The Diary of Anne Frank

by Anne Frank

later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Oh well, it doesn't matter.

"Paper has more patience than people." I thought of this saying on one of those days when I was feeling a little depressed and was sitting at home with my chin in my hands, bored and listless, wondering whether to stay in or go out. I finally stayed where I was, brooding. Yes, paper does have more patience, and since l'm not planning to let anyone else read this stiff-backed notebook grandly referred to as a "diary," unless I should ever find a real friend, it probably won't make a bit of difference.

I want the diary to be my friend, and I'm going to call this friend Kitty.

So, we'll leave of our own accord and not wait to be hauled away." "But when, Father?" He sounded so serious that I felt scared. "Don't you worry. We'll take care of everything. just enjoy your carefree life while you can." That was it. Oh, may these somber words not come true for as long as possible. The doorbell's ringing, Hello's here, time to stop. Yours, Anne

Not being able to go outside upsets me more than I can say, and I’am terrified our hidden place will be discovered and that we'll be shot. That, of course, is a fairly dismal prospect.

so little has happened that I can't find a newsworthy item to relate every single day.

Today I have nothing but dismal and depressing news to report. Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves. The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they're sending all the Jews.

If it's that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most of them are being murdered.

Fine specimens of humanity, those Germans, and to think I'm actually one of them! No, that's not true, Hitler took away our nationality long ago.

both now and in the future. I’ll have to become a good person on my own, without anyone to serve as a model or advise me, but it'll make me stronger in the end. Who else but me is ever going to read these letters? Who else but me can I turn to for comfort?

Private radio with a direct line to London, New York, Tel Aviv and many other stations. Available to all residents after 6 P.M.

It is absolutely forbidden to listen to German news bulletins (regardless of where they are transmitted from) and to pass them on to others.

Only the language of civilized people may be spoken, thus no German.

It's impossible to escape their clutches unless you

go into hiding. They often go around with lists, knocking only on those doors where they know there's a big haul to be made. They frequently offer a bounty, so much per head. It's like the slave hunts of the olden days.

I wish I could ask God to give me another personality, one that doesn't antagonize everyone.

ersatz coffee. For the last two weeks lunch has been

Today I packed a suitcase with stuff I'd need in case we had to flee, but as Mother correctly noted, "Where would you go?"

I sometimes wonder: how can we, whose every possession, from my underpants to Father's shaving brush, is so old and worn, ever hope to regain the position we had before the war?

Our only diversions are reading, studying and listening to the radio.

whatever he says about politics, history, geography or nothing else is so ridiculous that I hardly dare repeat it: Hitler will fade from history;

The atmosphere is stifling, sluggish, leaden. Outside, you don't hear a single bird, and a deathly, oppressive silence hangs over the house and clings to me as if it were going to drag me into the deepest regions of the underworld.

I’m currently in the middle of a depression.

At night in bed I see myself alone in a dungeon, without Father and Mother. Or I’m roaming the streets, or the Annex is on fire, or they come in the middle of the night to take us away and I crawl under my bed in desperation. I see everything as if it were actually taking place. And to think it might all happen soon! Miep often says she envies us because we have such peace and quiet here. That may be true, but she's obviously not thinking about our fear. I simply can't imagine the world will ever be normal again for us. I do talk about "after the war," but it's as if I were talking about a castle in the air, something that can li never come true. I see the eight of us in the Annex as if we were a patch of blue sky surrounded by menacing black clouds. The perfectly round spot on which we're standing is still safe, but the clouds are moving in on us, and the ring between us and the approaching danger is being pulled tighter and tighter. We’ve surrounded by darkness and danger, and in our desperate search for a way out we keep bumping into each other. We look at the fighting down below and the peace and beauty up above. In the meantime, we've been cut off by the dark mass of clouds, so that we can go neither up nor down. It looms before us like an impenetrable

wall, trying to crush us, but not yet able to.

I’m left with one consolation, small though it may be: my fountain pen was cremated, just as I would like to be someday!

I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know that I'm free, and yet I can't let it show.

Despite all my theories and efforts, I miss — every day and every hour of the day — having a mother who understands me.

Why do I always think and dream the most awful things and want to scream in terror? Because, in spite of everything, I still don't have enough faith in God. He's given me so much, which I don't deserve, and yet each day I make so many mistakes!

I’ve suddenly realized what's wrong with her. Mother has said that she sees us more as friends than as daughters. That's all very nice, of course, except that a friend can't take the place of a mother. I need my mother to set a good example and be a person I can respect, but in most matters she's an example of what not to do. I have the feeling that Margot thinks so differently about these things that she'd never be able to understand what I’ve just told you. And Father avoids all conversations having to do with Mother.

prewar quality,

This morning I was wondering whether you ever felt like a cow, having to chew my stale news over and over again until you’ve so fed up with the monotonous fare that you yawn and secretly wish Anne would dig up something new.

Don't think I'm in love, because I'm not, but I do have the feeling that something beautiful is going to develop between Peter and me, a kind of friendship and a feeling of trust. I go see him whenever I get the chance, and it's

"As long as this exists," I thought, "this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?"

The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature's beauty and simplicity. As long as this exists, and that should be forever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances. I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer.

So agree! Saving me during the pandemic, too.

Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again. Whenever you’ve feeling lonely or sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking

outside. Not at the houses and the rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that you’ve pure within and will find happiness once more.

Yes, it was heavenly. Five admirers on every Street corner, twenty or so friends, the favorite of most of my teachers, spoiled rotten by Father and Mother, bags full of candy and a big allowance. What more could anyone ask for?

A person who's happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery! Yours, Anne M. Frank

I'm not beautiful, intelligent or diver, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way! I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too.

Mr. Bolkestein, the Cabinet Minister, speaking on the Dutch broadcast from London, said that after the war a collection would be made of diaries and letters dealing with the war. Of course, everyone pounced on my diary. Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a novel about the Secret Annex. The title alone would make people think it was a detective story.

Or how many epidemics are raging here.

political situation,

My life here has gotten better, much better. God has

not forsaken me, and He never will. Yours, Anne M. Frank

It's not much fun when you have to eat, say, Sauer- kraut every day for lunch and dinner, but when you're hungry enough, you do a lot of things.

Our weekly lunch menu consists of brown beans, split-pea soup, potatoes with dumplings, potato kugel and, by the grace of God, turnip greens or rotten carrots, and then it's back to brown beans.

The high point is our weekly slice of liverwurst, and the jam on our unbuttered bread. But we're still alive, and much of the time it still tastes good too!

Work, love, courage and hope, Make me good and help me cope!

Why are millions spent on the war each day, while not a penny is available for medical Science, artists or the poor? Why do people have to starve when mountains of food are rotting away in other parts of the world?