Section One: June 12 to July 8, 1942

Summary:

The epigraph of this book is in Anne's handwriting and claims that she hopes she will be able to confide "completely" in her diary, and that it shall be a great comfort to her.

The first entry of the diary is on June 12, Anne's thirteenth birthday. She tells the story of how she woke early and then had to contain herself until seven a.m. to wake her parents and open her presents. She claims that the diary, one of those presents, is "possibly the nicest of all." She relates her list of presents, adding that she is "thoroughly spoiled," and then goes off to school with her friend Lies. On Sunday she has a birthday party with her school friends. Her mother always asks who she is going to marry, and she has managed to dissuade her from the boy she really likes, Peter Wessel. She talks about her school friends: Lies Goosens, Sanne Houtman, and Jopie de Waal. Lies and Sanne used to be her best friends, but since she started attending the Jewish Secondary School, she has become closer to Jopie.

On Saturday, June 20, Anne divulges that she wants her diary to be a friend to her--unlike her other friends, someone she can completely confide to. Although she has a loving family and lots of friends, she feels isolated and alone sometimes, and wants her diary to be someone she can talk to openly and honestly about everything. So she will call her diary "Kitty" and address it like a friend. She tells Kitty the history of her family: her parents' marriage, her 1929 birth in Frankfurt, and then, "as we are Jewish," their 1933 emigration to Holland. The rest of her family suffered under Hitler's pogroms in Germany; some of them managed to emigrate to other countries.

After 1940, Hitler conquered Holland and brought anti-Jewish measures there. Jews were forced to wear yellow stars as marks of identification; they had to hand in their bicycles and were not allowed to use trams or public facilities. They were segregated into Jewish shops and Jewish schools and not allowed to visit Christian homes. As Anne says, "Our freedom was strictly limited." Her beloved grandmother died in 1942. She went to the Montessori Kindergarten for lower school and currently, she attends the Jewish Secondary School.

The next entry, also on June 20, begins with the signature greeting of "Dear Kitty." Anne says that she has taken a liking to ping-pong; she and her friends often play and then go get ice-cream at the nearest shop that allows Jews. There, they let their admirers buy them ice cream. At this point, Anne lets the diary know that she has plenty of boy friends, whom offer to escort her home from school and almost always fall in love with her. She tries to ignore them when they do. Meanwhile, Anne's whole class is waiting anxiously to hear who will be promoted to the next grade. She personally is not worried about any subject except for math, since she has been punished for talking too much. Her teacher made her write three essays about being a "chatterbox." After she wrote funny essays, he allowed her to talk in class.

In the boiling heat, Anne wishes she didn't have to walk everywhere--but alas, Jews are not allowed to ride trams. The only place they are allowed is the ferry, which the ferryman let them ride as soon as they asked. Anne expresses sympathy towards the Dutch; saying it is not their fault that the Germans treat Jews so badly. She is approached by Harry Goldberg, a sixteen-year-old boy she met at her friend Eva's house. He "can tell all kinds of amusing stories," says Anne, and soon the two are seeing each other regularly. Although Harry has a girl friend, Fanny, a "very soft, dull creature," he is smitten with Anne. Although his grandparents, with whom he lives, think Anne is too young for him, he stops going out with Fanny and makes himself available to Anne. When she asks how, he claims, "Love finds a way."

Harry comes to meet her parents, and Anne makes all sorts of preparations for his visit. They go out for a walk, and Harry brings Anne home ten minutes after eight o'clock. As Jews have a city-wide curfew of eight o'clock, Mr. Frank is very upset and makes Anne promise to be back in the house at ten minutes to eight from now on. Still, her family likes Harry, and Anne does as well.

Anne gets her school marks back and they are good. She explains that although her parents do not pressure her for grades, she wants to be a good pupil. The headmaster of the Jewish Secondary School accepted her and her sister Margot "conditionally" and she does not want to let him down. She mentions that her father has been home a lot lately, "as there is nothing for him to do at business." Her father tells her the disturbing news that he has been planning for them to go into hiding for more than a year. Anne is horrified and asks why must he talk like that. He replies that he and Mrs. Frank will take care of it all and there is no need for her to be upset.

Analysis

In the beginning part of her diary, we meet Anne before her ordeal. The picture we get is of a typical thirteen-year-old: precocious in some ways (her analysis of her friendships is startlingly adult), childish in others (her giggly behavior about boys). If she had been allowed to continue living outside and going to school, interacting with others, or if the war had not targeted Jews, she would have continued to be a charming, if faceless young girl. But as we will see, the change of location will change Anne. It is important to keep this picture of her in mind for comparative reasons with the later segments of the diary.

But even at the very beginning, Anne is a compelling narrator for the way she provides a lens on Jewish life in Hitler-occupied Amsterdam. In many ways she shows how the average human being responds to repression on a day-to-day basis. Her reactions to Hitler's anti-Jewish pogroms, for example, are enlightening. She does not exactly accept the repression as Hitler might have liked--Anne certainly does not believe that Jews are inferior because of the restrictions they are forced to endure--but nor does she dwell on the reasons behind why Hitler might despise Jews so much. Instead, she is matter-of-fact. Her family had to leave Germany "as we were Jewish," not because Hitler believed Jews were a subhuman race, and was explained his theory by suspect historical lessons and pseudo-science.

