- Introduction
- About this Site
- Germany's History
- Hitler Comes to Power
- The Holocaust
- Nazi Death Camps
- Anne Frank
- Anne's Diary
- Hiroshima
- Sadako's 1000 Cranes
- Sadako Lives On!
- Singapore
- Lim Bo Seng
- Mrs Kathigasu
- Comfort Women
- Comfort Women: 01
- Comfort Women: 02
- Aftermath
- Epilogue
- Sign Guestbook
- View Guestbook
Anne's Diary
Anne Frank kept a diary from June 12, 1942, to August 1, 1944. Initially, she
wrote it strictly for herself. .Then, one day, in 1944, Gerrit Bolkestein, a
member of the Dutch government in exile, announced in a radio broadcast from
London that after the war he hoped to collect eyewitness accounts of the
suffering of the Dutch people under the German occupation, which could be made
available to the public. As an example, he specifically mentioned letters and
diaries.
Impressed by this speech, Anne Frank decided that when the war was over she
would publish a book based on her diary. She began rewriting and editing her
diary, improving on the text, omitting passages she didn't think were
interesting enough and adding others from memory. At the same time, she kept her
original diary.
The last entry in Anne's diary is dated August 1, 1944. On
August 4, 1944, the eight people hiding in the Secret Annex were arrested. Miep
Gies and Bep Voskuijl, the two secretaries working in the building, found Anne's
diaries strewn all over the floor. Miep Gies tucked them away in a desk drawer
for safekeeping. After the war, when it became clear that Anne was dead, she
gave the diaries, unread, to Anne's father, Otto Frank.
Excerpts from Anne's Diary
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1943
Dearest Kitty,
Mother, Father, Margot and I were sitting quite pleasantly together last night
when Peter suddenly came in and whispered in Father's ear. I caught the words "a
barrel falling over in the warehouse" and "someone fiddling with the door".
Margot heard it too, but was trying to calm me down, since I'd turned white as
chalk and was extremely nervous. The three of us waited while Father and Peter
went downstairs. A minute or two later Mrs. van Daan came up from where she'd
been listening to the radio and told us that Pim had asked her to turn it off
and tiptoe upstairs. But you know what happens when you're trying to be quiet --
the old staircase creaked twice as loud. Five minutes later Peter and Pim, the
color drained from their faces, appeared again to relate their experiences.
They had positioned themselves under the staircase and waited. Nothing happened.
Then all of a sudden they heard a couple of bangs, as if two doors had been
slammed shut inside the house. Pim bounded up the stairs, while Peter went to
warn Dussel, who finally presented himself upstairs, though not without kicking
up a fuss and making a lot of noise. Then we all tiptoed in our stockinged feet
to the van Daans on the next floor. Mr. van D. had a bad cold and had already
gone to bed, so we gathered around his bedside and discussed our suspicions in a
whisper. Every time Mr. van D. coughed loudly, Mrs. van D. and I nearly had a
nervous fit. He kept coughing until someone came up with the bright idea of
giving him codeine. His cough subsided immediately.
Once again, we waited and waited, but heard nothing. Finally we came to the
conclusion that the burglars had taken to their heels when they heard footsteps
in an otherwise quiet building. The problem now was that the chairs in the
private office were neatly grouped around the radio, which was tuned to England.
If the burglars had forced the door and the air-raid wardens were to notice it
and call the police, there could be very serious repercussions. So Mr. van Daan
got up, pulled on his coat and pants, put on his hat and catiously followed
Father down the stairs, with Peter (armed with a heavy hammer, to be on the safe
side) right behind him. The ladies (including Margot and me) waited in suspense
until the men returned five minutes later and reported that there was no sign of
any activity in the building. We agreed not to run any water or flush the toilet;
but since everyone's stomach was churning from all the tension, you can imagine
the stench after we'd each had a turn in the bathroom.
Yours, Anne
PS: This morning the toilet was clogged, and Father
had to stick in a long wooden pole and fish out several
pounds of excrement and strawberry recipes (which is what
we use for toilet these days). Afterward we burned the pole.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1944
Dearest Kitty,
I'm finally getting optimistic. Now, at last, things are going well! They really
are! Great news! An assassination attempt has been made on Hitler's life, and
for once not by Jewish communists or English capitalists, but by a German
general who's not only a count, but young as well. The Führer owes his life
to "Divine Providence": he escaped, unfortunately, with only a few minor burns
and scratches. A number of the officers and generals who were nearby were killed
or wounded. The head of the conspiracy has been shot.
This is the best proof we've had so far that many officers and generals are fed
up with the war and would like to see Hitler sink into a bottomless pit, so they
can establish a military dictatorship, make peace with the Allies, rearm
themselves and, after a few decades, start a new war. Perhaps Providence is
deliberately biding its time getting rid of Hitler, since it's much easier, and
cheaper, for the Allies to let the impeccable Germans kill each other off. It's
less work for the Russians and the British, and it allows them to start
rebuilding their own cities all that much sooner. But we haven't reached that
point yet, and I'd hate to anticipate the glorious event. Still, you've probably
noticed that I'm telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
For once, I'm not rattling on about high ideals.
Furthermore, Hitler has been so kind as to announce to his loyal, devoted people
that as of today all military personnel are under orders of the Gestapo, and that
any soldier who knows that one of his superiors was involved in this cowardly
attempt on the Führer's life may shoot him on sight!
A fine kettle of fish that will be. Little Johnny's feet are sore after a long
march and his commanding officer bawls him out. Johhny grabs his rifle, shouts,
"You, you tried to kill the Führer. Take that!" One shot, and the snooty
officer who dared to reprimand him passes into eternal life (or is it eternal
death?). Eventually, every time an officer sees a soldier or gives an order,
he'll be practically wetting his pants, because the soldiers have more say-so
than he does.
Were you able to follow that, or have I been skipping from one subject to
another again? I can't help it, the prospect of going back to school in October
is making me too happy to be logical! Oh dear, didn't I just get through telling
you I didn't want to anticipate events? Forgive me, Kitty, they don;t call me a
bundle of contradictions for nothing!
Yours, Anne M. Frank
Introduction |
About this Site |
Germany's History |
Hitler Comes to Power |
The Holocaust |
Nazi Death Camps |
Anne Frank |
Anne's Diary |
Hiroshima |
Sadako's 1000 Cranes |
Sadako Lives On! |
Singapore |
Lim Bo Seng |
Mrs Kathigasu |
Comfort Women |
Comfort Women: 01 |
Comfort Women: 02 |
Aftermath |
Epilogue |
Sign Guestbook |
View Guestbook
|