Anne Frank - should people have heard about her?

[MilkTrayLimeBarrel]

Chatting with DH about where to go for a city break this spring. I suggested Amsterdam - lots to see, including tulips, canals, bikes and Anne Frank's house. He asked who she was? AIBU to think that everybody should have heard of her and what she stood for/did? I couldn't believe that he honestly had no idea who she was!

I don't think I have ever covered Anne Frank in formal education. I am 47, and did history at GCSE, A-level and degree, including Nazism for A-level and modules on 20th century European history and the Third Reich at degree level (so she might have cropped up on some reading lists.) But I first read her diary around age 10 or 11, as did a lot of people I was at school with. I didn’t ever see Otto Frank on Blue Peter (we didn't have a TV till I was 14,) but there have been various adaptations and documentaries on TV and radio over the years. I think it would be quite difficult to get the OP's or my age and never come across her, but obviously not quite impossible.

I have heard of everyone on the list, except Ali, the Sufísm founder, and I assume the fact they had to mention he was the founder of sufiism means I'm not alone there. I could tell you why they are there, too, even if I couldn't say more than "philosopher" or "US president" - I do think it's an American-centric list, with a few too many presidents.

the agricultural and industrial revolution,s were not the most interesting periods of history

Yes they are. (I nearly became an industrial archaeologist, but got distracted by the need to keep a roof over my head.)

I'm late 40's and did History GCSE and we never covered WWII in all my time at Secondary School in the UK and we definitely did not learn about Anne Frank. I don't know how I know about her but I do.

Blue Peter was brilliant at teaching us all these things so it could have been from that. I have always read alot and watched the news from a young age so I'm bound to have come across her at some point. I've never read her diary though. I read Schindlers Ark which was of course turned into the film Schindlers List which had a profound affect on me both the book and the film. I haven't been able to watch or read it since. I'd like to read her diary but I can't bring myself to which is weird.

I 'm sure a lot of people wouldn't know many of the early American Presidents for example, or even Prussian philosophers (Immanuel Kent, the one I didn't know).
See, Kant is one of the people on the list I probably know the most about (and I could only give you the basics of Anne Frank). I've read several of Kant's works but never Anne Frank's diary.

It just goes to show that most people dont know every single prominent historical (or present day) figure. We all have a few gaps and it doesn't make us 'thick' as others in the thread may have suggested.

You probably have passing familiarity with some of Kant's work though ('I think therefore I am').

I left school in 1996. And while we did learn about the causes of ww1 and ww2 we didnt learn about the holocaust. Not much about Hitler and certainly nothing about Anne Frank. My children aged 19 and 18 did though. And had a holocaust survivor come in to talk to them. I know what I do through self teaching.

Just hit me that that quote is Descartes, oops! Been a few decades...

Bananataffy I've certainly heard of Descartes and I knew that quote!

My husband is in his early 50s, lived here in the USA his entire life and he has just told he that Anne Frank’s diary was on the syllabus when he was in school in California in the late 70s.

For a European not to have even heard of her is quite shocking.

Its frightening how many people don't know anything about WW1 or WW2. A lot of people don't even know the start/end dates.

I have a friend who recently told me she hated Germany as they are the only country in Europe to have ever started a war ...

Its frightening how many people don't know anything about WW1 or WW2. A lot of people don't even know the start/end dates

I dont, ive seen docos and stuff, i just dont care enough to bank it in my memory. Plus im crap at remembering numbers in general.

Never read anne franks diary but i left school in year 8 and did basic courses after where history wasnt touched on (in aus). Again i could go get a copy and read it, i just have no interest
I think it was the simpsons where i first heard her name

We didn't do any work on Anne Frank in school........I only heard of her because I'm an avid reader so read her book as a child.