Her father is home quite a lot, "as there is nothing for him to do at business." The truth of the matter is that Jews were not allowed to participate in the type of business in which Mr. Frank was previously employed, but Anne chooses to leave that fact out. Her omissions, and her brisk manner about the ways Jews are treated in Amsterdam, takes the air out of Hitler's theories. She simply refuses to acknowledge the reasons behind this treatment, and in this way she is able to live a semblance of a normal life. She does this by concentrating on her friends, her school life, and her family. In many ways, Anne's reaction to the hardships of war are a great reflection of the way women and children--the traditional sufferers in war--have responded throughout the centuries.

Section Two: July 8 to September 29, 1942

Summary:

The first line for Anne's entry of July 8 lets us know that something crucial has happened: "Years seem to have passed between Sunday and now." At three o'clock on Sunday afternoon, she was reading on the verandah, waiting for Harry to come visit her. When the doorbell rings, she barely notices it. Her sister Margot comes to her, very excited, and says that the SS has sent up a call notice for Mr. Frank. Anne is instantly frightened--a call-up notice means "concentration camps and lonely cells." Their mother has already gone to see Mr. Van Daan. The Van Daans will be living with the Franks in their hiding place. The two girls sit quietly, lost in thought.

The doorbell rings again--Harry. Margot warns her sister not to go downstairs, but Anne needs no such warning. Mrs. Frank and Mr. Van Daan go downstairs and talk to Harry, then close the door and do not allow anyone else in. Mrs. Frank and Mr. Van Daan send the two girls upstairs so they can talk alone. In the privacy of their bedroom, Margot tells Anne that the call-up notice was for her, not for Mr. Frank. Anne is horrified that the SS would call a sixteen-year-old girl alone. With questions swirling in her head, she begins packing "the craziest things" into a school satchel in preparation to go into hiding. At five o'clock Mr. Frank arrives, and the speed of the preparations picks up. They leave the next morning, wearing layers and layers of clothes. ("No Jew in our situation would have dreamed of going out with a suitcase full of clothing," Anne explains.) Only Anne's cat is left behind.

They walk to their hiding place in the rain, and Mr. Frank explains that they were to go into hiding on July 16 anyway, but had to speed up their relocation because of the call-up. Anne describes their hiding place, the rooms on top of Mr. Frank's office building, and adds a drawing. When they arrived, Margot and Mrs. Frank were too miserable and depressed to do anything--it was up to Mr. Frank and Anne to clean up the living area and unpack all the boxes. This they do, and Anne barely has time to think for several days. When she does she talks about the clock, which disturbs the others by striking every fifteen minutes, but comforts Anne. She is impressed with the "Secret Annex," calling it "an ideal hiding place." However, all of the Franks are nervous about being heard and restless about being cooped up for good.

A month later, Anne reports that little has been going on for her to report. The Van Daans arrived on July 13. They had planned to come one day later, but the Germans called up so many Jews between July 13-16 that they decided it was wise to leave one day earlier rather than one day late. Their son, Peter, is almost sixteen, "soft, shy, gawky," in Anne's estimation. Mr. Van Daan explains what happened to their house. The cat was taken to a neighbor, and Mr. Van Daan went to great lengths to spread false rumors about what had happened to the Franks.

Not all is well and good between the Franks and the Van Daans. They quarrel over things big and small. The matriarchs of the family have differences over plates and sheets; Anne cannot get along with Mr. Van Daan at all. Peter Van Daan had a fight with his parents when he snatched a book that he was not allowed to read "on the subject of women." Margot was also forbidden to read the book, but she left it alone. When Mr. Van Daan caught Peter with the book, he was sent to bed without dinner. Peter tried to threaten his parents by going in the chimney, but Mr. Van Daan reprimanded him and eventually he went back to bed.

"School" begins again in September. Anne works at her French; Peter works at English. Anne hears herself being discussed by the adults and they decide that she is "not completely stupid after all," which has the effect of making her work twice as hard. Anne worries that she has very few clothes for the winter. She also slaps the book closed when Mrs. Van Daan walks in, as there is a particularly unflattering description of her that Anne wishes to conceal. Anne is not getting along with any of her family members at the moment, except for her father. Also, She and Mrs. Van Daan do not get along. Mrs. Van Daan is always saying that Anne is spoiled and tries to force her to eat more vegetables. They also have a "jolly good row" over the matter of modesty in Anne. Anne is fed up with all the bickering and feels that she has been forced to "swallow" insults.

The last entry of the month is a veritable ode to the pleasures of hot baths and modern plumbing--both of which the Franks and the Van Daans have been forced to live without in hiding. All of them have been forced to go to great lengths to bathe in privacy and, when the plumber was at work, use the toilet.

Analysis:

This section of the book brings the Franks to a critical juncture. It also begins developing one of the main themes of the book: Anne's growth and development under duress. As we see in the entry for July 8, Anne knows how to quickly abandon the trappings of her privileged childhood to react in a crisis situation. She has a strong survival instinct. When Harry comes to the door, she does not go down to greet him or even protest when she cannot go down to greet him. Her thoughts are fixed on her family's safety. She also comprehends complicated reasoning about how to evade capture--such as the fact that she should not pack clothes in her bag, because if they were stopped, the clothes would give them away.

Also in this entry, we witness Anne learning some of the hard truths of the adult world. She is horrified that the SS would call up Margot alone--she is just a sixteen-year-old girl. The fact that Hitler's army does not differentiate between men, women, and children is a frightening reality for Anne to confront.

