When it comes to compare and contrast "Zlata's Diary" and "The Diary of a Young Girl", the first aspect that should immediately strike our mind, is how these two stories ended.
On August 4th, 1944, Anne and her whole family was arrested by the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police. They were taken to Westerbork camp, and stayed there about a month. Afterwards, they were all selected and taken to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Margot went to Bergen Belsen camp. Once they were at that location, there was a typhus epidemic, and Anne Frank was one of the victims at the camp, and died in March 1945.
On the other hand, Zlata Filipovic, was also called "The Anne Frank" of Sarajevo. That is because, just like Anne, she also had a diary and wrote her thoughts and feelings about the Bosnian war.
Anne was hiding from the Nazis, while Zlata was hiding from the gunfire and the snipers that were destroying her Sarajevo. When the gunfire and the siege got much worse, together with her family, Zlata would hide in the nearby cellar.
Despite the war, Zlata was able to go to school, and visit her friends, as long as the gunfire was not too bad. On December 1993, Zlata and her family were saved and taken to Paris, France. She survived.
I think it is part of human nature to constantly compare things to be better or worse- it comes from an evolutionary advantage we possess that allowed us to quickly decide what’s best for survival and wellbeing. So, comparing ideas, objects, and people is a natural response to seeing 2 different things. I have felt that I was better than someone hundreds of times in my life. It is a daily occurrence. However, this has never stemmed from an ego that I try to fuel by making myself feel superior, it is my perception of a fact that I can clearly see. For example, if a friend and I were cooking the same dish and their dish comes out tasting significantly worse than mine, the first thought I would have is “I’m a better chef.” This doesn’t mean I’m invalidating their entire human experience by saying I’m better, it means that I am better than them in one aspect that they could very well improve in.
I have equally felt less than someone else. Not because I’m insecure of my standing compared to them, but because I have flaws and aspects of life that I can improve in. I may be a good chef compared to my friends, but standing beside my mother, I feel like whatever skill I possess is minimal.
If everyone were the same, there would be no individuality. With this, comes a society that doesn’t grow. Innovators, artists, producers, thinkers, inventors wouldn’t exist because there would be nothing separating them from everyone else. The power we hold as a society is a direct result of our differences and acceptance of the fact that millions of people will be better than you at one thing and worse at another. Therefore, it is absurd to feel that you as a person are a better human than someone else: “Better than” is not a term we can use to compare humans; functionality varies across thousands of things a person could possibly do in their life.