I'm American, early 50s and I knew who she was when I was a kid, but can't tell you how I did. It was not part of our curriculum back then. I now work in a school and they all read her book in 8th Grade (equivalent of a British Year 9).

this thread demonstrates the educational powers of blue peter!
i learnt such a lot from that and newsround- not because i wanted to- far from it!- but because there was nothing else to watch.

It would be nice if people could get her name right. In German, Anne is pronounced "Anna." In her case it is short for Annelies.

I think it was the simpsons where i first heard her name

And this is the point. Unlike Kant, for example, she is mentioned in lots of other cultural contexts. The first example that springs to mind is The Big Fat Quiz of the Decade where they mentioned Justin Beiber visiting her house.
I’ve not read the book or knowingly watched anything about her but I know enough of her story to know who she was and what happened.

I think if he's in his early 50s and it wasn't covered at school and he didn't watch Blue Peter then I can sort of see how it happened. Blue Peter covered loads of realty important topics.

this thread demonstrates the educational powers of blue peter!

The old style one BBC 1 twice a week - yes.

The current version is a poor gimmicky substitute- we tried to encourage our son to watch it, but after a few episodes, we all gave up on it.

I wonder - with the vast range of choices to watch on TV etc - how general knowledge will be in the future?

Yes - the internet is full of information.

However - people generally want to watch things they enjoy and are interested in.

In the old days, there were 3 and then 4 channels. And that was it.

So there was the opportunity to see documentaries etc on history, science as there was limited choice.

If you want to find things out now, you certainly can. But if you don't, then there is plenty of other things to occupy you.

This thread has had me trying to remember if i studied Anne Frank at school. I dont think I did but I certainly looked at the war in primary school. I did GCSE history but chose the schools history project syllabus rather than modern history becasue it seemed more varied.

I certainly agree with previous posters that most of my knowledge of history has been gained outside of formal education but that's becasue I enjoy learning about these things and the internet makes this so easy.

Of course everyone should know the name Anne Frank.

Interesting about Blue Peter, I remember an interview with Anne Frank's father Otto.

I am in my 50s and my English class at secondary read Anne Franks diary in first year. I knew about her previously as my Mum is Dutch. We also learned about the Holocaust in history class.

My daughters in their 20s now, went to a talk from Otto's stepdaughter, a Holocaust survivor when they were at primary school.

If you want to find things out now, you certainly can. But if you don't, then there is plenty of other things to occupy you.

But some people seem to end up knowing about almost nothing, rather than knowing about different things. (Yes, colleagues, I do judge some of you for this...)

I am just a little bit older than OP's husband. I did know about Anne Frank from a young age, mainly due the the 'June book of Heroines' I was given for Christmas when I was about 9/10 years old. And Blue Peter. However, contrary to what @BananaTaffy asserts, I was never taught about Anne Frank at school. I did history at o and a level and though ww2 was covered, it was from a military pov, the holocaust was not covered at all ( a level syllabus was the Stuarts and the causes of ww1). We never read the diary in English (would rather that than the bloody awful Tarka the Otter that we did have to suffer through). So I can understand how someone, especially a male, can have missed out on the Anne Frank phenomenon. And if I am honest, I found the stories of Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom and Edith Cavell far more compelling.

Interesting about Blue Peter, I remember an interview with Anne Frank's father Otto

I remember that like it was yesterday and I'm nearly 50.

I wonder - with the vast range of choices to watch on TV etc - how general knowledge will be in the future?

I agree. I don’t remember learning about Anne Frank at school though.

I am even more amazed at some of the ignorance on this thread. I thought every adult would at least know the years the war began and ended.

Unfortunately, both of my parents were involved in the war so I am familiar with their personal experiences of it. My mother’s family escaped from Germany as my grandfather was Jewish. The rest of his family ended up in concentration camps, so I have known about them for a very long time.

Ds was taught about Anne Frank is year 2 at school, it gave him the most horrific nightmares . I think it was too early tbh. By year 7 they were shown footage of concentration camps and prisoners,I have no issue with that,it needs to be taught.