The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne writes that “the end of the war” seems “so far away, so unreal, like a fairy tale” (203). She reveals that her feelings for Peter have changed. Previously, “Peter filled [her] days, nothing but Peter, dreams and thoughts until Saturday night” (203). After spending the evening with the van Daans, Anne cried in bed. After that, “It was over!” (204). Anne resolves to focus on her schoolwork and personal development instead.

Anne has decided to become a journalist. At the least, she wants to be remembered after her death for something she has written. She is disappointed that she has not finished her short story, “Cady’s Life.” Still, she is not deterred: “When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived!” (204). She wonders if she will ever become a journalist or writer, but she’s determined to make it happen.

Anne lists her interests. The first is writing, although she doesn’t “really think of that as a hobby” (205). Next is genealogical charts, especially the genealogy of royal families. Also, she is interested in history, especially cultural and artistic history, Greek and Roman mythology, movie stars, and family photographs. Her dislikes are algebra, arithmetic, and geometry.

The Secret Annex has a big scare at night. There is another break-in at the warehouse. The men try to hide the fact from the women, but they figure it out. The men go downstairs, while the women stay upstairs. They hear a loud bang and fearfully wonder what has happened. Mr. van Daan and Peter scare away the burglars, but they notice a mysterious man and woman investigating the break-in. Somehow, the police are alerted.

The next day, while the office is closed for Easter, the police investigate the warehouse. They even look at the bookcase disguising the entrance to the Secret Annex. The inhabitants have no idea if the police are there to search for them. Anne is especially terrified when someone suggests burning Anne’s diary if they are discovered. The adults decide to take a risk and call Mr. Kleiman to alert him about the police. Mr. Kleiman sends someone over to hide evidence of the Annex occupants.

Jan and Miep arrive, and they have 30 minutes to clean themselves and the Secret Annex, since they could not use running water or the toilet while the police were in the building. Jan learns that the man and woman outside the building were the couple who supplies them with potatoes. Mr. Kugler warns them to be more careful. Anne reflects, “We’ve been strongly reminded of the fact that we’re Jews in chains, chained to one spot, without any rights, but with a thousand obligations” (213). She has come to believe that God “will lift us up again” and thinks that after the war, “maybe our religion will teach the world and all the people in it about goodness, and that’s the reason, the only reason, we have to suffer” (213-14).

Anne admits, “I really thought I was going to die. […] I was ready for death, like a soldier on a battlefield” (214). Since she lived, and since she is growing more independent of her parents, Anne wants to become a Dutch citizen. She declares that she wants to “go out in the world and work for mankind!” (214).

Everyone is miserable, and the Secret Annex is having plumbing issues. Still, Anne finds comfort spending time with Peter and locking their “arms around each other’s shoulders” (215). Anne notes that her writing has been “all mixed up” and wonders “whether anyone will ever be interested in this drivel” (215).

The Secret Annex endures another scare when Peter forgets to unbolt the warehouse door, potentially alerting the warehouse employees to the people in the Annex. Food is scarce, reducing their diet to beans, lettuce, and potatoes and imitation gravy.

Anne relates an intimate moment with Peter, in which he put his arm around her. Anne is especially delighted when she gets to lay her head against Peter’s shoulder. Before they part, he gives her a kiss, half on the cheek, half on her ear.

Anne wonders if her parents would approve of her kissing Peter. She notes that she and Peter have no plans to get engaged or married. Her school friends would be shocked, but Anne thinks, “we’re cooped up here, cut off from the world, anxious and fearful, especially lately” (218). Still, she feels obliged to tell her father. Also, there is another break-in, this time at a neighboring building.

The longer the war goes on, the harder it is for Anne to imagine returning to freedom in the outside world. Anne finally explains female anatomy to Peter, who did not know that women’s genitals are between their legs.

Anne relates the pleasure of enjoying a spring day by the open window with Peter. She describes holding Peter in her arms while observing the outside world from the attic: “I feel so peaceful and safe with his arm around me, knowing he’s near and yet not having to speak” (220).

Mr. van Maaren, the warehouse employee whom Anne suspects stole potato flour, is trying to blame Bep. Anne hopes Mr. Kugler will have “this shady character” (220) watched. Also, Anne considers submitting one of her short stories to a magazine called The Prince.

Albert argues with Mr. van Daan because of the new security measures the rest of the group agreed upon. They are no longer supposed to go into the office after 9:30 p.m., flush the toilet after 8:00 p.m. or 8:00 a.m., keep the windows open at night, or stay in the office on Saturday afternoons or Sundays. Albert will no longer talk to the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Anne is sick again, and Mr. Voskuijl’s condition is deteriorating.

