book review the diary of anne frank

Read TIME’s Original Book Review for Anne Frank’s Diary

W hen the diary of Anne Frank was first published in English, as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl , a full decade had passed since a young Anne received the fateful journal for her 13th birthday. Five years had passed since the diary had been published in the Netherlands—on this day, June 25, in 1947, as Het Achterhuis —and more than dozen had passed since its author stopped writing down her days.

And yet, despite the passage of time, her story was something new, a different way of understanding the horrors of the Holocaust. “The resulting diary is one of the most moving stories that anyone, anywhere, has managed to tell about World War II,” as TIME’s book reviewer put it, describing the diarist’s experiences:

As the war dragged on and news trickled in of mass deportations of Jews, Anne became desperate. She had terrifying fantasies about the death of Jewish friends. Often she saw “rows of good, innocent people accompanied by crying children [walk] on and on . . . bullied and knocked about until they almost drop.” With appalling prescience she wrote that “there is nothing we can do but wait as calmly as we can till the misery comes to an end. Jews and Christians wait, the whole earth waits; and there are many who wait for death.” When her pen fell into the fire, she wrote that it “has been cremated.” Though not much interested in politics, Anne tried to understand what was happening to the world. “I don’t believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone, are guilty of the war,” she wrote. “Oh no, the little man is just as guilty, otherwise the peoples of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There’s in people simply an urge to destroy, an urge to kill, to murder and rage, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged …” But sometimes she cried out from the heart, as if for all the Jews of Europe: “Who has inflicted this upon us? Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up to now? It is God that has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again.”

Many more decades have passed by now—this year marks the 70th anniversary of Anne Frank’s death at Bergen-Belsen—and her father’s decision to execute her wish to have her diary published continues to prove significant. According to the Anne Frank House , it has since been published in 70 languages.

Read the full review, here in the TIME Vault: Lost Child

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Write to Lily Rothman at [email protected]

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne frank , eleanor roosevelt  ( introduction ) , susan massotty  ( translator ) ...more.

283 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

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"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."

"We still love life, we haven't yet forgotten the voice of nature, and we keep hoping, hoping for...everything."

Dear Mom and Dad, Dear Friends, That’s my end. They have come to take me to be shot. To hell. Dying at the utmost of victory is a little unfortunate, but what cares? The importance of an event is just in human’s mind. Pierre Benoit/ February 08, 1943/ Free interpretation from Letters of Those Who Were Being Shot.

پدر و مادر عزیزم، دوستان عزیز! این پایان کار من است. آمده‌اند که من را برای تیرباران شدن ببرند، به جهنم. مردن در منتهای پیروزی کمی تاسف‌آور است، اما چه اهمیتی دارد؟ اهمیت یک واقعه تنها در خیال آدمی‌ست - پییر بنوآ 8 فوریه 1943 / برداشت آزاد از نامه‌های تیرباران شده‌ها

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The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition Anne Frank EFE Books Published May 15, 2022

Amazon | bookshop | goodreads, about the diary of a young girl: the definitive edition.

The Diary of a Young Girl, often known as the Anne Frank Diary, is a collection of entries from Anne Frank’s Dutch-language diary, which she recorded while a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family evacuated their house in Amsterdam and went into hiding in 1942 when Nazis occupied Holland. Anne Frank died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen detention camp in 1945 after the family was captured in 1944.

Anne Frank kept a diary throughout this time, recording vivid recollections of her events. Her tale is a fascinating commentary on human tenacity and weakness, as well as a riveting self-portrait of a sensitive and energetic young lady whose promise was sadly cut short. Miep Gies was able to retrieve the diary.

I’d been thinking that I’d read Anne Frank’s diary in school, but I don’t think that’s actually true. I know we read the play based on her diary and then went to see it performed by a local community theatre. I don’t think we read her actual diary, though.

This year, one of the books banned near me is the graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary. I would like to read that book, but wanted to read the original first, since the objection to the graphic novel seems to be that something included in it isn’t accurate to the original diary.

Some Facts I Learned from the Foreward of Diary of a Young Girl

Anne initially kept her diary for herself, but when a member of the exiled Dutch government expressed interest in personal witness accounts written during the war, Anne began editing her diary entries with the intent on publishing her writing someday.

Anne’s father put together the entries that formed the first publication of the book. He opted not to include journal entries referencing Anne’s sexuality (something not discussed at the time in young adult literature) and negative thoughts about her mom and other people she lived with in the Secret Annex.

When Anne’s father, Otto Frank, died, the diary became the property of the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation, which investigated and proved the diary authentic. After that, the diary was published in its entirety.

After that, the sole heir of Otto Frank, who owned the copyrights of Anne’s diary, sought to publish a new, expanded edition of the work. This contains about thirty percent new material compared to the original publication.

She Was Thirteen

As I read the entries to Anne Frank’s diary, it struck me again and again how young she was when she wrote them. Though she intended to publish something based on her diary, we don’t have a way of knowing what she would or would not have wanted publicly known. How would she have felt about the things she wrote about her mom and sister– and even her dad– if she’d been the family member to survive the war? We will never have the chance to know.

She wrote so many insightful things, too. She wrote about the anxiety and depression of being in hiding. Her family would hear rumors of arrests, torture, and death in concentration camps. They endured nighttime bombings, knowing if any of them were injured, they couldn’t safely get medical help. And if the building in which they were hiding was destroyed, they’d have nowhere to go.

She wrote about falling in love, about growing up, and about the changes in her relationships with her family members as she grew.

Anne Frank Wanted to Be a Writer

Every life lost in the war and Holocaust is tragic, but there is something especially tragic about the loss of this young writer. Even as a teenager, she had such a gift with words. What would our world have been like if she’d been able to pursue that gift and share it with us for decades more? What would she have written about her life in hiding and about the aftermath of the war if she’d lived to tell us?