Still, Anne is a young girl, and we see the struggle between the young side of her personality and the adult side of her personality in many ways. At first she looks on her living situation as a grand "adventure" and is delighted with the annex and all the little charms of her living space. Then, slowly, the difficult aspects of living in close quarters begin to grate on her. It is hard enough to stay on good terms with the people she is living with, much less think about the greater state of the world. She feels outnumbered and under attack from the other people in the house. While she is surely exaggerating to some extent--it is impossible that every quarrel they have is about Anne; we see that at least some of them are about the other children as well--her sense of embattledness evokes great sympathy. She is still a young girl and it is difficult for her to fight back against the slights of adults.

Section Three: October 1, 1942 to November 28, 1942

Summary:

Anne opens her entry for October 1 by saying that she was terrified when the doorbell rang--she thought it was the Gestapo. It was not, but there are other fears. One of the employees, an older Jewish chemist, knows the building very well and they are always afraid that he might take a notion to look in the annexe. Anne is also frightened by the news she has heard from the outside: the Franks' Jewish friends are being hauled away by the dozens. News of the German concentration camps filters down to them, along with other atrocious German misdeeds. "Nice people, the Germans!" huffs Anne. "To think that I was once one of them too!"

To distract herself from these woes, Anne keeps busy with her studies of French and math and records the squabbles of the two families. She is annoyed with Mrs. Van Daan for flirting with Mr. Frank, and unhappy about her relationship with her mother. She and her sister are temporarily getting along and have agreed to read each others' diaries.

On the night of October 20, all the residents have a scare. A carpenter comes to fill the fire extinguishers and is hammering on the landing opposite their cupboard door entrance. They settle down and try to be quiet as soon as they hear him, but then he starts to knock on their door. Everyone goes white as he begins pushing at the door to their secret annexe. Then they hear the voice of Mr. Koophius, one of their protectors. He asks them to let them in, and they do immediately. On Monday, Miep and her husband Henk spend the night in the annexe, which is an amusing diversion for all the residents. At the end of October, Anne is worried about her father. He falls ill and they cannot call a doctor for him, and if he coughs he might give them away. She also notes that she is becoming more "grownup"--her mother allows her to read a book that mentions prostitution, and she learns about periods. (She longs for one, "it seems so important.")

On November 7, Anne reports at length a quarrel that happened between herself and her family. Her parents took Margot's side when Margot and Anne fought over a book, and Anne writes tearfully that she feels the pain of her father's judgement all the more because her mother's love is not what Anne wishes it would be. Fortunately, her father is feeling better, and a little festivity comes in the form of Peter's sixteenth birthday. In addition, Anne is excited because both families have agreed to take in an eighth person. They all sit down to decide who will "fit in well with our Œfamily.'" They settle on Albert Dussel, an elderly dentist. He is excited to have a hiding place, but insists on waiting to come for a couple of days until after he has settled his accounts and treated a couple of patients. Anne is impatient and perceives him as somewhat ungrateful.

Dussel eventually arrives. He is greatly surprised to see the Franks, as he had heard that they were in Switzerland. They all laugh and tell him how they came to be in the secret annexe, then give him a grand tour. The Van Daans have written a funny list of "rules" advertising the Secret Annexe, which amuse everyone. Dussel will share a room with Anne while Margot moves to the camp bed. Dussel is, as Anne says, "a very nice man." He shares the tragic news from outside--many of their friends have been taken away by the Germans, and every evening, as if on a witch hunt, the Germans go in search of Jews. Anne feels "wicked sleeping in a warm bed, while my dearest friends have been knocked down...all because they are Jews!" At Dussel's news, a gloom settles over the whole annexe. Anne is upset but decides that she cannot spend all her time upset.

Meanwhile they suffer under shortages of all types--a power shortage (they are not allowed to use any power for a week) and a paper shortage among them. Anne finds that Dussel has his faults; she calls him "a stodgy old-fashioned disciplinarian."

Analysis

Anne's statements about the Germans and the Jewish chemist at the beginning of this section expose how war can create conflicts between different parts of people's identities. Anne despises the Germans, as she rightfully should, but technically, she is a German herself. Her own mother does not speak Dutch very well because she spent most of her life in Germany. Although Anne has lived in Holland since she was four and feels a greater connection to the Dutch, she wrestles with the fact of her German background. She attempts to reconcile this by removing this part of her identity--by claiming that Hitler "took" her German nationality, she can detach herself from the actions the Germans are taking.

The fact that all the Annexe's residents fear a Jewish chemist in the building brings up the important point of complicity among the populace. In recent years there has been much international media attention on how nations like Poland and Switzerland were complicit in some ways with the Nazi regime. The truth is that there were people in every nation who were complicit with the Nazis, and some of them were Jewish. By this point in time--and Dussel's news confirms this fact--the Germans were rounding up Jews all over Holland. If the Jewish chemist discovered the annexe, he may very well have turned them in to the Nazis in return for his own safety. The combination of not being able to trust her own nation and not being able to trust a man of her own religion must have been confusing and embittering for Anne. She truly belongs to no society that she can name. And she is not alone--for an adult with a greater understanding of how the world works, the oppression and psychological torture of the war must have been even worse.

Most of Anne's diary entries are reports of the small cruelties that come with living in close quarters: the useless fights, the boredom, the small ways that people find to get on each others' nerves. These entries are vital for building rapport with Anne as she suffers through her ordeal, although they may seem repetitive (imagine how repetitive it must have been to live the text!). There are several themes that run through all the entries and begin gaining momentum during this time period: Anne's fear that their hiding place will be discovered, her overwhelming sense of loneliness, her concern that no one will ever understand her, and her struggle to respond constructively to news from the outside. Locked inside the annex, unable to go outside, Anne's cocoon of childhood innocence continues in some ways. Although she is learning a bit about the harder side of living, she does not have to see the terror that is going on outside. As such, she resolves to go about her life as cheerfully as she can, and not to focus too much on misery that she cannot change. As the diary progresses, Anne will gain a fuller understanding of genocide and struggle heroically to come to terms with it.