Mrs. van Daan is also sick and annoyed that the invasion of the Netherlands has not happened yet. Anne describes her schoolwork, which includes reading a biography of Emperor Charles V, translating passages from Dutch into English, and reading about the Northern War (1700-1721), Brazil, and other topics.

Anne talks about feeling intimate with Peter. She notes this is “the first time in his life he’s discovered a girl” (224). Despite her feelings for Peter, she does not think she could marry him because “Peter still has too little character, too little willpower, too little courage and strength” (225).

With Peter’s agreement, Anne talks to her father about their relationship. Otto does not object but believes it could lead to problems since they all live so close together. He also admits he thought they were only friends. He tells Anne to stop seeing Peter so often, but Anne tells her diary she will keep doing so. Meanwhile, Albert and Mr. Van Daan reconcile. During his birthday, Albert gives everyone an egg, and Albert gets a book and a jar of lemon syrup.

Peter is broken-hearted because Boche, who has been sick, disappeared. Food is still scarce, so for lunch the group ate “rotten boiled lettuce” (228). Anne discusses how the people in the Secret Annex wonder about “the point of the war” (228). Anne thinks it is not just the fault of politicians but of a “destructive urge” (228) in all people. War will only stop if “humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis” (228). Still, Anne is hopeful that she is “experiencing […] a good beginning to an interesting life, and that’s the reason—the only reason—why I have to laugh at the humorous side of the most dangerous moments” (229).

Otto is annoyed by how often Anne sees Peter and “won’t have any of that ‘Knutscherei’ [necking] going on” (229). Margot gives Anne advice. Anne writes a letter in which she describes what she would like to say to her father. She asserts her maturity and independence, writing, “Don’t think of me as a fourteen-year-old, since all these troubles have made me older; I won’t regret my actions, I’ll behave the way I think I should!” (230).

Outside the Secret Annex, prices have skyrocketed, and everyone has to resort to buying things on the black market. Break-ins and the disappearances of young women have become even more common. Also, Anne gives Otto the letter, and he is upset by it, especially by Anne’s assertion that she was left to “her own devices” (231).

Anne feels guilty and apologizes to her father. Otto explains his perspective, insisting that he and Edith love Anne dearly, and that they are always ready to support and defend her. Humbled, Anne writes, “It’s good that somebody has finally cut me down to size, has broken my pride, because I’ve been far too smug” (232). She decides to take her father as a role model again and improve herself.

Anne decides to describe her family history. Her father was the son of Michael Frank, a wealthy banker, and Alice Stern, the daughter of a rich family. However, Michael was “a self-made man” (233). Most of the family’s money was lost because of the inflation that followed World War I. Edith came from a “fairly well-off” (233) family. Anne admits that their family is no longer rich. Personally, she is “not so set on a bourgeois life as Mother and Margot” (233). While Margot wants to “nurse newborns in Palestine” (233), Anne wants to spend a year in Paris and London studying foreign languages and art history.

Miep tells the Secret Annex about attending her cousin’s engagement party, describing all the food. Anne fantasizes about the food at the party and compares it to their current situation, where they “get nothing but half-cooked spinach […] and rotten potatoes day after day” (234).

Anne finishes a story about a fairy named Ellen that she plans to present to her father as a present. Edith and Margot have both written poems for him. Also, Mr. Kugler warns the Secret Annex that Mrs. Broks will spend two hours in the office every afternoon, making the Secret Annex follow more restrictions on their movements and use of the toilet. Much to everyone’s amusement, Mr. van Daan proposes putting a laxative in her coffee. Anne also puts a “toilet timetable” on the bathroom door for Albert.

A minor problem occurs when there is no peat to put in Mouschi’s litter box. Mouschi urinates on a pile of wood shavings rather than the litter box, causing cat urine to drip through the ceiling.

Anne relates a funny story about Mrs. van Daan’s attempt to find the scissors to cut Peter’s hair. A huge fight breaks out between Peter and his parents when he tries to help Mrs. van Daan find the scissors and she accuses him of making a mess in her cosmetics drawer.

The Secret Annex celebrates Otto’s birthday. He receives books; a box containing beer, yogurt, and a new tie; a jar of molasses; flowers; and a spice cake.

Anne records an argument between Mr. and Mrs. van Daan over when the invasion will finally start, which causes Anne and Edith to laugh.