I feel like her story would be important anyway as a record of her experiences, but I’m sure what’s made it so enduring is Anne’s ability to articulate her thoughts and experiences in a way that transcends her age. Some passages in the diary are so powerfully written. And yet, in others, she reminds us that she’s an early teenager with hopes and dreams and frustrations about her family, her studies, and her relationships.

I’m so glad I read this book. I think Anne Frank’s story more than deserves its place of honor. This book is so much more than a teenage girl’s diary. It’s an account of a young girl forced into hiding with her family, coming of age during World War II. It’s the story of a bright young mind who finds humor in the everyday goings on around her. This is the story of a girl whose life was brutally ended far too soon.

I highly recommend reading THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL by Anne Frank if you haven’t already. I also think it would be worth rereading as an adult because I know that impacted my perspective.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages  10 up.

Representation Anne, her family, and the others living in the Secret Annex are Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content Anne uses an offensive racial term for biracial people. (She doesn’t appear to be using the term to be purposely offensive, but in the context of the language commonly used at the time.)

Romance/Sexual Content Anne reports she once asked a female friend if she could see her breasts and wanted to kiss her. She says she feels “ecstasy” when seeing female bodies. Anne laments that her parents never spoke openly with her about sex. She mentions speaking openly with Peter about the bodies of men and women. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content Anne’s family celebrates Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day together.

Violent Content Anne hears rumors of citizens being executed. She hears rumors about people taken to concentration camps. Her family hears they get very little food or water, that thousands must share a single bathroom, that their heads are shaved, and that many are murdered. Anne worries about friends from school and others her family knew. She sometimes has dreams of them asking her for help.

Anne very briefly mentions that someone in her family once tried to end their life.

Drug Content An adult drinks wine and then does not sleep well. Another adult smokes, and others tell him he should quit. Other scenes reference people drinking alcohol. Anne takes Valerian drops to combat feelings of anxiety and panic during her time in hiding.

Note:  This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL: THE DEFINITIVE EDITION in exchange for my honest review.

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The Diary of Anne Frank

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Anne Frank's The Diary of Anne Frank . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Diary of Anne Frank: Introduction

The diary of anne frank: plot summary, the diary of anne frank: detailed summary & analysis, the diary of anne frank: themes, the diary of anne frank: quotes, the diary of anne frank: characters, the diary of anne frank: symbols, the diary of anne frank: theme wheel, brief biography of anne frank.

Historical Context of The Diary of Anne Frank

Other books related to the diary of anne frank.

• Full Title: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
• When Written: 1942-1944
• Where Written: Amsterdam, Holland
• When Published: The diary was first published in 1947 under the title Het Achterhuis. Dagboekbrieven 14 juni 1942 – 1 augustus 1944 ( The Annex: Diary Notes from 14 June 1942 – 1 August 1944 ). The book first appeared in English in 1952, under the title Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl . 1989's The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition presented the original English translation alongside Anne's two original drafts.
• Genre: Memoir
• Setting: Amsterdam, Holland
• Climax: The Franks, the van Daans, Mr. Kugler, Mr. Kleiman, and Mr. Dussel are arrested by the SS.
• Antagonist: Hitler and, by extension, the Nazi Party
• Point of View: First Person

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Book Review

Anne frank: the diary of a young girl.

• Autobiography , Drama , Historical

Readability Age Range

• Doubleday, a division of Random House

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

From June 1942 to August 1944, a Jewish girl named Anne Frank kept a diary of her experiences in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, after the Netherlands fell to Nazi control during World War II.

Anne begins her diary entries by talking about her 13th birthday party, the day when she received the diary. Anne says she is keeping a diary because she doesn’t have any true friends and feels alone, despite having a loving family. She does not feel that she can confide in her parents or her 16-year-old sister, Margot, although she cares for them. Anne decides to give her diary a name, Kitty, and to write to Kitty as if the diary is the close friend she has always wanted.

Anne provides information about the social situation in Amsterdam. The Nazi party of Germany has extended its influence to Amsterdam, and Anne’s family is subject to a series of laws restricting the behavior of Jews. Anne is disheartened by the restrictions, but she still finds enjoyment by spending time with her friends.

In July of 1942, Anne’s family receives a call-up notice for Margot, which means that Margot will either be imprisoned or taken to a concentration camp. Rather than send Margot away with the SS (the German defense corps), the entire family decides to go into hiding.

Miep and Jan Gies are non-Jewish friends of the Frank family, and they help hide the Franks in secret rooms in Otto’s office building. Only four workers remain in Otto Frank’s office, and all of them are aware of the Franks moving in. Anne calls the hidden rooms the “Secret Annex.” The Franks share the space with another Jewish family, the van Daans, who have a 15-year-old son named Peter.

Many small domestic disagreements characterize the Franks’ and van Daans’ life in hiding. Mrs. van Daan does not want to share her linen sheets with the Frank family, and Mrs. Frank does not want to share her china dishes with the van Daan family. Mrs. van Daan avoids doing her share of the housework, and Anne annoys Mrs. van Daan with her constant chatter.

September of 1942 marks the start of Anne’s first school year in hiding. In October, she hears news that all of her Jewish friends and their families have been sent to concentration camps and now live under horrible conditions. An eighth resident of the Secret Annex, Albert Dussel, arrives in November. Anne does not get along with Mr. Dussel, with whom she must share a room, but she treats him with respect to keep the peace in their cramped home.

In the following months, the residents of the Secret Annex try to live as normally as possible, although they constantly fear their hiding place will be discovered. Anne begins to enjoy her studies, particularly Greek and Roman mythology, but interpersonal tensions in the Secret Annex are still increasing. Meals are growing sparser; Mr. Dussel hoards his private stash of food and refuses to share.

June of 1943 brings Anne’s 14th birthday. Her father writes her an encouraging poem, and the rest of the people in the Secret Annex give her small presents. Mr. Voskuijl, a friend of the family, is diagnosed with cancer and can no longer bring news of the outside world to the Secret Annex. In July, the warehouse below the Secret Annex is burgled and many of the Franks’ and van Daans’ food supplies are stolen. Air raids on Amsterdam continue throughout the summer. In September, Anne hears news of Italy surrendering to Allied forces.