Section Four: December 7, 1942 through June 13, 1943

Summary:

Chanuka and St. Nicholas Day are just one day apart, so the residents of the annex have two small celebrations. For Chanuka, they give each other a few small gifts and then, due to a shortage, light the candles for only ten minutes. St. Nicholas Day is more festive; Miep and Elli conspire with Mr. Frank for the occasion. At night, all the residents go downstairs and discover a large basket covered with a mask of Black Peter and filled with presents.

The residents order a lot of meat which Mr. Van Daan makes into sausages. Mr. Dussel opens a dental "practice" in the attic--a humorous episode follows with him treating Mrs. Van Daan's toothaches. Although Anne finds him funny at times, she is annoyed at his fussiness and his habit of "shushing" her at night. Anne comments on the people in the neighborhood she lives in--the children, she says, are "real slum kids." She frets over how "terrible" it is outside: children are being separated from their families, the Dutch are losing their sons to the Germans, and the Jews are being rounded up and taken away. Jews, Gentiles, women, men--everyone, Anne says, is miserably waiting for the end.

Still, all of that seems further away than what is going on in the annex. Anne feels as though she is mistreated and misunderstood by all the people around her. She complains of being name-called and disrespected. She remarks that it took Mr. Dussel some time to get used to the quarrels of the household. Anne's father is expecting the invasion at any moment. Churchill is recovering in England; Ghandi is fasting in India. Meanwhile, the owner of the building has sold it without telling Koophius and Kraler--when new owners come by to look at the building, Koophius has to pretend he has forgotten the key to the annexe. This brings a new fears for the residents. There is a butter shortage, which leads to rationing at the table.

At night, the residents cower from the gunfire. They cannot light candles or turn on the light. Anne creeps into her father's bed for comfort. Rats have infested the attic; one night Peter is bitten. Anne is growing--she can't find a pair of shoes to fit her for longer than a week. There is great excitement in Amsterdam when it is announced that Turkey has joined the war on England's side. The whole annex gets a scare when they hear fumbling downstairs; they imagine it is a burglary. Fortunately, they only end up scaring each other and find little evidence of a burglar.

Mr. Frank is distraught that he cannot take part in important business discussions downstairs; he gets Anne and Margot to help him eavesdrop. Quarrels continue among everyone, and Anne laments that they are living better than most other Jews and still cannot get along. There is a radio announcement that all Jews must be "cleaned out" of all German territories by July 1. Students who do not declare sympathy with the Germans are not allowed to continue their studies for the year. (Eighty percent refuse to sign and are at risk of being sent to a labor camp.) The only bright spot is that sabotage and strikes are starting to affect the Germans in Holland.

Anne's birthday comes again; the festivities are greatly subdued in comparison to last year. Nonetheless, she is happy, she is "spoiled" with sweets and her father writes her a poem in German, which Margot translates into Dutch.

Analysis:

Anne continues to struggle with the adult residents of the annex. Note that the Anne's responses to the arguments increasingly take on a different tone. She no longer attempts to excuse her behavior or merely whine about how unfair her treatment is. Instead, she draws parallels between her behavior and the behavior of the adults in the annex, comes to the realization that it is unfair for her to be compared to Margot because they are very different people, and begins to learn how to bottle her rage and express anger only on the most important occasions. These are all indicators of maturity. Anne's subtle changes also show how she is becoming her own person.

The holidays provide some welcome festivity to the household. It is important that Anne's family celebrates St. Nicholas Day--traditionally a pagan, and then Christian holiday. (Black Peter is the companion of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus.) The fact that they celebrate St. Nicholas Day--even more than Chanukah, at least for this year--shows how assimilated the Franks are into Gentile Dutch society. While this may explain why Anne seldom identifies with other Jews (beyond persecution, of course), it is this very element of her diary that troubles some Jewish critics. David B. Green notes that "being Jewish seems to have been largely tangential to Anne's sense of self, even as the tightening noose of the Nazi occupation reminded her daily that her fate was tethered to her Jewishness" and complains that if Anne had not suffered from "[a] lack of ethnicity," her diary might not have been the overwhelming classic that it is.

Green's remarks are certainly worthy of discussion, because Anne certainly does not understand herself in terms of her ethnicity--at least, not in this diary. (Who knows what she might have come to understand had she lived?) Instead, she understands herself as a young woman trapped in circumstances beyond her control, waiting impatiently for the forces that be to work things out so that she and her family may get on with the business of living.

Section Five: June 15, 1943 through December 6, 1943

Summary:

One of their Dutch helpers, Mr. Vossen, was supposed to have an ulcer operation, but the doctors realized that he had cancer and was too far gone for them to help. This is sad news for everyone in the annex, they will be losing a good helper and friend. Anne is trying to be "helpful, friendly, and good" to everyone in the annex. She has stopped studying shorthand and worries about her near-sightedness. She and Margot do office work for Elli, one of their helpers. Anne politely asks Mr. Dussel if she can use the table in their bedroom to study two afternoons a week. Dussel refuses, claiming that his work is more important than Anne's. Seething, Anne asks her father for advice, and after he intervenes, Dussel gives in.

