Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503060039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They spent the day reading ``The Diary of Anne Frank.''
They tried to understand the fear and horror of the Jewish girl who wrote her moving diary while hiding from the Nazis during World War II.
``For at least a moment, we hope they can feel what Anne Frank and the Jews experienced,'' said Margaret English, an English teacher at Breckinridge Middle School in Roanoke.
The eighth-grade students could not talk to one another or their teachers. They spent Friday in silence, reading a different section of the diary in each class.
They wore black-and-yellow armbands, a variation on the yellow Star of David sewn on Jews' clothing.
As they changed classes, they walked quietly, with their heads lowered.
For the day, each was given a copy of the diary, a copy of their school number and a copy of the rules governing their behavior.
They could respond only with their name and student number if they were stopped or questioned by their teacher. They could answer teachers' questions with only "yes" or "no."
The day was designed to teach the students how Anne Frank and her family had to live a life of silence and secrecy.
In 1942, during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family hid in a secret attic in an Amsterdam office building. Anne recorded her experiences in a diary. Two years later, the family was betrayed and discovered.
Anne died in a Nazi concentration camp at Belsen, Germany. Her diary was published in 1947 and was made into a play and a film.
Students say Anne Frank Day helps them to better understand the horrors of the Nazi occupation.
Beforehand, some parents are apprehensive about the possible effect on their children, but many call or write afterward to praise the school for it, English said. ``They said it has helped their children.''
The program was begun several years ago.
Anne Frank Day is a culmination of a three-week unit of study by different classes focusing on the Nazis, discrimination, World War II, horrors of war and other issues.
``If this is to be prevented from happening again, it will have to come from children like these, who have never known war, who never knew anything about Anne Frank,'' English said. ``We want to teach them just a little of what it was like.''
At the end of the day, the students have a liberation period when they end the reading and silence and talk about what it means for them, English said.
It is a time for them to relax and see what they have learned, she said.
English said seventh-graders at Breckinridge Middle School look forward to Anne Frank Day a year ahead of time.
by CNB