A FAMOUS DIARY

Anne Frank was in hiding with her Family from July 1942 to August 1944, a period of two years and one month. 

She and her family went into hiding in a secret annex in Amsterdam in response to increasing Nazi persecution of Jews during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. They were discovered by the Gestapo on August 4, 1944, and arrested.

The texts below are extracts that have been adjusted for a B1 learner from her diary during the time period July 8th 1942 and August 1st 1944, three days before she was found and captured and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

TO DO:

  1. Read the diary entries that Anne Frank did in her diary (that are on this website).
  2. Think about how she must have felt and how her this affected her mood.
  3. Write down what you think, you must use some of the diary entries as support for your thoughts and your claim.

July 8th 1942

At three o’clock the doorbell rang. (Hello had left but was supposed to come back later.) I didn’t hear it because I was outside on the balcony, reading in the sun. Soon after, Margot came into the kitchen doorway. She looked very worried.

“Father has received a call-up notice from the SS,” she whispered. “Mother has gone to see Mr. van Daan.” (He is Father’s business partner and a good friend.)

I was shocked. A call-up notice meant something terrible. I thought about concentration camps and dark prison cells. How could Father go to such a fate?

“Of course he’s not going,” said Margot as we waited for Mother in the living room. “Mother has gone to ask Mr. van Daan if we can move to our hiding place tomorrow. The van Daans will join us. We will be seven altogether.”

We sat in silence. Father was at the Jewish Hospital and didn’t know what was happening. The heat, the waiting, and the fear kept us quiet.

July 9th 1942

Here is a description of the building. A wooden staircase goes from the hallway downstairs to the third floor. At the top is a landing with doors on both sides. The door on the left leads to the spice storage, the attic and the loft in the front part of the house. A very steep, dangerous staircase also runs from the front of the house to a door that opens onto the street.

The door on the right leads to the Secret Annex at the back of the house. No one would guess that there are so many rooms behind the plain grey door. There is one small step, and then you are inside. In front of you is a steep staircase. To the left is a narrow hallway that goes to a room which is both the Frank family’s living room and bedroom. Next to it is a smaller room, the bedroom and study for Margot and me. To the right of the stairs is a small washroom with a sink. In the corner there is a toilet and another door to our bedroom. Now you know our whole Annex!

August 21st 1942

Now our Secret Annex has really become secret. Because so many houses are searched for hidden bicycles, Mr. Kugler thought it was safer to build a bookcase in front of the entrance. It swings out on its hinges and opens like a door. Mr. Voskuijl built it. (He knows the seven of us are in hiding and he has been very helpful.)

Now when we go downstairs, we must duck and then jump. After the first three days we all had bumps on our heads from hitting the low doorway. Then Peter fixed it by nailing a towel filled with wood shavings to the frame. Let’s see if it helps!

October 9th 1942

Today I only have sad news. Many of our Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away. The Gestapo is very cruel and sends them in cattle cars to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe. Miep told us about someone who escaped. It must be terrible in Westerbork. People get almost nothing to eat, and only a little to drink, because water is available for just one hour each day. There is only one toilet and sink for thousands of people. Men and women sleep in the same room. Women and children often have their heads shaved.

It is almost impossible to escape, because many people look Jewish, and their shaved heads make them easy to recognise. If it is already so bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway places where the Germans send them? We believe most of them are killed. The English radio says they are being gassed. Perhaps that is the fastest way to die. I feel terrible. Miep’s stories are heartbreaking. To think that I was once German! But that is not true anymore. Hitler took away our nationality long ago. And there are no greater enemies on earth than Germans and Jews.

October 20th 1942

My hands are still shaking, even though two hours have passed since the scare. The office staff forgot to warn us that a workman was coming to fill the fire extinguishers. After working for fifteen minutes, he put his hammer and other tools on our bookcase and then knocked on the door. 

We turned white with fear. Had he heard something? Did he want to look behind the strange bookcase? He kept knocking, pulling and pushing it. I was so afraid that I nearly fainted at the thought of this stranger discovering our hiding place.

November 19th 1942

Mr. Dussel told us much about the outside world we have missed for so long. His news was very sad. Many friends and acquaintances have been taken away. Night after night, green and grey military vehicles drive through the streets. They knock on every door and ask if Jews live there. If yes, the family is taken away immediately. If not, they go on to the next house.

It is impossible to escape unless you go into hiding. Often they carry lists and only knock on the doors where they know Jews live. Sometimes they even get money for every Jew they catch. It is like the old days of slave hunts. I feel guilty sleeping in a warm bed while my friends suffer. I feel scared when I think of them in the hands of the most cruel people on earth. And all because they are Jews.

May 18th 1943

All college students are being asked to sign a paper saying that they support the Germans and the New Order. Eighty per cent have followed their conscience and refused. The punishment will be hard. Anyone who refuses must go to a German labour camp.

March 29th 1944

Mr. Bolkestein, a Cabinet Minister speaking on the Dutch radio from London, said that after the war they will collect diaries and letters about the war. Of course, everyone immediately thought of my diary!

February 3rd 1944

I have reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die. The world will go on without me, and I cannot change anything. I will just continue to study and hope that in the end everything will be all right.

July 15th 1944

It is impossible for me to build my life on chaos, suffering and death. I see the world slowly turning into a wilderness. I hear the thunder that will one day destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions.

And yet, when I look at the sky, I feel that things will change for the better, that this cruelty will end, and that peace will return. Until then, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps one day I will be able to make them real.

Virtual tour of the Frank’s hideout. Click here

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