Anne Frank is one of my all-time heroes. Although she needs little introduction, being one of the most known victims of the Holocaust, few people think about how important the testimony of Annelies Marie Frank (12 June 1929 – February or March 1945) is in today’s world. Her diary went all the way from banned book (as is in Lebanon), to a non-recommended book (a school committe in the US deeming the book to be “a real downer”), and up to compulsory reading.

Nowadays, Anne’s universe still elicits a lot of interest worldwide. More than 1 million people visit yearly her hiding place in Prinsengraacht 263, in Amsterdam, where she, together with her family and four other people stayed in hiding, without seeing light or going out for 2 years (between 06 July 1942 and 04 August 1944). New pages of her diary have just been discovered a couple of months ago – so the final version of her diary, known as “Anne Frank’s Diary” or “The Secret Annex” (the latter being a literal translation of the Dutch original “Het Achterhuis“), is soon going to be revised.

Revisions of her diary happened many times since the first publication of the Diary in 1947. Several fragments were added, which were considered initially extraneous to the diary, or that were considered unfit for a young audience. The Diary underwent a lot of cosmetic work until it reached what was called “the Definitive Edition”, but in the meantime, more than 35 million copies of her book were sold, in more than 60 languages.

Anne’s message is always a peaceful and mature one, way beyond the real age she had when she was writing her diary. “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”, says one of her most repeated quotes. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” is another one, which remains a true example of Anne’s food for thought.

There were Anne Frank movies, animations, cartoons, spin-off’s, basically there’s a little bit of everything decent that carries on the message of Anne Frank. Of course, there are also numerous Anne Frank stamps, about which we are going to talk a little today.

 

 

 

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Federal German Republic

The first Anne Frank to be issued was in the Federal German Republic in the year 1979.

The stamp features the well-known school portrait of Anne Frank, while the First Day Cover has in addition her signature. The stamp on the First Day Cover also identifies the issue as a commemorative one, being issued for the 50th anniversary of birth of Anne Frank.

One detail that is often overlooked is the fact that this stamp also features a concrete date for the death of Anne Frank. The date is debatable, especially in the light of recent research and interviews with other survivors, as Anne Frank might have died any time between February and April 1945.

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