The Diary Of Anne Frank

“I hope I shall be able to confide in you completely, as I have never been able to do in anyone before and I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me.”


In the beginning, Anne Frank starts off her diary with June 14, 1942 and talks about Friday (June 12th), which was her birthday. She was so excited that she finally turned 13. While she was opening her presents, she came across a diary, which she said was probably one of the nicest gifts she received that day. She then starts to write. She starts off with a brief description of her history (her birth in Frankfurt, Germany, the family and their emigration to Holland after Hitler’s rise to power, and Hitler’s persecution of the Jews in Germany). She also writes about the Nazi occupation of Holland, the Nazi occupation of other European countries, plus the numerous restrictions forced upon Jews in Holland. Anne describes everything to the point, listing the sorts of things that Jews must and must not do: “Jews must hand in their bicycles, Jews are banned from trains and are forbidden to drive. Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between three and five o’clock, and then only in shops which bear the placard ‘Jewish Shop,’” and so on. She says that “life went on in spite of it all,” and “things were still bearable.” Anne also describes her feelings about boyfriends and girl friends and about school and her teachers. She also talks about meeting Peter Wessel, a boy she was “rather fond of.”

Anne finds peace within her diary. It is her best friend, and she calls it “Kitty.” On its pages, she feels free to complain and vent her frustration with not being able to discuss her feelings. Actually, she feels frustrated because she has no real person she can truly trust to express her feelings to and receive true encouragement from. Only her diary can comfort her.

One day, Anne’s father tells her that in the future, the family will have to go into hiding in order to avoid being sent to concentration camps. Anne sees no hurry. Yet, suddenly, the family has to go into hiding because Anne’s older sister, Margot, was called upon by the Nazis to go to a concentration camp. All Jews knew that the concentration camps were terrible places although what was actually done there was not known to them. The family had no choice. They started packing right away, putting basic necessities and possessions into shopping bags and taking as many items of clothing as they could. They made arrangements for their cat to be looked after, and they set off on foot for the “hiding place” that Anne’s father had been arranging for and preparing in advance.


When they got there, Anne and her father wanted to clean the place up right away, while Anne’s mother and Margot wanted to lie down on their beds because of exhaustion.

At first, the Franks are alone, and Anne thinks that it is “more like being on vacation in a very peculiar boardinghouse than like being in hiding.” Fear is everywhere, and as Anne writes, “It is the silence that frightens me so in the evenings and at night . . . I can’t tell you how oppressive it is never to be able to go outdoors. Also, I’m very afraid that we shall be discovered and be shot.”


Anne then describes her surroundings and the precautions, which the family must take in order for them not to be seen or heard by anyone other than some of the workers in the office downstairs, who are their friends.

The second family, the Van Daans, soon arrives. Anne sees young Peter Van Daan as being lazy, boring, etc. She is also surprised by the noisy fighting between Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan. She then starts to write down a description of the family, discussing their daily arguments and their noisy conversations.

Anne’s father does his best to keep the young members of the group busy by assigning them school work to do and making sure that there is a good supply of books for them to read, too. To catch up on events on the outside world, they all gather around and listen to a clandestine radio in the other room.


Anne is constantly arguing with her mother and complains to her diary that she can’t understand her mother and that her mother can’t understand her. Anne also hates the interference of the other members of the group, especially Mrs. Van Daan’s.

Mrs. Van Daan, during dinner one night, says to Anne’s father, “I wouldn’t put up with it if Anne were my daughter.” According to Anne, this always seemed to be Mrs. Van Daan’s first and last words, “if Anne were my daughter.” Anne then writes in her diary, “Thank heavens I’m not!”
Anne suffers a lot from the constant criticism of the other members of the group. She is unable to cope with the emotional suffering and fears of her own family and the Van Daans. Anne also gives a detailed description of the “washing and lavatory arrangements.”

The news of the war is bad, the Franks and the Van Daans hear that many of their Jewish friends have been taken away and sent off to concentration camps, first in Holland, and then Poland.

Anne further reveals her feelings about her family. Anne feels that her mother is unfair to her. She says, “Mummy and her failings are something I find harder to bear than anything else. I don’t know how to keep it all to myself. . . . I have in my mind’s eye an image of what a perfect mother and wife should be; and in her whom I must call ‘Mother’ I find no trace of that image. . . . Sometimes I believe that God wants to try me, both now and later on; I must become good through my own efforts, without examples and without good advice. . . . From whom but myself shall I get comfort? As I need comforting often, I frequently feel weak and dissatisfied with myself; my short-comings are too great. I know this, and every day I try to improve myself, again and again.”

Anne then gives a description of the daily routine of the whole group, starting with the evening and ending at lunch time.

Anne then talks about the hilarious events that occur in the Secret Annexe. She talks about the splitting of the seam on a sack of beans, which Peter was carrying up the stairs. Anne writes, “A positive hailstorm of brown beans came pouring down and rattled down the stairs . . . [I was] standing at the bottom of the stairs, like a little island in the middle of a sea of beans!”