In October of 1943, the van Daans run out of money, which further strains the relationships in the Secret Annex and causes the van Daans to fight even more frequently. In January of 1944, Anne begins to have romantic dreams about a boy named Peter whom she used to know, and at the same time she begins pursuing a friendship with Peter van Daan. Gradually, Anne becomes fonder of Peter van Daan, whom she disliked when they first went into hiding. Anne becomes more sympathetic to Mr. and Mrs. van Daan because she realizes her mother is the reason for many of the harsh inter-family squabbles.

In February 1944, Anne learns that Britain may invade the Netherlands. The residents of the Secret Annex discuss what they will do if the Germans evacuate Holland. Anne begins to visit Peter regularly, and the two of them often talk in his room.

In March, Anne reflects on her time spent in the Secret Annex and concludes she has grown into a wiser and kinder person as a result of her circumstances. Anne believes that she was a silly child before she came to the Secret Annex, and she is glad she has grown less superficial. Also in March, one of the men who brings food to the Secret Annex is arrested, depriving them of important supplies.

Peter and Anne’s friendship gradually becomes romantic. Anne worries that her sister, Margot, might also be in love with Peter, but Margot tells Anne that she is not jealous of their relationship. The adults in the Secret Annex tease Peter and Anne about their frequent visits, but they allow them to keep meeting.

Anne begins to make longer entries in her diary, and in late March of 1944, she hears a Dutch radio broadcast which says that after the war is over, diaries and journals kept during the war will be collected as valuable writings. Anne writes with renewed dedication because she dreams of becoming a journalist and knows she must hone her composition skills. In April, there is another break-in at the warehouse below the Secret Annex, and Anne fears they have been discovered. In May, the men of the household expect that England will invade the Netherlands, but the anticipated invasion doesn’t happen.

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Anne hears a broadcast about the Allied forces landing in Normandy, France. Later in June, Anne celebrates her 15th birthday. She determines that Peter van Daan likes her more as a friend than as a girlfriend, but they remain close and enjoy each other’s company. Mrs. van Daan and Mr. Dussel grow more and more agitated with Anne and argue with her about the flaws they perceive in her character. In August, Anne again grows hopeful the war will end because an attempt has been made to assassinate Hitler. Anne’s diary ends in August 1944, just before the Secret Annex is discovered and its residents are sent to concentration camps.

Christian Beliefs

Anne mentions that the anti-Jewish laws in Amsterdam prohibit Jews from visiting Christian homes. Anne’s father has given her mother’s bicycle to Christian friends for safekeeping since Jews are not allowed to use bicycles.

Mr. Dussel lived with a Christian woman out of wedlock.

Anne says Christians in the Netherlands are also living in fear because many of their sons are sent to fight for Germany.

Mrs. van Daan is prone to exaggeration, and she says she will be baptized as a Christian when the war is over. Shortly thereafter, she says that she wants to go to Jerusalem because she’s only comfortable around other Jews.

Anne’s father decides to buy Anne a children’s Bible so she can learn something about the New Testament. He determines he will need to give it to her on St. Nicholas’ Day instead of Chanukah because stories about Jesus do not seem like an appropriate Chanukah present.

Peter says that life would be easier for him if he were a Christian. He does not plan to convert to Christianity after the war because he would never feel like a true Christian, but he plans to hide his Jewish identity in the future.

Anne quotes a phrase that one Christian’s actions reflect only on that Christian, while one Jew’s actions reflect on all Jewish people.

Other Belief Systems

Anne and her family are Jewish. Anne attends school at the Jewish Lyceum. She describes one of her schoolmates as very Orthodox. Anne says that her family’s life has been full of tension because they’ve been worried about their relatives in Germany, who have been oppressed by the anti-Jewish laws instituted by the Nazi party. Anne says that two Jewish uncles fled to North America after the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom in Germany.

Anne lists many anti-Jewish laws in Amsterdam. Since 1940, Jews were required to wear yellow stars on their clothing to identify themselves as Jews. They were not allowed to ride bicycles or streetcars or to drive their own vehicles. They were only permitted to shop between 3 and 5 p.m. and were not allowed outside in public between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. They were not allowed in movie theaters or other places of entertainment, and they were prohibited from playing sports of any kind. Jewish children were segregated into Jewish-only schools.

Anne’s mother makes Anne read from Jewish prayer books written in German, but Anne is not interested in the prayers and wonders why she must be so devout.

The residents of the Secret Annex have a small Chanukah celebration where they exchange gifts and briefly light a menorah.

Anne says nightly prayers. She once refers to herself as the Benjamin of the Secret Annex, referring to the biblical character that was the youngest of Jacob’s sons.

Anne writes that she sometimes feels God is testing her to make her stronger and turn her into a better person through many trials. Anne prays to God to help her captured Jewish friend Hanneli. Anne wonders whether Hanneli ever truly believed in God.

Anne begins to worry that despite all the hardship she has endured, she still does not have enough faith in God. Anne believes that God is sending her dreams of her old friend Peter to relieve her troubles. Anne says that all frightened, lonely or unhappy people should go outside somewhere and be alone with God and nature for a while. She says that if a person enjoys nature’s simplicity, the person will understand that God wants people to be happy. Anne asserts that God has not forsaken her and never will. She says she is grateful to God for giving her the ability to write and express herself.

Anne longs for the day when she and her family will be seen as human beings and not only as Jews. Anne says that God has allowed the Jews to endure affliction but that He will also lift them up again. God has never deserted the Jews, Anne says.

Anne believes any type of religious belief will keep a person morally accountable for their actions.

Peter mentions that the Jews are God’s chosen people.

The residents of the Secret Annex hold a non-religious celebration of St. Nicholas’ Day.

Authority Roles

Anne says her parents love her. Anne describes her father as the most adorable father she’s ever seen. She says her parents are more interested in her general health and happiness than her academic success.

