You have heard of Kitty, the favourite companion of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl of fifteen.
She was a victim of anti-Jewish laws of Nazi Germany. Her family was forced to go into hiding in
an Amsterdam warehouse from 1942 to 1944.The diary talks about her experience in hiding. It
was first published in Dutch and in 1952 translated into English under the title The Diary of a
Young Girl. She died of typhoid in the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen in 1944.
The diary addressed to Kitty begins on Wednesday, 8th July 1942.Anne was surprised and
shocked at what had happened on Sunday afternoon. The whole world seemed to have tumbled
down. But the only relief was that she was alive, and that was a great thing under the trying
conditions of the time. On Sunday afternoon, Daddy was served a call-up notice. To prevent
Daddy being sent to jail mother had gone to the house of Van Daan. They were also getting ready
to go into hiding as soon as Daddy came back from Joodse Invalide, after visiting some old
people. It was really a time of unspeakable tension and everyone fell silent. No one dared to open
the door when the bell rang, for fear of the officials. Van Daan, Mummy and Harry came back.
Anne and Margot were sent to the room. Margot tried to console Anne, but it was of no use. There
was a talk about going into hiding and Anne was anxious. The family extremely tense. Anne was
not permitted to ask those questions that disturbed her much. Margot and Anne had to pack up
their vital belongings. The first thing that Anne put in her satchel was her diary, because
memories meant more to her.
When Anne’s Daddy arrived at 5 ‘o’ clock, Mr. Koophius was telephoned and
asked to come over in the evening. Vaan Daan fetched Meip. Meip has been Daddy’s business
partner since 1933. Meip was also a good friend. She came and took a set of clothes and went
away. The upstairs portion of Anne’s house was given on rent to a certain Mr. Goudsmit. Again at
eleven ‘o’ clock Meip and Henk Van Santen ( Meip’s new husband) came and took some clothes
and went away. Anne realized that it was her last day on her own bed. Nevertheless she fell
asleep. Mother woke her up at 5.30. Everyone wore as many dresses as they could because it was
not easy for Jews to travel with suitcases. Anne bid farewell to her cat and they started their
journey, not knowing the destination. Here the diary stops with the statement “continued
tomorrow.” The next entry given is dated 25th may 1944, Thursday.
The second entry is about the vegetable man getting arrested for hiding two Jews. In
hiding Anne heard news of respectable people being sent off to concentration camps. The others
ruled the place. They had to cut out breakfast and be satisfied with porridge and bread for lunch
and fried potatoes for supper if possible once or twice per week. Anne realized that they were
going to be hungry.
In the next entry of Friday 26th May, 1944, she writes with relief that she could sit quietly
by a crack in the window and write everything to Kitty. That day Anne felt so miserable, The fate
of the vegetable man, the Jewish question, the invasion delay, the bad food, the strain, the
miserable atmosphere, her disappointment with Peter, Elli’s engagement, Whitsun reception,
flowers, Kraler’s birthday, fancy cakes, stories about cabarets, films and concerts. The huge
difference between the two experiences baffled her. A few days ago they were happy and light
headed. Now they were in constant fear. Meip and Kraler were looking after them, taking great
pains. Koophius and Elli had to live their ordinary lives in the outside world and help these people
in hiding. All of them had their own problems as well. By now Anne and her family were in
hiding for two years. She did not know when this situation wouldl change, how long they would
have to suffer the unbearable, ever- increasing pressure.
There was scarcity of water and using the water closet became difficult in the annexe.
Meip sent them a currant cake with the inscription “Happy Whitsun”. The word happy seemed to
mock their situation. The police could get them any moment. The greatest danger was that they
were sending their protectors into danger.
She asked herself many times whether it would have been better if they had not gone into
hiding. But the thought of the concentration camp was horrible. So they continued hoping against
hope, in constant fear and uncertainty waiting for the drama to end.
Anne’s diary reads like a novel. She includes realistic descriptions and details such as
“packing up the vital belongings”; descriptive asides such as comments about weather, about the
Whitsun cake etc; and also close detailing of sights, sounds, smell, and silence. Some of the
passages are almost meditative as in “I feel miserable…..” In this diary she uses different
narrative techniques like that of autobiography, diary and letters. It is a chronological record of
her experiences in the form of a disclosure to her confidante, Kitty. This diary is also a historical
narrative and personal remembrance.
Anne Frank’s diary published in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl is prominent as a
piece of unbiased reporting from the Jewish viewpoint. She was only 15 years old when she wrote
her diary, but in it we get the picture of a girl growing up under the most trying circumstances.
The diary, addressed as kitty, soon became a close companion of Anne who was leading a
life in hiding fearing German persecution. In her diary, we read about the horrors unleashed by
the S S, the fear and stigma associated with a ‘call up’ notice and so on. The call up notice was a
notice ordering a person, usually a Jew, to show up before the S S. When Anne Frank’s elder
sister gets the call up notice, the family decides to go into hiding.
The fear and pain associated with the existence as a second-class persecuted citizen is very
well conveyed by Anne. Every knock on the door frightens them, every sound made by a passerby
unnerves them. Fearing police intervention, the family of Anne Frank quickly slip out of their
residence carrying only their bare essentials with them.
In an entry dated 25 May 1944, Anne Frank writes about the horrors awaiting those who
got trapped by the S S for hiding Jews in their houses. Food is rationed, vegetables became
unattainable and the family inevitably settles down to the idea of a life lived in hunger. As days
and weeks pass by, the morale of the family is seriously affected. The family continued to discuss
such issues as the vegetable man captured by the S S, the Jewish question, the invasion delay, the
strain and at the same time joyous events taking place around them. At a certain point of time,
Anne Frank even complains that while the strain and suspense was lifted off for the non-Jewish at
least for a temporary period, for people like her, it never lifted for a moment.
As food became more and more precious, the signs of comfortable life also receded. The
house has now plumbing problems and the fear of the police forcibly making an entry increases.
What made matters worse for the Jews was the truth that as they suffered their miseries they were
also dragging their protectors into danger.
Anne Frank’s Diary ends three days before her family and friends were discovered by the
Nazis. Anne died in 1944, in a Nazi concentration camp after contracting typhoid.
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