Anne Frank’s diary still speaks to students

June 12, 2001
Web posted at: 1:18 PM EDT (1718 GMT)

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 -- 72 years ago. She only lived to be 15, but her story lives on in "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl."

One of her entries read:

"Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I've never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old school girl."

VIDEO CNN's Kathy Nellis has more on Anne Frank (June 12) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Growing up black in Nazi Germany: One man's story

But history and the horrors of the Holocaust in which the Nazi regime killed more than 6 million Jews during World War II, brought Anne Frank and her diary fame. Three weeks after receiving a diary for her 13th birthday, Anne went into hiding with her family in hopes to escape German persecution. For 25 months, Anne made regular diary entries as she, her family and their companions remained shut away. The Nazis found them in 1944 and Anne later died of typhus in a concentration camp.

Since it was first published in 1947, the book has sold more than 25 million copies around the world. It's been translated into 67 languages. The book has become an educational tool in many schools.

CNN NEWSROOM's Kathy Nellis went to the Greenfield Hebrew Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, to talk with students about the book's impact.

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