Anne’s father, Otto Frank, takes special care to provide his family with as many comforts as he can. He transports many of Anne’s favorite belongings to the Secret Annex before they go into hiding. Anne later says that her father understands her completely. Anne adores her father and often feels jealous of his approval of her sister, Margot, who never seems to cause any trouble for the family. Anne says that she tries to model her behavior after her father’s, because he is the person she loves most in the world. When Anne’s father tells her to stop seeing Peter in private, she writes him a spirited letter telling him to leave her alone and allow her to make her own decisions. Her father tells her that he does not deserve to be spoken to so harshly, and Anne grows ashamed of her own angry attitude.

While in hiding, Anne feels that she is growing more distant from her mother, who seems to find fault with Anne while treating Margot with extra gentleness and understanding. Anne is embarrassed by the fact that she often bursts into tears when having disagreements with her mother. Anne feels like she is a stranger to her mother, who does not know Anne’s thoughts and feelings on even the most basic subjects. Anne frequently remarks about her mother’s criticism of her, though she rarely mentions what aspect of her behavior has upset her mother. Anne gets so angry with her mother that she writes about wanting to slap her and yell at her.

Mr. Frank suggests that Anne should help her mother more with the household chores, but Anne decides not to help because she despises her mother. Anne says she can easily envision her mother’s death, but she cannot bear to think about her father ever dying. Anne eventually reads her earlier journal entries and is ashamed of talking about hating her mother.

After more than a year in hiding, Anne and her mother go through a brief phase with no major disagreements. Anne attributes their more peaceful relationship to her own maturity and to her mother’s steady nature.

Anne is disappointed in her mother’s assertion that her mother sees her daughters more as her friends than offspring. Anne wishes her mother would not try to be her friend but would instead fulfill a true motherly role and show her a good parental example of how to behave.

Anne mentions that she loves and misses her grandmother, who passed away a few months before Anne received her diary. Mr. and Mrs. van Daan have frequent arguments and sometimes shout at each other. Their son, Peter, seems embarrassed by them. Mr. van Daan yells at Peter when he disobeys.

Mrs. van Daan hits Peter’s arm when he makes a sarcastic remark. Peter hits her arm in return before receiving another punch from his mother. Peter roughly pulls his mother around the room by her wrists to keep her from hitting him again. Mrs. van Daan says that in their old home, she would have hit him with a belt for being so insolent.

Profanity & Violence

Anne says that Peter scoffs at Jesus Christ and takes God’s name in vain.

A rat bites Peter’s arm, and the wound bleeds heavily.

Anne hears that Jews in concentration camps are put to death by poisonous gas. In Amsterdam, the German Gestapo is known for shooting innocent people whenever they cannot find the particular person they are seeking.

Sexual Content

Anne mentions that she has many male admirers at school. Anne has heard rumors that a boy in her neighborhood, Sallie, has already had sex with someone. Anne says that several of the boys in her class have filthy minds, but she does not give examples of their behavior.

The adults are angry when they learn that Peter has read a book intended for adults only. Anne never says if the book has any sexual content, but she refers to the book as forbidden fruit.

Mrs. van Daan wears tight dresses and pats and touches Mr. Frank to flirt with him. Mr. Frank does not respond.

Everyone in the Secret Annex teases Anne for lying down on the same bed as Mr. van Daan, but Anne is quick to say in her diary that she would never want to sleep with Mr. van Daan in the way they were suggesting.

Anne reads a book called Eva’s Youth by Nico van Suchtelen, which contains mentions of prostitutes. The book also mentions menstruation, which causes Anne to long for her own menstrual cycle to start so that she can be a “true” adult. Anne discovers white smears in her underwear. Her mother says this indicates that her period will start soon. Anne wishes she could use sanitary napkins, but they are no longer available for purchase, and she says that her mother’s tampons are not intended for women to use until after they have had a baby. Later, when Anne reads her own early writings, she is embarrassed by her open discussion of such indelicate subjects.

Mr. Dussel is said to have lived with a Christian woman, and their sexual relationship is implied.

Anne is supposed to write new words she learns, and she makes note of brothel and coquette but does not define them.

When Anne enters puberty, she is somewhat self-conscious about the changes in her body, but she is also proud of becoming a woman and says that her monthly period is like a sweet secret. Anne says she has the urge to touch her own breasts. Anne has had discussions about sex with her father, who has told her that she is too young to understand physical desire, but when Anne has romantic dreams about a boy named Peter Schiff, she believes that she understands adult desires well.

Anne writes about spending the night with her female friend Jacque and being curious about her friend’s body, which she had never seen. Jacque refuses Anne’s request that they seal their friendship by touching each other’s breasts, but she allows Anne to kiss her. Anne says that she feels ecstatic when she sees nude female drawings in art books.

Anne says that sex has only been a topic she has heard discussed in hushed and horrified tones. Anne’s mother once told her never to discuss sex with boys, and Anne wishes her mother would give her a more thorough explanation of the facts of life.

In January of 1944, Anne and Peter van Daan begin a friendship tinged with romantic desires. Anne dreams of kissing Peter. By April, Peter and Anne sit with their arms around each other, and Peter kisses Anne’s cheek. They kiss each other’s cheeks several more times before kissing on the lips in May 1944. They spend time alone every evening and always kiss goodnight.

Mrs. van Daan says she has never explained sex or reproduction to Peter, and she assumes that her husband has not. Neither parent knows where Peter has obtained any knowledge of sex. Anne has learned a few details about human reproduction from a sex education book.

Peter shows Anne that his cat Boche is a male by pointing out the cat’s sexual organ. Anne knows the Dutch word for vagina, but neither she nor Peter is sure of the word for penis. Peter says he plans to ask his parents to tell him the word for the male sexual organ.

Anne says that loving someone in the romantic sense will eventually include physical love. She says that if two people are really in love, they do not have to be married so long as they are committed to each other for life. Anne believes that purity before marriage is a silly concept and says that it wouldn’t be a problem for a man to enter a marriage with some previous sexual experience.