There is a real burglary on July 16--the thieves take cash and sugar ration coupons. The bombing continues--Anne says that "whole streets lie in ruins." Meanwhile the bombing and destruction continues, setting everyone's nerves on edge. While all of this is going on, Anne describes what everyone's first wish will be once they get out of hiding. Then, she decides to tell her diary about an average day in hiding. Over a period of days she breaks down the daily routine of the annex residents: bedtime, breakfast, lunch, evening recreation, potato peeling, etc. She details everyone's actions with humor, making sure to skewer the residents she does not particularly like.

Outside, the political news is good. Italy's Fascist party is banned, signaling internal discord. The country surrenders to the Allied Powers on September 8. While this is good for the long term of the war, life in Holland is still strict: Dussel endangers their lives by asking Miep to bring him a book that was banned by the Germans, and Mr. Koophius has to go to the hospital for an abdominal operation and long recovery.

Interpersonal relations are not going well in the annex: Anne is taking Valerian pills for depression, the Van Daans have run out of money, and their few protectors who are not ill are overstressed. The adults quarrel incessantly, while Anne tries to shake herself out of her depression. She has no appetite and wanders the annex aimlessly, "feeling like a songbird whose wings have been clipped and who is hurling himself...against the bars of his cage." Mr. Frank tries to give the girls new things to do: he orders Latin lessons for Margot and tries to get a children's Bible for Anne so she can learn something of the New Testament.

Anne notes that her diary entries are written in a variety of different moods; she feels dependent on the atmosphere. Right now, she admits that she is "going through a spell of being depressed" and berates herself as being "a coward." But her fears continue, she writes that the annex is "a little piece of blue heaven, surrounded by heavy black rain clouds...gather[ing] more closely about us." A cheerful spot comes in the form of an entry that she writes as an ode to her fountain pen, a prized possession of hers which was accidentally melted in the stove. But then she has a bad dream about her childhood friend, Lies. She imagines her "clothed in rags," and begging Anne to help her. Anne mourns that she cannot, and feels guilty for all of her blessings while others are suffering.

Dussel is acting "very put out." He does not even thank the Franks or the Van Daans on the one-year anniversary of his arrival in the annex. Meanwhile, Elli cannot come to help them for six weeks because of a diptheria outbreak in her home. St. Nicholas Day is certain to be less plentiful than last year--but Anne, determined to make something festive out of the occasion, begins composing poems for each person with the help of her father. They gather everyone's shoes and put them in a large basket, then cover it with paper as a surprise. When everyone is shocked at the size of the package, Anne reads a funny poem about how times are hard but that festive "spirit" remains.

Analysis

Emotionally, this is the low point for Anne during her time in the annex. She suffers from depression and is forced, by virture of her circumstances, to conceal what is going on within her from the others around her. Otto Frank once said that when Anne was alive, he had no idea who the Anne of this diary was, and that it proved that "children are strangers to their parents." Anne continues to keep up her reputation as a light-hearted chatterbox among the residents of the annex, and she does her best to make life livable for the people around her. Her hard work for the St. Nicholas holiday is a good example. Internally, however, she is tormented by fear and frustration.

Overall, life inside and out of the annex is also hard. Note that Anne's descriptions often talk about how their food supply is either small or rotten. By the third year of the war, everyone in the fighting countries was experiencing shortages and hardships of all kinds. Hitler's "guns, not butter" campaign ensured that food and other necessities were difficult to get. And as the fighting raged, people came to realize that many of their sons--already gone for a long time--would not return. In such circumstances, internal chaos can threaten the stability of countries at war. That was one big reason why Italy surrendered. In Holland, the strikes that Anne mentions are a sure sign that morale was low among the Dutch.

In this section of her diary, Anne's writing goes beyond expressions of the mundane and the everyday to try and express some of what is going on in her mind and her soul. She experiments with metaphors and rhetorical language, particularly relating to nature. Her description of herself as a bird beating against a cage is a classic metaphor among marginalized women. (Maya Angelou used the same metaphor throughout her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.) She also describes the annex as a small piece of "blue heaven" surrounded by rain clouds. This description has resonances with the Old Testament (Moses parting the Red Sea to rescue the Israelites). But it also expresses Anne's desire for the natural world, which she has not been able to see or enjoy for over a year.

Section Six: December 22, 1943 through February 13, 1944

Summary:

Anne gets the flu. She tries all sorts of cures and is embarrassed when Dussel lies on her "naked chest" and listens to her heart. The household receives nice Christmas presents from their protectors, but Anne feels jealous of them because they can go outside and still enjoy many things she cannot. She feels "a great longing to have lots of fun myself for once." Morale, she adds, is "rotten" as the war is at a standstill. Anne also contemplates her father and "the love of his youth." She adds, in a restrained way, that she understands him better now than she used to and admires his patience and his good qualities. She is also shocked at the number of times she has spoken badly of her mother in her diary. She "soothes her conscience" by thinking that the words are on paper rather than in her mother's memory.

Anne becomes "very unhappy" when she thinks of her Granny (her mother's mother) and her friend Lies. She contemplates Granny's kindess and courage in the face of suffering, and she wonders if Lies is still alive. She notes that her belief in God is not strong enough.

While she feels that she has a better understanding of her mother, Anne notes that there are many changes going on within herself. Her body is changing--she now gets her period and feels "ecstasies" at the sight of a female nude. She confesses that she once felt a "strong desire" to kiss a female friend and wondered about the mysteries of her friend's body. She longs for a girl friend, but there is no one, and wants so badly to confide in someone that she tries to talk to Peter. She dreams of Peter Wessel, imagining his cheek against hers, and notes that she has very vivid dreams. When she prays, she says, she prays for all "Jews and those in need."

