The approaching thunder ...

"I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us ..... I feel the suffering of millions ... ".

The above words were written in 1942, by a young girl, wise beyond her years. She wrote them in a little, red & white checked diary she'd received as a recent birthday present -- as she hid from Hitler's occupying army, in Holland .

Ten years later, on 30th April 1952 [today's exact date] "The Diary of a Young Girl" was issued for the first time in English. Originally, having been published in Dutch, in 1947 -- thanks to the the young writer's proud father, Otto. His daughter never read her own printed work; she died in a nazi concentration camp along with her mother and sister -- just before her 16th birthday, in 1945.

The book's first title had been " Het Achterhuis" [The Secret House]. It was later re-titled and became a worldwide best-seller, as "The Diary of Anne Frank". Anyone who's not read it, should try to. [Anne Frank pictured above.]

It should be read, inwardly digested, understood and remembered. Because, young Anne Frank's work remains a living [and deathly] testament to the true evils of intolerance; be they of national, racial, religious, political, sexual, or similar nature.

Now, over half a century later, growing numbers of people are hearing those same ominous rumblings -- " ... the approaching thunder that will one day destroy us ... ".

The threats from today's extremists, fundamentalists, fanatics and supremacists are not confined to a single country. Their ilk abound, and are spreading rapidly through our global village. Those set to suffer most -- ie: the ordinary people -- must make our combined voices of reason heard before it becomes too late. Hopefully, it isn't, yet. So, another of young Anne' s premonitions could yet prove to be true.

For, she also wrote in her diary: * " ... yet, when I look up into the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more."