(Before I
start, I want to apologize for any grammar mistake I make. English is not my
first language, and although I'm on my second year of University, getting a
major in english language, it is still not one hundred percent perfect, so I'm
really sorry if I misspell something.)
Okay guys,
I'm here to explain some things, and those things are my points of view on the
subject of Anne and Peter's relationship.
A lot of
people has been asking me about what I think about them. About why I
"ship" them so much and seem to only pay atenttion to them in the
videos I make.
Some people
have also said that they don't think that their romantic interested in each other
could have been so big and great as my videos and storylines say it was.
And others, on the other hand, think that Anne and Peter shared a very special
bond that, if they had survived, could have led them into getting married and
having kids.
Now, I understand
and respect both points of view. I also share some of the opinions that lead
these people to support those ideas. So I'm going to share and defend mines.
Can I be
considered a huge Anne Frank fan? It depends on how you define the word
"Fan". I've read the Diary five times, in three different languages. I'm
also very familiar with
testimonies of people who knew the Franks or were with them in the
Concentration Camps they were sent to. I've never been to the Secret Annex, but
I've had the opportunity to have a
virtual tour into the real Annex. I'm also aware of the 'Conspiracy Theories'
from people who think the Diary isn't real and I know very valid points to
defend it.
I'm also on
the process of reading the Diary for the sixth time to make a Peter Van Pels
character study. And to finish with this babble, I've seen all of the movies and
documentaries
about Anne Frank. So I'm pretty much well informed about what I'm going to be
talking about in this entry. Am I a "Fan"? You are the one to judge.
Now, let's
remember the relationship between Anne and Peter before they went into hinding,
which was absolutely none. They didn't know each other ('The Whole Story' movie
pretty much
lied about this fact). Anne had heard about him and had seen him in school once
or twice, but she had never had a personal relationship with this boy who will be turning
into her companion in hiding for the next couple of years.
At first
sight, Anne thought Peter was "lazy and squeamish". She didn't expect
much of him, and was constantly it could have been another person to be there
instead of him.
As the
months went trough, they learned how to live together, and shared some laughs
here and there. They talked, yeah, but it wasn't a big deal. And most of all,
Anne thought Peter was
in love with Margot. Now, this is a very interesting thing to notice, but I'll
be talking about Peter and Margot's relationship in another entry.
Finally, Anne started noticing something in Peter,
and that something was the fact that she realized she had finally found someone
whom she could
talk to. Someone who would listen to her without judging. Someone who would be
there for her, either to talk or just to sit next to her, to make her feel that she's not
alone. This is when something very special starts developing. And even Anne
says it in her Diary; it could develop into a really nice and special
friendship.
Of course it did. But just a while after that friendship was formed; we can start noticing
something else. We start noticing a bit of romance that starts growing and
growing.
At the end
the romance is over. Not because they wanted it to be, but because they
respected Otto Frank’s opinions about their relationship, so they decided to
stay as friends.
They were
caught by the Gestapo and sent to a Concentration Camp named ‘Westerbork’, a
detention and transit camp in Hooghalen, Holland
Now, some
people have asked why I make videos about the two of them thinking about each
other while in the camps. It is very simple; although I do agree that they
constantly thought about their families while they were in the concentration
camps, but the testimony of an eyes witness named Rosa de Winter, who met the
Franks while they were in Westerbork is always present inside my mind. Quote: “I
saw Anne Frank and Peter van Pels in Westerbork. They were always together…In
Westerbork Anne was lovely, so radiant that her beauty flowed over into Peter…”
They were always together. So radiant. Her
beauty flowed over into Peter.
Now, that
phrase. That sentence. That testimony right there is the one that will haunt me
forever. That testimony right there is the one that moves me to defend their beautiful
relationship. They were together. Always. They supported each other. Anne was ‘so
radiant’. She was ‘so radiant’ while she was in a detention camp. Of course,
she was still with her family and friends, but if she was always with Peter…doesn’t
it mean that he also played a big part in her happiness?
…People
like to think that they could’ve gotten married if they had survived. And they
have also asked my opinion about this. And, as always, I will write it, based
on Rosa ’s testimony.
At simple
sight of the Diary of Anne, people could say “Yes, they could have”. But when
you read it more carefully, you start noticing that one of the reasons why the
romance was supposedly over was because Anne had start thinking about Peter in
a deeper way. She didn’t see him as a very brave, strong minded person. She even
wrote what she thought she’d say if he asked her to marry him, and her answer
was ‘No’.
BUT, there’s
always a but, after they were caught, Peter was able to prove that he was none of
the things described by Anne in the Diary. Peter proved that he was not going
to let her all by herself in that concentration camp. Who knows if he defended
her of some Nazi soldier, or of another hungry and desperate person in there? We
will never know this. But we do know that if Anne was with Peter all the time,
it was because she felt safe with
him. Safe with the man whom she
always considered weak and coward.
I’m not
aware of any testimonies of people who were with the Franks inside the train
that took them to Auschwitz , so I’m not assuring
what I’m about to say, but we don’t know if they were also together in that
train. If Anne was with him all the time in the detention camp, who says they
didn’t take care of each other while in the train? Who says they didn’t scream
each other’s name when they were being separated by the Nazis in their arrival
to Auschwitz ? (I’m not saying they weren’t
worried about their family either). Who says they didn’t cry after they
realized they were probably not going to see each other anymore? Do I think
they could have survived if they had been together in the camp? Yes. A total
and rotund yes.
By this
point Peter had proven himself to be the man Anne never thought he was. Everything
that Anne thought wasn’t there, there it was, ready to protect and care about
her. In this point, do I think they could’ve gotten married if they had
survived? They “no” that formed while reading the Diary turns into a big “yes”
after picturing all of the above.
This is why
admire their brotherhood. This is why admire their friendship. This is why
admire their romance. Because even though there was a war going on out there,
they didn’t give up on life and on each other. They were always there to make
the other one happy, to help the other one not matter what. They protected and
gave hope to each other. It doesn’t matter if you see them only as brother and
sister, or as just friends or as a married couple already, what matters is what
did for the other one in order, not only to survive, but to prove that there is
still hope and happiness, even in the darkest of times.
Their
desire of living is what encouraged the other to continue with the constant
fight for life. Do I really think they died thinking about each other? They
thought about their families, of course. But I really do believe with all of my
heart that they saw each other’s face in front of their eyes before taking
their last breath. Because they shared more of what anyone could ever ask for.
