no longer choose political sides. We must be on the HUMAN side.
And the only way to do that is to treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
The Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. said:
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.
Thank you friend, for speaking out.
I read the Diary of Anne Frank in school and found it moving. I often wondered what type of people the Germans were to allow such a governing force to rule them, but as time has passed, I have learned that the German people are like every other people. It happened there. It can happen here, and anywhere, and it does, in varying degrees, but the pattern remains the same.
Normalize a police state. Blame the “Others” for the country’s woes. Dehumanize the “Other” as we’ve done to the marginalized, enslaved, etc. In a country where the leader tells the public what “He” is going to do, and the People remain voiceless, giving “He” a license to proceed free of judgment as “He” is acting upon the People’s will and with their blessing..
You’re absolutely right Vishen. We all know as a planet we should all embrace each other … this fear of people from a different geographic area logically, emotionally seems overwhelmingly wrong. Why does it exist?