Congratulations to the Winners of Our 2023 Anne Frank Day "Your Story Matters" Essay Contest!

Over eighty years ago, a 13-year-old girl in Amsterdam named Anne Frank sat down and wrote her first entry in a red-checkered diary. Today, Anne has become the most famous young author of all time, and her diary, published in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl, is one of the most widely read books in the world. Translated into more than 70 languages, it is seen as a symbol of the nearly 1.5 million Jewish children who perished during the Holocaust. 

An astute author and editor, Anne’s carefully chosen words helped shape her legacy. Her diary is a testament to why the voices of young people matter. It is the voices of today's youth that matter.

That's why, in 2023,  the AFLA board launched the Anne Frank Day Your Story Matters Contest to encourage SoCal students to read Anne’s diary, reflect on her words, and connect them to their own experiences in an essay format. 

Students ages 13 to 16 were asked to choose one of the three quotations (listed below) selected from The Diary of a Young Girl and  to either write an essay or shoot a video expressing how the quotation relates to their own life.  

Here are the six student winners of the 2024 Anne Frank Day Your Story Matters Contest.

July 15, 1944

It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at 

heart. I feel the suffering of millions.

April 5, 1944

I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death!

October 30, 1943

I'll have to become a good person on my own, without anyone to serve as a model or advise me, but it'll make me stronger in the end… I often feel weak, and more often than not, I fail to meet expectations. I know this, and every day I resolve to do better.