Peter is more knowledgeable about sex than Anne is, and she asks him many questions about sex, although she doesn’t discuss his answers in detail. Anne wonders if Peter actually knows how female genitals look because the way he talks makes it seem like he still lacks some key knowledge of the female form. Anne writes about how she used to think that urine flowed from a woman’s clitoris and how her mother feigned ignorance when Anne asked her about what her clitoris was. Anne writes a detailed description of female genitals in her diary, describing how their outward appearance changes while standing and while sitting. Later, Anne describes female genitals to Peter who is surprised to learn the details.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Alcohol: Anne receives a bottle of grape juice for her 13th birthday. She comments that it tastes like wine. Anne says that in the Secret Annex, alcohol is only used for medicinal purposes. Mr. Dussel receives a bottle of wine for his birthday.

Smoking: Peter receives a lighter for his 16th birthday, although he does not smoke. Mr. van Daan smokes frequently.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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The Diary of a Young Girl | Anne Frank | Book Review

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“When the world was torn by grief and war. When the Jews were killed in German halls. A group of eight went into secret hiding. To save themselves from atrocities and chiding. A girl of 13 lived it, wrote it all. To tell the world – A forlorn story of her early and unfortunate fall”[/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “….announcements of their deaths appear in the papers frequently. These outrages are described as “fatal accidents”. Nice people, the Germans! To think that I was once one of them too! No, Hitler took away our nationality long ago. In fact, Germans and Jews are the greatest enemies in the world” – Anne Frank , Friday 9 th October, 1942 [/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “Who has inflicted this upon us? Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up till now?” – Anne Frank, Tuesday, 11 th April, 1944 [/perfectpullquote]

I am sure many of us would have heard of Anne Frank and her diary which became famous by the name of The Diary of a Young Girl .

If you have heard about her, then I must say that you should read the book if you haven’t done it already.

For those of us who haven’t heard about her, Anne Frank was a girl who lived during World War 2 in Nazi Germany occupied Holland (Now Netherland).

Because of the atrocities of Nazis against the Jews, the family of Anne Frank, along with another Jew family and a Jewish doctor, went into hiding together.

They lived in hiding for 25 months before they were discovered by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camps to die, where only Otto Frank, Anne’s father, survived.

After the war, he discovered Anne’s diary and got it published by the name The Diary of a Young Girl . This is a 13-year-old’s personal diary in which she has written about her daily experiences in the hiding from 14 th June, 1942 till 1 st August, 1944 a few days before she was discovered by the Gestapo.

This book, as many critics say, is dull and boring because in a majority of the entries she speaks of her trifles with her family – Mom, Dad and sister Margot and with the other family – the Van Daans (name changed).

Critics have said a lot and will say a lot and some of the points they mention cannot be denied.

But I am here to tell you why one should read this book.

The Diary of a Young Girl has great historical value and I believe that this diary is Anne’s gift to the human race and the world, the very world which tore her life apart and couldn’t give her a fair chance at her own life.

In those dark days, she wrote of hope; of how she wanted to be a writer; of how she would never be just another housewife; of how she will treat and bring up her children.

She mentions of love and the time she will be able to see the sun and moon and enjoy the beauty of nature again as it is something which nobody can deny her.

In one of her last entries, she writes about the hope that the war may soon end and she might be able to go to school. It was so sad to read all that because I know how the story ends.

That she had to go is so sad, for she would have been a great writer. When I read about her, the Coldplay’s song “Paradise” comes to my mind.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“When she was just a girl, she expected the world, but it flew away from her reach, so she ran away in her sleep”.[/perfectpullquote]

I want to write much more, but space is a major constraint here and in the end, I would just like to quote these words by John F. Kennedy –

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Anne Frank’s Diary, in Graphic Form, Reveals Its Humor

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By Ruth Franklin

• Jan. 9, 2019

ANNE FRANK’S DIARY The Graphic Adaptation Adapted by Ari Folman Illustrated by David Polonsky 149 pp. Pantheon Books. $24.95.

The story of Anne Frank is so well known to so many that the task of making it new seems at once insurmountable and superfluous. Her “Diary of a Young Girl,” with 30 million copies in print in 60 languages, is one of the most widely read books of the 20th century and, for an incalculable number of readers, the gateway for a first encounter with the Holocaust. Beginning on Anne’s 13th birthday, when she fortuitously received a diary with a red-and-white plaid cover among her gifts, and ending abruptly right before the Franks’ arrest, in early August 1944, the “Diary” chronicles just over two years spent in the “Secret Annex,” the warren of rooms above Otto Frank’s Amsterdam office where the family of four, along with four of their acquaintances, hid from the Nazis. Both a coming-of-age story and a portrait of human psychology under unimaginable stress, it has become justly iconic.

Because of the special circumstances of its creation and publication — Miep Gies, one of the office employees who sustained the Franks by bringing supplies and news from the outside world, gathered Anne’s papers after the family’s arrest and gave them to Otto, the only Annex inhabitant to survive, when he returned from Auschwitz — many readers have treated the “Diary” as something akin to a saint’s relic: a text almost holy, not to be tampered with. Thus the outcry that greeted the discovery that Otto, in putting together a manuscript of the “Diary” for publication in 1947, had deleted whole passages in which Anne discussed in graphic terms her developing sexuality and her criticism of her mother, and the excitement when, in 1995, a “Definitive Edition” appeared, restoring much of the deleted material. Meanwhile, the enormously successful Broadway adaptation of the “Diary” has been severely rebuked for downplaying Anne’s Judaism and ironing out the nuances of her message. “Who owns Anne Frank?” Cynthia Ozick asked in an essay that berates the Broadway adapters for emphasizing the uplifting elements of Anne’s message — particularly the famous quotation, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart” — while insufficiently accounting for her hideous death, at age 15, in Bergen-Belsen.