Anne explains her longing for Peter Wessel by telling her diary the history of "myself and all my boy friends." She had childhood crushes, she explains, but none of them were serious until she fell in love with Peter Wessel, an older boy. She calls him her "helper" in the annex when she is going through tough times and thinks of him often. It helps her look more lightly on the adults' quarrels, which continue with regularity.

One day, Peter shows Anne the cat, Boche. He shows Anne the "male organs" so nonchalantly that Anne quickly gets over her embarressment. She is impressed that he can talk about such things without getting flustered.

Boredom still reigns in the annex. Anne notes that she has to hear the same stories over and over again from the residents. Not only do they repeat their own stories over and over again, but they regurgitate the stories that their Dutch helpers relate over and over again. Anne applauds their Dutch helpers. Not only are they risking their lives for the Jews in the annex, but she says they "display heroism in their cheerfulness and affection." Politics are a big topic of discussion, especially the threat of an invasion. Meanwhile, Anne confides, she is "longing--so longing--for everything!"

Analysis:

Anne is still struggling with depression and loneliness, but her tone is slowly growing more hopeful. She remembers the great loves of her life and mourns, not helplessly, for the friends she has left behind. Note that in her diary entries, Anne is increasingly concerned with pinpointing the reasons for her angers and desires. She goes deep within herself to locate the source of her feelings towards her mother and is aware that she needs someone to confide in other than her diary. Anne's realization that she is not so strong as to be able to live without meaningful human contact is a mark of her maturity.

The recurring image of Lies is an interesting one. The fact that Lies continues to surface in Anne's mind reveals some guilty feelings on Anne's part. She is constantly aware that she is far better off than most European Jews, including some of her dearest friends. The recurring image of Lies is an important psychological view into Anne. She cannot help but to compare her situation with that of non-Jewish people (their protectors, for example) and feel rightfully jealous--but she also feels guilty about the people she was not able to save.

Otto Frank edited some of the pages in this section--ones that dealt with Anne's criticism of her parents' marriage. (The "young love" of Mr. Frank that Anne alludes to was expanded on in Anne's diary; she believed her father never got over this woman and that it affected his marriage.) Oddly enough, he did not edit many of Anne's remarks about sexuality. (The Dutch publisher was more concerned about these passages than he would have been about Anne's comments on the Franks' marriage.) Anne went through puberty in the annex, and she is surprisingly honest in her diary about all of her thoughts and feelings. She is naturally curious about Peter during this time because he is a young teenage male who seems to have more information about sex than she does; in addition she is going through hormonal changes and is wrestling with many of the questions of adolescence.

Section Seven: February 13, 1944 through March 19, 1944

Summary:

"Since Saturday a lot has changed for me," writes Anne, and what has changed, she notes, is Peter. He is looking at her in a new way, "to my great joy." This is a pleasant surprise as she had once believed Peter was in love with Margot. They begin to seek each other out and confide in each other. Peter tells her how he has difficulty expressing himself verbally and used to beat people up when he was angry, rather than arguing. Peter tells her that he will hide his Jewish ancestry when the war is over; his "tinge of honesty" disappoints Anne. She feels that he is insecure and needs affection.

Soon Anne is Anne finding excuses to go upstairs where the Van Daans stay, and crying when she does not get the opportunity to speak to him. She insists that she is not in love, but her mother has been looking at her "queerly" and warns that she must not bother Peter. Still, she goes to the attic where he works nearly every morning. She admits that "I really do hardly anything else but think of Peter," and makes lists of the things they have in common. For her, Peter Van Daan and Peter Wessel "have grown into one Peter, who is beloved and good."

There is another burglary, with complications this time. The intruder had a skeleton key or a duplicate and did not have to force his way inside. Plus, he was scared off when he heard Mr. Van Daan. This is unfortunate for the residents of the annex, because that person may report them. It would be especially unfortunate if the burglar is one of the warehouse workers.

Anne continues to get frustrated with the adults in the annex. She feels as though Peter is the one bright light in her life, and they spend a great deal of time together. She wonders what Peter feels about her and admits that her feelings are growing more serious. The others notice how much time the two of them are spending together, of course. Mrs. Van Daan teases Anne, asking if it's all right to trust the two of them alone together.

March 7 is an important diary entry. Anne summarizes her opinion about her development in the annex from the first days until the present. On the whole, she is quite pleased with herself. She feels as though she has managed to overcome many emotional diffculties to become the young woman she is. She also discusses her sister, Margot, in a new way. Instead of talking about what a good girl she is, she says that Margot lacks the "nonchalance" for deep discussions and takes things too seriously.

Life in the annex continues to be hard. The people who sold them illegal food coupons were caught, so there are no fats in the house and little food besides. The adults are on edge about food and politics. All of their protectors except Mr. Kraler are troubled by illness, and Mr. Kraler was "called up" to go digging. He is later exempted by the court. Still, Anne pines for Peter and wonders if her chatter bothers him. She notes that "the brightest spot of all" is that she can still write down her feelings. She is annoyed that the others in the annex still attempt to restrict her behavior and conduct-- "we are treated as children over outward things, and we are much older than most girls of our age inwardly." When Peter tells her that she is a great help to him, Anne is overcome with joy.

