She is testimony to the fact that human beings, even if their bodies may be slaughtered, cannot die, so long as they strive to make lasting legacies of their lives. Even after Anne perished in a concentration camp, her day-to-day chronicle of her life, encompassing everything from her first menstruation to the careful watch the Secret Annex dwellers kept upon the doings of the war, lives on.

Often, I too am plagued by doubts and remorse, when I speculate about the fate of young women like Anne, who died before their time. The world mourns the six million dead Jews who died, but a small part of me also mourns the loss to the world of what never was -- the great works of literature Anne could have written if only she had lived. Every time someone dies, or potential goes unfulfilled, even if it is only the life of...
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