People struggling with self-isolation could learn much from the remarkable Diary of Anne Frank

SATURDAY’S Belfast Telegraph (March 14) gave a clear message that people are getting so worried about the coronavirus that many are shutting themselves off from the community and are scrambling to store up household necessities to see themselves through for the duration.

With the clear and present danger of coronavirus spreading within the UK and fear of contagion, especially for the old and those with underlying health issues, and the non-availability of a vaccine, self-isolation is being viewed as the best way of avoiding the virus.

The Diary of Anne Frank, a teenager living in a small hideaway for two years in Amsterdam, is relevant, as she too had to undergo isolation, along with her family and others, in a confined space.

Anne’s Jewish family found themselves in a somewhat similar predicament to what’s happening at the present time, when all-conquering Nazi Germany was spreading all over Europe, including the Netherlands, presenting an existential threat to Jewish people.

The Frank family sought safety, along with five other Jewish refugees, in an annex attached to a warehouse in Amsterdam. They lived secretly, in very confined quarters, for two years, supported and helped by a small group of courageous Dutch sympathisers.

Towards the war’s end, they were betrayed and taken to Nazi death camps. Anne was a few months short of 16 when she died in Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

Anne Frank is a brilliant writer with a sharp mind and an understanding that is well beyond her tender years.

I recommend her writings, including her famous diary, be taken up by readers, especially those who currently find themselves in self-isolation.

Read this young woman. She has a remarkable, questioning mind, especially for one so young.

MICHEAL O’CATHAIL Co Fermanagh