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WWII Nazis exhibited extreme adversity and conflict against the Jewish people of Europe. Diaries written like Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl and Bloeme Emden’s first-hand account in Hidden Like Anne Frank represent methods the Jews cope with the ongoing conflict against them. But while they more specifically represent the Jewish people of WWII, they also represent people universally when faced with adversity and conflict. When faced with extreme adversity, people bear with the conflict by forms of self-expression and joint efforts to resist.
Anne Frank’s coping mechanism for confronting a situation of extreme prejudice and acting on adversity is her power of self-expression in writing. In one of her first writings she states, “To enhance in my mind’s eye the picture of the friend for whom I have waited so long, I don’t want to set down a series of bald facts in a diary like most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty,” she visualizes her diary as a friend, vowing to reveal her true self (Frank 3). Throughout the 2 years spent in hiding, her vow proves useful in self-reflection use, “This morning, when I had nothing to do, I leafed through the pages of my diary and came across so many letters dealing with the subject of 'Mother' in such strong terms that I was shocked. I said to myself, 'Anne, is that you talking about hate? Oh, Anne, how could you?’” (Frank 127). Using writing as a coping mechanism, the stress she endures from the Nazi danger and her mother is calmed, and self-reflection against past offenses and flaws occurs.
Bloeme Emden found her strength to cope with extreme Jewish adversity through her relations with resistance workers. Resistance workers helped her find places to stay, jobs, and most importantly keep her Jewish identity hidden, “People from the resistance had inserted my photograph and a thumbprint onto the card, so now my name was Nancy Winifred Altman, born in Indonesia on August 22, 1924, and currently residing in Epe,” the fake I.D., although demeaning to who she is, allows protection of her Jewish identity and jobs to where more hiding places are provided (Prins). Although not without its struggles, “‘If we get caught, they’ll get you too.” So they looked for a new address for me. What followed for me was a list of over fifteen addresses,” she remains suspicious to gentiles because of her Jewish features, mentioned by others multiple times (Prins).
Resistance workers continue to work together with her as a safety net for when her I.D. does not protect her, assisting her to move to over fifteen places. With cooperation with the resistance, Emden could find a way through the growing conflict against the Jews.
When faced with extreme adversity, people use forms of self-expression like writing and joint efforts of resistance to cope with conflict against them. Anne Frank’s self-expression assisted her in remaining calm and mental growth. Bloeme Emden’s cooperation with the resistance assisted her in her protection. In the case of Anne Frank’s form of coping, her mature words in response to all she endured left a legacy for everyone to learn.
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