Next, Anne lists what the Secret Annex residents are learning. Mr. van Daan likes Knaur’s Encyclopedia and Lexicon, detective and love stories, and medical books. Mrs. van Daan is taking a correspondence course in English and likes to read novels, especially biographical novels. Otto is learning Latin and English by reading Dickens and “likes serious, rather dry descriptions of people and places” (242). Edith reads “everything except detective stories” (242) and is also learning English through a correspondence course. Albert is learning English, Spanish, and Dutch, and reads everything.

Peter van Daan is learning shorthand, English, and French, and he likes woodworking, economics, math, and geography. Margot is doing correspondence courses in English, French, and Latin, and is learning shorthand. She is also learning geometry, trigonometry, mechanics, physics, chemistry, modern history, bookkeeping, and economics. She especially likes reading about medicine and religion. Anne likes to read biographies, history books, and novels, and is learning shorthand, geometry, algebra, history, art history, mythology, biology, biblical history, and Dutch literature.

Anne remarks that Peter “has an even greater need for tenderness than” (243) she does. She admits that she has “distanced [herself] a little from the situation” (243), though she still loves him.

Anne gets upset when a vase of flowers falls over and the water damages her notes and books. The damage is not as bad as she initially fears, but she is disappointed her algebra book survived.

Otto loses a bet with Mrs. van Daan about the start of the invasion and surrenders five jars of yogurt. Anne reflects that the British are fighting for their own survival and have no obligation to help the Netherlands: “The invasion, liberation and freedom will come someday; yet England, not the occupied territories, will choose the moment” (245).

Anne is disheartened to hear that anti-Semitism has worsened. She wonders “why we’re fighting this long and difficult war” (245). However, she remains optimistic “that this anti-Semitism is just a passing thing, that the Dutch will show their true colors, that they’ll never waver from what they know in their hearts to be just, for this is unjust!” (245-46). Anne still hopes she can make the Netherlands her home.

Bep is engaged, but she is marrying Bertus, a man she does not love, so Anne is disappointed. She is marrying Bertus because Bep’s father likes him and she is under pressure from her mother to get married. However, Bertus is in hiding, so they cannot marry until after the war.

The Annex residents receive the frightening news that Mr. van Hoeven was arrested for hiding two Jews in his house. It is a loss to the Secret Annex, too, since he provided potatoes to them. Now they will have to skip breakfast, eat only hot cereal and bread for lunch and fried potatoes for dinner, and vegetables once a week.

Anne is severely depressed because of recent events and her “disappointment in Peter” (247). Also, the drains are clogged again, and the entire Secret Annex is still terrified over Mr. van Hoeven’s arrest. Anne wonders, “How much longer will this increasingly oppressive, unbearable weight press down on us?” (248). Miep asks Otto if the people in the Secret Annex thought “they too were infected with the current anti-Semitism” (249), but Otto reassures Miep this is not the case. Anne wonders what would have happened if they had not gone into hiding. The residents wonder if they might have been better off killed, but Anne writes, “we all shrink from this thought” (249).

Because windows usually have to be shut, the Secret Annex is overwhelmed by the hot weather. It was so hot that Anne could not hold her fountain pen to write. Anne then describes the sweltering heat of the past few days.

Mouschi and the new warehouse cat have been urinating on newspapers and floorboard cracks. To deal with gunfire, Anne runs up and down the nearest staircase so she cannot hear the shooting.

Anne describes recent conditions. The situation is bleak, with bad weather, more squabbles over food, low morale, and dwindling money to purchase supplies.

The Secret Annex receives news of D-Day from BBC Radio; they are excited that the invasion has finally begun. Anne remarks, “Those terrible Germans have oppressed and threatened us for so long that the thought of friends and salvation means everything to us!” (252). She hopes she can go back to school in the fall.

The Allies have taken Bayeux in Northern France. Although Anne reports that excitement in the Secret Annex has faded, they still hope the war will end within the year. Anne complains that Mrs. van Daan has gone from griping about when the invasion will happen to complaining about the bad weather.

Anne remarks that most of the Secret Annex occupants have read Hungarian Rhapsody, a biography of composer Franz Liszt. Anne thinks the biography focuses too much on the fact that Liszt was “the biggest womanizer” (254).

It is Anne’s 15th birthday, and she receives new books and food. Anne is pleased at the progress of the war but annoyed that the Dutch still harbor anti-British sentiments while hating the Nazi occupation. On a personal note, Anne is irritated that people still think of her as “pushy and such a know-it-all” (255). However, she adds that people do not understand “I scold and curse myself much more than anyone else does” (256).

