THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

In Amsterdam after World War II, concentration camp survivor Otto Frank returned to the attic where he, his family and another Jewish family had spent two years hiding from capture by the Nazis. There, he found the diary of his teenage daughter, Anne, who had perished in the camps. The diary, detailing their time hiding in the "Secret Annex," was a record of many things: the friction that arises when people are forced together with very little living space; the tension and despair that mounts when every little noise you make could spell the end of your life and the lives of all around you; first love; self-doubt; the blossoming of a spoiled, bossy girl into a sensitive and intelligent young woman; and the human spirit's ability to hold on to hope even in the midst of terrible adversity. Mr. Frank allowed the diary to be published, and the tale of an ordinary girl's bravery and coming of age while trapped in an unthinkable situation became an international sensation. This story of one single girl helped to humanize and help people understand the true toll of the Holocaust in human terms. When told that six million Jews were murdered, the mind can't quite take it in. Six million is just too big a number to process, and the information seems so impersonal. Anne's story made it personal. The first-ever film version of this haunting true story (based on the original Broadway stage adaptation of the diary), THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK won three Academy Awards and was nominated for five more. "It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. "It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up a