Analysis

In this section of the diary, Anne gets to return, however briefly, to life before going into hiding. She does this via her relationship with Peter. Her love for Peter is innocent and touchingly naive, and it has echoes of her relationship with Harry at the beginning of the book. It is refreshing to experience this relationship with Anne. The reader is reminded that she is, after all, only a teenage girl, with a regular teenage girl's feelings about the opposite sex.

In many ways it appears the relationship is a relief to Anne, as well. She fully admits that she needs affection from a boy at this time of her life, and that is, in large part, why she chooses Peter. While Anne's overwhelming need may lead the reader to believe that she is not really in love with Peter at all, it proves that life in the annex is emotionally harsh and stifling for Anne. She develops feelings for Peter in part because it makes her days more exciting, and helps her forget the pressures of life on a day-to-day basis. This does not make her feelings less valid, it merely points out a major theme of the diary: Anne's loneliness and desperate search for someone in whom she may confide her feelings.

Still, things have changed since 1942, and Anne is very aware of this. On March 7, she summarizes how she has changed up to this point, in her own opinion. This is a crucial entry of the diary and should be read carefully. It shows that Anne is exceptionally self-aware. While things are not as neat as she writes them in her diary--she will grow up a great deal more, even in the next few months--this entry shows how Anne has become reflective and honest with herself since she went into hiding.

Another indication that things have changed since 1942 is Peter and Anne's discussion about being Jewish. This is one of the few entries in the book that discusses Jewish identity. Peter has obviously thought a great deal about what it means for him to be a Jew; he concludes that life would be easier without his Jewishness and plans to conceal his heritage after the war. Anne has obviously never given any thought to this. Although she is like Peter in that her Jewishness does not form a central part of her identity, she would not conceal her heritage. To do so would be dishonest, and she does not want to be dishonest. Anne's sentiment is interesting for a number of reasons. For one, it shows how strong her character is. But it also shows that she has not considered what her life would be without her Jewish heritage--in part because she does not fully understand just how serious it is for her to be Jewish in Europe at this time.

Section Eight: March 20, 1944 through April 25, 1944

Summary:

Anne and Peter continue their close relationship; now Peter comes downstairs to visit Anne as well as she going upstairs to visit him. Anne worries that Margot may be jealous of her relationship with Peter. She and Margot exchange letters talking about their feelings. Margot isn't jealous of Anne's relationship with Peter, but she is jealous that Anne has someone to talk to and she does not. Peter invites Margot upstairs with Anne to join them in their discussions.

Outside, the war continues. A plane crash near their building surprises and frightens everyone. Burglaries and theft are commonplace throughout the city. To her own boredom, Anne includes one whole entry on the subject of politics and talks about the way they all sit around the radio for Sunday evening programming. She notes that "[p]olitics can't do much more harm to the parents!" But she notes with glee that things are going well on the Russian front.

Mrs. Frank forbids Anne to go upstairs so often, claiming that Mrs. Van Daan is jealous. Anne is annoyed and a serious critique of both the mothers follows. Then, on March 29, Anne writes that an exiled Dutch government minister has announced that after the war they ought to make a collection of diaries and letters. Anne is excited at the thought and believes that it would be interesting if she wrote a novel about the secret annex.

Food is short in the annex. They go through "food cycles" where they only eat one type of food--right now they are in the midst of a "bean cycle" and there are no vegetables available. Anne is in the midst of emotional turmoil and describes how she cried a great deal alone one night. She is also concerned about her future. She wants to be a writer and talks about some of the stories she has written. "I want to go on living even after my death!" she exclaims, and thanks God for giving her a literary gift. She also talks about her other hobbies, including history and mythology.

On April 11 another burglary occurs. The men go downstairs to investigate and scare the burglars away by shouting "Police!" but this only draws attention to them. A married couple shine a flashlight into the warehouse and the men run upstairs. For days they all huddle upstairs, waiting for the Gestapo to come and take them away. The adults contemplate destroying evidence such as the radio and Anne's diary. Anne responds with fury at the latter suggestion. She rages out at the situation she and her family have been placed in, demanding "Who has inflicted this upon us! Who has made us Jews different from other people!" Fortunately, Miep and her husband Henk come to visit them before the police come by in response to the burglary. Their kindness inspires Anne; she says that she wants to become a Dutch citizen after the war.

The burglary strains the atmosphere in the annex. The adults are upset. Peter forgets to unbolt the lock on the door to the warehouse, locking the workers out and almost getting them in a tremendous amount of trouble. But Anne is happy because she finally gets a kiss from Peter. Although she knows her family would not approve, she feels that she is mature for her age and can handle his affections. There is more trouble with the warehouse workers downstairs and Dussel refuses to speak to the Van Daans.

Analysis:

The burglary provokes Anne into deep soul-searching. Once again, she confronts the cruelty of the world and the unfairness of prejudice. She does not come up with any answers, but her anger and fear are cathartic. She realizes a number of things about the situation she is in and about what she wants for herself because of it. Her decision to become a Dutch citizen after the war is one of those things. Once again, she acknowledges the hard work and compassion of their Dutch helpers. Her passionate and prophetic treatise on writing is also touching. It was Anne's declaration that she wished to live after her death, as well as her belief that her diary might be interesting to others, that convinced her father to show the diary in this way.

The belief that they are at their last hour draws the annex together, even though the strain afterwards pushes them apart again. Dussel's childish fight with the Van Daans and Anne's continued joy over Peter prove that no one in the annex believes that they do not really feel the threat of death. This is sad, because the threats are coming closer together now and more mistakes are being made (like Peter's). All the same, it shows how the annex residents overcome their fears by concentrating on what is closest to them, and how life continues to be a day-to-day process.