Anne knows “Peter loves [her], not as a girlfriend, but as a friend” (256). She still loves him, though “he’s disappointed [her] in many ways” (256). Meanwhile, Anne takes strength from her experiences with nature, even though she can only “view nature through dusty curtains tacked over dirt-caked windows” (258).

Finally, Anne has been considering why women are considered inferior to men. She is glad that women have pushed for greater rights in many countries: “Fortunately, education, work and progress have opened women’s eyes” (258). Recently, Anne read a book by Paul de Kruif called Men Against Death, which argued that women suffer more pain in childbirth than any war hero ever does. Because of the book’s argument, Anne “believe[s] that in the course of the next century the notion that it’s a woman’s duty to have children will change and make way for the respect and admiration of all women, who bear their burdens without complaint or a lot of pompous words!” (259).

Anne reports that Mrs. van Daan is wit’s end. The other occupants are also in poor moods, with insolence, irritability, and cynicism on the rise.

While there is good news coming from the Russian and Allied advances, the Annex is nearly out of potatoes, and spirits remain low. Meanwhile, Mr. Kleiman is trying to decide whether to have an operation to treat his cancer.

The Secret Annex is pleased to hear the Allies and the Soviets have captured more cities despite the constant storms across Europe. Meanwhile, Anne has been reading the English novel An Ideal Husband with a dictionary.

Anne reports, “Spirits are improving, our super-optimists are triumphant” (261). However, Albert is going to perform a root canal on one of Anne’s front teeth.

Peter joking about becoming a criminal or a speculator makes Anne wonder why more people do not pursue self-improvement. She wonders how to “get Peter to believe in himself” (262). Particularly, Anne wants Peter to improve himself rather than rely on her. Anne is disappointed that Peter is not religious and does not have goal. She believes religion “keeps a person on the right path” (263).

The Secret Annex receives 24 crates of strawberries, which they can and use to make eight jars of jam. The appearance of the mailman and an accountant interrupts the process of preparing the strawberries. Mrs. van Hoeven also gives the Annex 20 pounds of peas.

Anne responds to the book What Do You Think of the Modern Young Girl? She writes, “I had the strong feeling that the writer was directing her disapproval at me” (266). She has come to believe that she ultimately made her own personality, not her parents. Because her father did not treat her like an individual, Anne never talked with him about important, deeper topics.

Anne also reflects on her relationship with Peter: “I forced Peter, more than he realizes, to get close to me, and now he’s holding on for dear life” (268). Anne does not think she can truly ever see Peter as a kindred spirit. Further, Anne believes that the youths have had a harder time in the Secret Annex than the adults: “It’s difficult in times like these: ideas, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality” (269). Still, Anne feels like she must hold on to her ideals.

Even though it failed, news of an assassination attempt on Hitler makes Anne optimistic. To her, this means that the German military leadership is finally getting sick of the war. Anne is excited at the prospect of returning to school in October.

In her last entry, Anne feels as if she is “split in two” (270). One side of her is happy and extroverted; the other side is quieter and more emotional. However, Anne only shows her cheerful side to the world. She wonders “what [she] could be if…if only there were no other people in the world” (272).

The Afterword summarizes what happened to the people in the Secret Annex after Anne’s August 1 entry. On August 4, the SS and the Dutch Security Police arrested the eight people in the Annex, along with Mr. Kugler and Mr. Kleiman. Someone had informed on them, though historians still debate who the informant was.

Kleiman was released from prison due to ill health but lived until 1959. Kugler escaped imprisonment in 1945 and immigrated to Canada, where he lived until his death in 1989. Bep and Miep were not arrested. Bep and Miep continued living in Amsterdam until their deaths in 1983 and 2010, respectively. Jan lived until 1993.

The Annex residents were eventually taken to concentration camps. Mr. van Daan (Hermann van Pels) was gassed to death in Auschwitz in the fall of 1944. Mrs. van Daan (Auguste van Pels) also died, although the details of her death are unknown. Peter van Daan (Peter van Pels) was taken to the Mautheausen concentration camp in Austria, where he died on May 5, 1945, three days before the camp was liberated. Albert Dussel (Fritz Pfeffer) died in the Neuengamme concentration camp on December 20, 1944.

Edith Frank died from starvation in Auschwitz on January 6, 1945. Margot and Anne Frank were brought to Auschwitz, where they died from typhus sometime in late February or early March. Otto was the only Secret Annex resident to survive. He lived in Birsfelden, Switzerland, until his death on August 19, 1980.