Into this quagmire bravely wade Ari Folman and David Polonsky, the creators of “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation,” a stunning, haunting work of art that is unfortunately marred by some questionable interpretive choices. As Folman acknowledges in an adapter’s note, the text, preserved in its entirety, would have resulted in a graphic novel of 3,500 pages. At times he reproduces whole entries verbatim, but more often he diverges freely from the original, collapsing multiple entries onto a single page and replacing Anne’s droll commentary with more accessible (and often more dramatic) language. Polonsky’s illustrations, richly detailed and sensitively rendered, work marvelously to fill in the gaps, allowing an image or a facial expression to stand in for the missing text and also providing context about Anne’s historical circumstances that is, for obvious reasons, absent from the original. The tightly packed panels that result, in which a line or two adapted from the “Diary” might be juxtaposed with a bit of invented dialogue between the Annex inhabitants or a dream vision of Anne’s, do wonders at fitting complex emotions and ideas into a tiny space — a metaphor for the Secret Annex itself.

The comedy of the “Diary” — one of the book’s most charming and often overlooked aspects — shines in this form. The tension between the Franks and the van Daans, the family with whom they go into hiding (a dentist, Alfred Dussel, joins later), is a rich vein of material for Anne, who sees Mrs. van Daan as obnoxious and vain; she cares only about her own family’s survival and is harshly critical of Anne’s manners and attitude. Here, she is often depicted wearing her trademark fur coat; when her husband threatens to sell it, Polonsky draws its collar with live rabbits, one of which speaks up in her defense. Anne also aims her satire at the limited food options in the Annex, offering sardonic menus and diet tips. In the graphic novel, one spread depicts the families at dinner, each character represented by an animal. Anne’s sister Margot, whose saintly composure she often envied, is drawn as a bird, gazing at an empty plate: “I feel full just by looking at the others,” the thought bubble above her head reads. Meanwhile, Mr. van Daan is an enormous bear, shoveling cabbage into his mouth with both paws even as he demands more.

[ Meyer Levin on Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl,” a book too tenderly intimate to be frozen with the label “classic” ]

There are so many wonderful juxtapositions of text and imagery that it feels cruel to focus on only a few, but another consistent standout is the way the graphic novel conveys Anne’s fantasies and emotions — so crucial to the “Diary.” In a line taken almost verbatim from the book, Folman’s Anne wonders, “How can we, whose every possession, from my panties to Father’s shaving brush, is so old and worn, ever hope to regain the position we had before the war?” Polonsky’s accompanying illustration depicts the Franks as beggars huddled on the side of an elegant street lined with cafes and restaurants, while passers-by in fancy clothes — including the van Daans — ignore them. In a page illustrating Anne’s most tumultuous inner thoughts, Polonsky draws her as the figure in Munch’s “The Scream”; for a calmer moment, she’s Adele Bloch-Bauer in Klimt’s “Portrait.” When 16-year-old Peter van Daan and Anne first begin to fall in love, Polonsky depicts their faces reflected in each other’s pupils, as if to indicate the depth of their feelings.

This graphic adaptation is so engaging and effective that it’s easy to imagine it replacing the “Diary” in classrooms and among younger readers. For that reason especially, it seems a mistake not to have included more in the way of critical apparatus to explain the ways the creators diverged from the historical record, especially when they touch most directly on the Holocaust. There is, for example, a naïve, stylized rendering of a concentration camp scene, which makes sense as a representation of Anne’s fantasies — she didn’t know the barbaric specifics of what was going on around her — but risks confusing students, who might not know that Auschwitz wasn’t in fact a big green square surrounded by pleasant-looking buildings with huge canisters reading “GAS” plugged into them.

Folman and Polonsky’s greatest missed opportunity, however, is their representation of Anne. As readers have been aware since the Definitive Edition appeared more than 20 years ago, the “Diary” as we know it, despite its misleading title, isn’t a literal diary. In spring 1944, the inhabitants of the Annex heard a radio broadcast in which a Dutch cabinet minister called for citizens to preserve their diaries and letters as a record of the war years — a moment depicted in the graphic adaptation. Afterward, Anne began to revise what she had written for eventual publication as an autobiographical novel, working at the furious rate of up to a dozen pages a day. She rewrote and standardized early entries and also created new ones to fill in gaps in her story, such as the history of her family. What we have come to think of as Anne’s diary, as Francine Prose and others have written, would be more accurately described as a memoir in the form of diary entries. But myths die slow deaths, and most readers still aren’t aware of the complexities behind the book’s creation.

Folman and Polonsky depict Anne as a schoolgirl, a friend, a sister, a girlfriend and a reluctantly obedient daughter. But only once, at the close of the book, do they show her in the act of writing. In so doing, they perpetuate the misconception about the book that so many have come to know, love and admire — it was, in truth, not a hastily scribbled private diary, but a carefully composed and considered text. As artists, they ought to understand how important it is to recognize Anne’s achievement on her own terms, as she intended it. Their book is brilliantly conceived and gorgeously realized; sadly, it does a disservice to the remarkable writer at its center.

Ruth Franklin is the author of “Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography.

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Book Review: The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Recently I’ve been listening to the unedited version of The Diary of Anne Frank read by Helena Bonham Carter for the 70th anniversary of the book which was released in 2012.

When this commemorative version of Anne’s diary was released, Meryl Steep also recorded “ a moving video message, sharing with viewers how Anne Frank’s values have shaped her own, including holding on to hope when the world has entered dark times “, which we’ve included here:

Tens of millions have read  The Diary of a Young Girl since it was first published in 1947 and it has been translated into more than 60 languages!

What is it that is so compelling about the diary of a young girl, written between her 13th birthday and when she was arrested with the rest of her family two years later?  This book is her very personal, deeply moving account account of what it was like to be literally hidden away in a secret “ annex ” in her father’s office building in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of the early 1940’s. The Frank family lived in hiding from 1942 until 1944 when they were discovered, arrested and taken to prison. Except her father Otto, Anne and her family members who had been hiding, tragically died in concentration camps in 1945 just months before liberation.