Anne's comments on the war and politics also show how she is being more drawn into the adult world. She claims to detest politics, but faithfully records new war developments in her diary. She begins to understand that what goes on outside has a direct impact on her life. She also contemplates how being Jewish makes a person so different--an important step in her identity formation.

Section Nine: April 27, 1944 through August 1, 1944

Summary:

Anne is reading a number of history books; she discusses them in detail in her diary. She and Peter are more emotionally intimate than ever, but Anne admits with disappointment that she could never marry him; he "hasn't enough character yet." She and Peter agree that she should discuss their relationship with her father. She does, and her father says that it is not a good idea for them to carry on a relationship in the house. Anne, he says, must be the one to show restraint as she is the woman. Meanwhile Dussel has apologized to the Van Daans.

Anne despairs about the war, wondering what the point of it all is. She thinks that "the little man is just as guilty" as the big politicians and businessmen, because "otherwise the peoples of the world would have risen in revolt a long time ago!" Despite her despair, she is confident that the invasion is coming soon. Her father reprimands her for going upstairs too often; in return she writes him a letter. In the letter she explains that she has been tormented by loneliness since she moved into the annex and hinting that he did nothing to help her with her loneliness. They have a long talk and her father is very upset. Anne feels ashamed and vows to improve her character.

Anne tells her diary her parents' biographies. Both Mr. and Mrs. Frank came from rich families and tell grand stories about wealth and privilege. "One could certainly not call us rich now," Anne says, "but all my hopes are pinned on after the war." She then writes again about her desire to be a famous writer and mentions that she wants to publish a book called "The Secret Annex"; she expects her diary to be of great help to her in this regard.

Her father's birthday comes and goes; the Franks have been married nineteen years. On May 20, Mr. Frank loses five bottles of yogurt to Mrs. Van Daan. They had made a bet regarding the date of the invasion. Anne contemplates the differences of Dutch and English responsibilit, and notes with disappointment that anti-Semitism has grown among the Dutch population. She wonders why people feel this way, "is the Jew once again worth less than another?" Their vegetable man is arrested for hiding Jews in his attic, another blow. Fresh fears bloom among the residents. Anne wonders if it would not have been better for all of them to have not gone into hiding, "if we were all dead now and not going through this misery."

On June 6, the D-Day invasion finally comes. This excites everyone and Anne dares to wonder if they might be liberated that year, 1944. Margot says that she and Anne may be able to go back to school in September. Anne records new developments in the invasion with great excitement. Her fifteenth birthday passes, and she is feeling happier. She talks about her relationship with Peter, noting that although they are not like lovers they have a deep emotional bond. She also writes about her love for nature; wondering if she feels the pull of the clouds and the trees so strongly because she cannot go outside.

The invasion goes along well, even though for three weeks the troops have been operating in heavy rains. Anne is concerned about Peter; she believes him "weak" and notes that it is very difficult to be completely in someone's confidence. She then thanks God for her own strength of character, and is grateful that, unlike Peter, she feels religion deeply. July 15 is another important entry; Anne goes in-depth about herself and what she believes. She talks about her parents and admits that she has pushed her father away from her. She also says, that it's "really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and so impossible to carry out." She keeps them, she says, "because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."

The war continues to turn in the Allies' favor. On July 21, Anne writes that an attempt has been made on Hitler's life by a German general. In her last entry, on August 1, Anne talks again about how there are "two Annes," the public Anne and the private Anne. She wonders what she could be like "if...there weren't any other people living in the world."

Analysis

The end of the book is all the more devastating because of the war developments and Anne's optimism. The invasion finally comes, and it is a smashing success. Further evidence that the Germans are losing their hold comes with the assassination attempt. Even the German people, it seems, no longer believe in Hitler's dream.

Anne grows by leaps and bounds during this final section of the book. She develops the ability to see others clearly. Her father, for example, is no longer a man who neglects her emotions. Instead, he is a fully-fleshed man, with weaknesses and strengths, and a fine character. She also scrutinizes Peter anew. No longer is he the sweet boy with whom Anne is hopelessly infatuated. He is weak, lacking energy, and short on character. Anne admits to herself that he is not what she would like him to be. Her love for him cools, especially after she has the argument with her father.

Much comment has been made about the final entries of Anne's diary. Many people champion the sentiments Anne says about believing in man's innate goodness and cherishing her ideals. This is remarkable since Anne was never in a position to have her ideals tested, and it is not until her family is captured that she may really have had the opportunity to question the nature of man. This does not detract from the power of Anne's sentiments, instead it shows how mercifully preserved her innocence was until the unfortunate fact of her capture.

The reason why Anne's diary is still read today is because Anne is fully human--foibles and all. Commenting on the expanded version of Anne's Diary, David B. Green notes that the new version "presents a more cynical and critical Anne, but considering her age and the conditions she was living under, this only makes her more sympathetic." As an example, Anne's comment that her diary could have been called "The Musings of an Ugly Duckling" shows her intelligence, vulnerability, and fragile sense of self--her humanity, after all.

• Biography of Anne Frank
• About The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Full Summary and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of June 12, 1942 to July 8, 1942
• Summary and Analysis of October 1, 1942 to November 28, 1942
• Summary and Analysis of June 15, 1943 to December 6, 1943
• Summary and Analysis of February 13, 1944 to March 19, 1944
• Summary and Analysis of April 27, 1944 to August 1, 1944
• Related Links on The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources
• Purchase The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Other Works
• Test Yourself! Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! Quiz 2
• Message Board on The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank