A War Begins (& a Diary Ends)

As most of you will know, yesterday marked the 100 year anniversary of the beginning of World War One. As part of the centenary ‘celebrations’ (if they can be called that), I was involved in helping promote the Letter to an Unknown Soldier project. This was a UK-wide (and, in the end, world-wide) endeavor which asked participants to imagine the letter being held/read by the Unknown Soldier statue situated in Paddington Station. Over the last couple of months, over 20,000 entries were submitted as part of the project, which aimed to create ‘a new kind of war memorial – one made entirely out of words’.

Many famous writers and celebrities added their voices, of course, but I was particularly pleased to see entries from poets I knew, and other people of the local area. These included S J Alexanderson, Will Ford, Cathy Dreyer, Michelle Wright, Lee Prosser, Julie Pritchard, my brother Michael Oliver-Semenov, my sister Lindsey Oliver, and Louvain Rees. Louvain’s letter was chosen by BBC Radio 5 Live for possible inclusion, too. You can also read my contribution, here.

Today, just one day later, another anniversary takes place, and writing itself is the reason, rather than the response, to this one. 70 years ago today, at just 15 years old, during the Second World War, Anne Frank was arrested after an anonymous tip-off was given to security police. She and her family had been hiding in a secret annex behind her father’s house for 2 years. Her last diary entry was written on 1st August, just a few days before the arrest. Only Anne’s father, Otto, survived. Anne herself died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, just a few weeks before the camp was liberated.