In fact, according to the Guardian , “ Amsterdam was occupied by the Nazi regime from 1940-1945, during which time 80,000 Jews were rounded up and deported to death camps. Only 18,000 survived .”

Some of the themes that young Anne writes about during the two years she and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II bring to mind echoes of this year of global coronavirus related lockdowns and quarantines. Of course, the virulent threat from the German regime that causes the Frank family to go into hiding is far more sinister than anything we are experiencing here in the United States. And yet it is Anne’s incredible honesty and vulnerability that allows us to imagine on a very human level, her longing for freedom, for fresh air, and for the chance to fully embrace her potential.

“I must have something besides a husband and children, something that I can devote myself to!  I want to go on living even after my death!  And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me.”

Most of us will thankfully never know the reality of being persecuted, of having to wear an identifiable mark (see below) on your outer garment and  or of living under the threat of being ripped away from all you know and sent to a concentration camp – all of your belongings confiscated – while those who dare resist are often killed on the spot.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., “ Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning “sacrifice by fire.” The Nazis… believed that Germans were “racially superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior,” were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived racial and biological inferiority:  Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others), Soviet prisoners of war, and Black people. Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals. ”

Jewish People Were Made to Wear Yellow Stars During the Nazi Occupation of Amsterdam

Anne’s diary was originally published by Anne’s Father Otto in 1947, the year his youngest daughter would have turned 18.

Her cousin Bernd Elias (Buddy), commented that, “ when [he] knew Anne, she was a girl like every other girl .” And yet Anne was documenting her pre-teen and teenage thoughts and feelings against a backdrop of increasing horror. One heartbreaking story Anne relates is when Bep, one of the Dutch women who helps the hiding family in a myriad of ways, sees an older Jewish woman thrown half-naked and beaten on her doorstep. She has to deliberately suppress her human response to open her door and rescue the old woman, as doing so would lead to Bep’s own death.

“ Hatred, of course, and racism are still working away all over the world. They are with us. It is so important that children learn to respect all religions and all nationalities .” Bernd Elias’ words ring especially true when considering current situations where some groups around the world are being persecuted, eradicated, and imprisoned for their religious beliefs and cultural identity.

Hearing Anne’s adolescent concerns and longings in the midst of bombings and the daily disappearance of her fellow Jews in Amsterdam causes me to pause and reflect on where other young people in our world today are subjected to this type of injustice. In particular, this story causes me to think about the current plight of Uighur people that Julie Clark talked about in an article for Culture Honey.  It horrifies me to learn of the tactics that the government in China is using against this Muslim minority people form the Xinjiang region of northern China. And yet there are so many accounts surfacing of Uighurs that are being systematically persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, terrorized and yes, even killed. The government is destroying their places of worship and the social fabric that ties them together as families and communities.

Tragically, according to Amy Qin writing in the New York Times , “Nearly a half million children have been separated from their families and placed in boarding schools so far.” “State media and official documents describe us[ing] boarding schools as incubators of a new generation of Uighurs who are secular and more loyal to both the party and the nation.”

Anne Frank’s Original Diaries and Short Stories

Thinking about the story of Anne Frank from the perspective of our global climate leads to a large question.

What can we do to ensure the millions of Uighurs detained and imprisoned by the Chinese government will not  suffer the fate of the millions of Jews, like Anne, who senselessly lost their lives?  This is something that Culture Honey founder Georgia Sanders examines in her new article , talking about raising awareness with calls/emails and boycotting certain products.

At one point Anne writes in her diary, “ I have reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die, the world will keep on turning without me, and I can’t do anything to change events anyway. I’ll just let matters take their course and concentrate on studying, and hope that everything will be alright in the end. ” I can imagine those who created the strategy for the Uighur children covered in the New York Times article quoted above, wish that they would similarly fall into despair.

Many of us who becoming aware of the enormous violence being committed by the government of China in the Uighur community are struggling with a growing sense of powerlessness. The laws have become so draconian that Uighurs in China are being imprisoned for simply practicing their religion (see here ). According to Amnesty International , those Uighurs living in the diaspora are also subjected to tactics of intimidation. However, it is important to remember Anne’s final entry in her beloved diary, “ that in spite of everything I believe that people are good at heart .” Let us together see what love can do. *

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Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - review

Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is one of the most well read books in the world. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl and at the age of 13 World War 2 broke out. Germans were looking for anyone they did not like everywhere. Anne frank and her family fled to the secret annex in Amsterdam (the capital city of Holland) where they lived there for 2 years in total seclusion.

I really liked Anne Frank because you could see her astonishing bravery, and I liked the way she made it feel happy sometimes and sad some other times. She starts off being happy because she does not know what's really happening. This book was interesting because it is a real diary. My favourite character is Anne because she had a lot of courage.

Anne Frank and her family were killed except for Otto Frank, Anne's father, who later on found her diary and published it, making it a world wide wonder!

The writing style was easy to read. The cover suited the book well because it showed her picture and Anne is the main character of the book.

Read what happened to this young girl and how you can understand more. Read this book… I dare you!

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop

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How did Anne’s diary become so famous?

On 25 June 1947, Anne Frank's Het Achterhuis ( The Secret Annex ) was published in Dutch in a small edition of 3,036 copies. It was a modest first step – how did it become one of the most translated books in the world? What were the key moments in this development?

Publication of the diary in Germany and France (1950)

After the success of the Dutch edition, Otto Frank found publishers in West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany) and in France willing to publish Het Achterhuis . Both translations were published in 1950. A first edition of 4,600 copies was printed in Germany, but the book was not a bestseller. However, when Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank was published as a cheap pocket in 1955, it became a hit. And when the play (see below) was also a success in the Federal Republic of Germany, a total of 700,000 copies were printed. The success of the play led to the publication of an edition in the GDR (East Germany) in 1957.

The French edition was published in 1950, like the German one, and the reviews were positive. The French edition was picked up by American author Meyer Levin. He was to play an important role in the success of the book in the United States.

