Editor’s note:  This account is the writer’s impressions after watching “The Diary of Anne Frank,”  during a costume run-through, nine days before it is slated to open at the New Jewish Theatre.

As a Jewish girl growing up with more than 50 years separating my birth and the end of the Holocaust, it is difficult to imagine the horror, fear and persecution that millions of Jews endured during one of the darkest eras in world history.

Anne Frank has always put this into perspective for me.  Seeing the world through the private thoughts of someone who teens can relate to on a deeply personal level makes the sheer barbarity of the event much easier to process. This is especially true in my case, when I read her diary for the first time at the ripe age of 12.

Watching the fear that inhabited the Annex play out before my eyes, I realized that Anne’s story has never been more relevant to my life than it is right now, in this wonderful and horrible time commonly known as “young adulthood.”

In the New Jewish Theatre’s production of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” opening Oct. 11, we see the Annex as an almost-paradise —  not completely safe from the persecution, but an oasis in comparison to the dark world outside. Anne is the youngest in the Annex, yet she harbors most of the guilt for being out of harm’s way while so many Jews were disappearing from their homes. She absorbs the terror of what’s happening outside of her shelter, not always fully understanding the gravity of the situation.

As the play progresses, tensions rise; everyone is terrified of — and uncertain about — the future. They wait patiently for their liberators to come and make Europe safe for Jews once again. At the same time, Anne goes through the typical teenage turmoil that we all felt, or feel, at some point in our lives.

She experiences every mortifyingly awkward 13-year-old-girl moment in close quarters with her entire family and her first crush, a valiant feat, especially considering the circumstances. Anne is volatile, dramatic and has a consistent tendency to get worked up over the pettiest of problems. At the same time, she’s kind, thoughtful and outgoing, just trying to find herself through the pages of her beloved diary.

Anne’s story, as portrayed through her diary and NJT’s production, is remarkable because of the sense of hope and faith that runs through every moment of it.

Despite the world in a state of chaos outside of the Annex and her own confusing self-exploration, Anne and her family still talk about what they are looking forward to when their liberators come for them after the war. They see their lives ahead of them, in terms of a time when laughter will be heard throughout Europe once again.

The Annex’s inhabitants maintain their Jewish traditions no matter what.  Even in the last scene of the play, when you would think all hope is gone, Anne talks about how her Judaism is a part of her identity that she would never be willing or able to part with.

As teenagers, we see our world exploding before our eyes at least once a day. Much like Anne, we’re irrational, sensitive, and we’re all just trying to figure out who we really are.

We all have bad days, lots of them. But we have to remember that no matter how bad times seem, and no matter how much we want to quit, absolutely give up, there is hope. Anne Frank reminds us of that.

‘The Diary of Anne Frank’

Oct. 11 to Nov. 2.

at the New Jewish Theatre.  Tickets are $38 – $42, available at newjewishtheatre.org or 314-442-3283