Bad news from outside soon reaches the group in the “Secret Annexe,” and Anne describes it in her diary: “When it is dark, I often see rows of good, innocent people accompanied by crying children, walking on and on, in charge of a couple of these chaps, bullied and knocked about until they almost drop.” She also says, “. . . who have now been delivered into the hands of the cruelest brutes that walk the earth. And all because they are Jews!”

Hanukah occurs almost at the same time as the Dutch Festival of Saint Nicholas Day, and the members of the little group exchange gifts and light the candles of the festival. The group keeps them lit for only ten minutes because of the shortage of candles. Their “protectors” give them presents for Saint Nicholas Day, attaching a little poem for each person and trying their best to lift their spirits.


Anne and Margot are given a card index box so that they can keep an account of the books they have read to keep their minds off the tension that has set in at the Secret Annexe. Anne is also given a little notebook for foreign words.


At one point, Anne writes, “Lately Mummy and I have been getting on better together, but we still never confide in each other.”


On March 10, 1943, Anne mentions the bombing of Amsterdam by the planes of the Allies and the firing of the anti-aircraft guns, which disturb their sleep almost every night. Anne always creeps into her father’s bed for comfort, unable to overcome her fears by herself.


On March 18, 1943, Anne writes that Turkey has entered the war, but the next day it is said that that was not the case. Anne also describes a visit made by Hitler to wounded soldiers which was broadcast over the radio. She remarks, “Listening in to it was pitiful. . . . One of them [the wounded] felt so moved at being able to shake hands with the Führer (that is, if he still had a hand!) that he could hardly get the words out of his mouth.”


Once again, Anne speaks of her relationship with her parents in her diary. She has unintentionally hurt her mother’s feelings by refusing to say her prayers with her because Anne’s father cannot do so that night. Later, that same month, Anne lists her quarrels with her mother as just one of the various clashes going on amongst all the members of the group, adding that “everyone is angry with everyone else.” At that time, the Allied air raids were increasing and Anne writes, “We don’t have a single quiet night. I’ve got dark rings under my eyes from lack of sleep.”

The last entry before Anne’s fourteenth birthday contains news from the outside world about the air battle between German and British planes. The group also learns about strict new regulations concerning Dutch university students which have been imposed by the Nazis.
The air raids continue to be frightening, but Anne and the others find relief in nervous laughter at the remarks of Mr. Düssel. When Mrs. Van Daan goes downstairs to Mr. Düssel’s room, “. . . seeking there the rest, which she could not find with her spouse,” and Düssel receives her with the words, “Come into my bed, my child!” Anne remarks, “This sent us off into uncontrollable laughter. The gunfire troubled us no longer, our fear was banished!”

Anne’s fourteenth birthday is celebrated with little gifts from the members of her “family in hiding,” and she also receives a poem from her father. This was a German tradition, and as Anne’s family had originally come from Germany, Anne’s father wrote the poem in German. Margot then translated it into Dutch.


She then describes how she approached her roommate, Mr. Düssel, and asked if she may use the work table in their room for an extra hour-and-a-half twice a week. She explains that there is too much going on in the common room. She is very disappointed and angry when Düssel refuses to give up the work table without any decent explanation. Anne keeps her cool and asks him to reconsider. Eventually, her father asks Düssel himself, and Düssel gives in. “Düssel . . . didn’t speak to me for two days and still had to go and sit at the table from five till half-past—frightfully childish. A person of fifty-four who is still pedantic and small-minded must be so by nature, and will never improve.”

Anne begins to give a detailed daily routine of the Secret Annexe group. Starting on August 4, 1943, Anne writes about the evening and night-time routines (who sleeps where, who washes when, and how Anne leaves hairs in the bathroom sink). She also describes the strange noises, which the house and its people make during the night.


My Response

When Anne Frank mentioned her relationship with her friends and how it seemed it was only fun and games and nothing more, I thought that was kind of how it is with me sometimes. No one has time to listen to anything you have to say. They don’t understand what you’re going through. If people listen and open their hearts to others and help them when they are in need, people wouldn’t be so stressed and bundled up with nerves all the time. The most horrible feeling besides jealousy is being forgotten, left out, or uncared for. People need to just take time and listen with their hearts. Sometimes when there is no one willing to listen or understand, I write down some thoughts in a poem or song or I listen to music really, really loudly. Anne Frank says, “I want to write, but more than that I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.” In response to what she said, I wrote something of my own.

Don’t you understand me?
Don’t you even care?
Don’t you even notice me?
Standing right there?
I’ve got so much to say
Can’t you even hear me?
All the things that lie
Buried deep in my heart
Stay stuck like an arrow
Bleeding in bleeding out
I wouldn’t be this way
If someone tried to listen
To open up their minds
And see
See what I see
True that may be difficult
In time it will pass
That’s why I’ve chosen
You good friend
You always make me happy
I put my faith in you
So boldly
Fill up these pages
Line by line
Letter by letter
Just to pass the time.
Don’t you understand me?
Don’t you even care?
Don’t you even notice me?
Standing right there…

At times, we all feel that way. I think that if there was more love, friendship, and trust in this world, and no one turned his or her back on another, everyone could reveal “the things that lay buried deep in their hearts.” Sadly, that will never be. This world is what it is, and it will always remain the same.

--lasie eto