‘I once asked my publisher why he thought the diary was read by so many people. He felt that the diary covered so many areas of life that every reader found something in it that affected him personally.’ Otto Frank, ‘Memories of Anne’, 1968.

Success in the US after review in The New York Times (1952)

In 1950, after reading the French edition, Meyer Levin first wrote about Het Achterhuis in an article on 'the attitude of American publishers towards books of Jewish content' for Congress Weekly magazine. He called Anne Frank a 'highly gifted writer’ and her diary 'a work about the unfolding of the nature of a young girl absolutely pure in candor and at the same time in delicacy.’

Otto had a hard time finding a publisher in the United States. After the manuscript had been turned down by 10 publishers, Doubleday publishers decided to acquire the rights. The publication of Anne's diary in America in 1952 had a cautious start. Five years after the book was first published in the Netherlands, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl was launched in a modest edition of 5,000 copies.

Doubleday did not hold high expectations and hardly spent any money on additional advertising. Sales did not go well. But after an enthusiastic review by Meyer Levin in The New York Times Book Review (15 June 1952), sales began to pick up. A second print run of 15,000 copies was issued, followed within days by a third of 45,000 copies. Before long, print run after print run sold out in rapid succession and millions of Americans read the book.

The Diary of Anne Frank , the play (1955)

Meyer Levin turned into a fervent advocate of the book and insisted on the production of a play and a film based on the diary. He even wrote a script, but that was rejected by Otto Frank. This caused a lot of bitterness between them and they eventually ended up in court. Much has been written about this case and the role that Meyer Levin played in the American publication, not only by Meyer Levin himself, in The Obsession ,  (1973) but also by later researchers.

Otto Frank finally decided to work with playwrights Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. They wrote the script in little under two years. The Diary of Anne Frank opened at the Cort Theatre in New York on 5 October 1955. Before the opening performance, Otto Frank wished the cast every success; he himself could not and did not want to see the play. The idea of seeing his family on stage was too much for him.

The final Broadway performance took place on 22 June 1957. After 717 performances, the play started on a tour of other US cities. The Diary of Anne Frank won important prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize for theatre, a Tony Award, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.

Performances all over the world

The play was staged in many other countries as well, including the Netherlands. Its opening night on 27 November 1956 was attended by Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. In Germany, the play made a deep impression, and more than 2 million people came to see it. Afterwards, there was often a minutes-long silence. In Germany – and in many other countries – the diary became better known because of the play.

The Diary of Anne Frank , the film (1959)

Using the play as a starting point, Goodrich and Hackett wrote the screenplay for the film The Diary of Anne Frank . George Stevens directed the film. It premiered in New York on 18 March 1959.

According to the available data, the film was not a blockbuster: the budget is estimated at 3 million dollars, the gross yield at 5 million dollars. However, the film won several prizes and 3 Oscars for:

• Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Shelley Winters)
• Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
• Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White).  

Just like the play, the film – despite its somewhat disappointing performance at the box office – definitely contributed to the reputation of Het Achterhuis .

More about Meyer Levin:

• Graver, Lawrence,  An Obsession with Anne Frank: Meyer Levin and The Diary (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995).
• Levin, Meyer,  The Obsession (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1973)
• Melnick, Ralph,  The Stolen Legacy of Anne Fran k: Meyer Levin, Lillian Hellman, and the Staging of the Diary.  (New Haven, CT & London: Yale University Press, 1997).
• IMDB-page about 'The Diary of Anne Frank' [12 October 2018]

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Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 1993

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• Print length 304 pages
• Language English
• Lexile measure 1020L
• Dimensions 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Publisher Bantam
• Publication date June 1, 1993
• ISBN-10 9780553296983
• ISBN-13 978-0553296983
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0553296981
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam; Reissue edition (June 1, 1993)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780553296983
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553296983
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 11+ years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1020L
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• #82 in Jewish Biographies
• #217 in Jewish Holocaust History
• #3,849 in Memoirs (Books)

About the authors

Annelies Marie Frank (German pronunciation: [ʔanəliːs maˈʁiː ˈʔanə ˈfʁaŋk]; Dutch pronunciation: [ʔɑnəˈlis maːˈri ˈʔɑnə ˈfrɑŋk]; 12 June 1929 - February 1945) was a German-born diarist and writer. She is one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl, which documents her life in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, is one of the world's most widely known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.

Born in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, she lived most of her life in or near Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Born a German national, Frank lost her citizenship in 1941 and thus became stateless. The Frank family moved from Germany to Amsterdam in the early 1930s when the Nazis gained control over Germany. By May 1940, they were trapped in Amsterdam by the German occupation of the Netherlands. As persecutions of the Jewish population increased in July 1942, the family went into hiding in some concealed rooms behind a bookcase in the building where Anne's father worked. In August 1944, the group was betrayed and transported to concentration camps. Anne and her sister, Margot, were eventually transferred to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they died (probably of typhus) in February or March 1945, just weeks before the camp was liberated in April.

Otto Frank, the only survivor of the family, returned to Amsterdam after the war to find that Anne's diary had been saved by one of the helpers, Miep Gies, and his efforts led to its publication in 1947. It was translated from its original Dutch version and first published in English in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl, and has since been translated into over 60 languages. The diary, which was given to Anne on her thirteenth birthday, chronicles her life from 12 June 1942 until 1 August 1944.

Bio and photo from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Unknown photographer; Collectie Anne Frank Stichting Amsterdam (Website Anne Frank Stichting, Amsterdam) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Yosihumi Ooisi

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Anne frank: the diary of a young girl.

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Follow the golden rule. do unto others what you would have them do unto you., i read this book in my 30s, thought it extremely moving. however, in my later years and doing family research, i have discovered more close proximity with the lovely anne frank. in recent years i have discovered a long line of dutch ancestors, mainly in amsterdam. plus, just in recent years i have been proud to discover i have jewish people as ancestors., great book, really good, the best book ever, overall, something everyone should read.