The diary of Anna Frank is one of the most shocking testimonies about anti-Semitism during the II. World War. A little girl Anna Frank received a diary on her 13. birthday and from the twelfth of June, 1942 until the first of August, 1944 she wrote down all of her experiences. Her diary, after being published, was used as a base for many plays and movies.
Anna Frank was a happy and chatty girl that celebrated her thirteenth birthday on June the twelfth, 1942. As a gift she got a diary and there begins the story that shocked the world. She decided to write down her thoughts and feeling in the diary because she did not have a true friend to share them with.
Even though she has a 3 years older sister, parents and relatives, she sometimes feels lonely because nobody understands her and also her mother behaves as if she were her and her sisters Margot friend. Despite the fact that people constantly surrounded her, she never managed to make a deeper connection with anyone. In 1933 they moved to Netherlands where her father got a job.
All of the relatives who left Germany behind felt the rage of anti-Semitism. After 1940 the war gets to the family Frank and all of the other Jews who were standing on Hitlers way. The Jews became second-class citizens by virtue of many laws that stripped them off their rights. They were allowed to shop in specific shops in a specific time and they could not visit public places like cinemas and theatres. They were ordered to be home at 8 and they had to wear The Star of David on their clothes.
The ninth of July, 1942 was the day when Annas family had to hide in order to protect themselves from being taken to the camps were Jews ended up during the World War II. The people who worked with her father helped them find a shelter in a building where they worked and since that day on Anna named her new home ‘'The secret shelter''.
That same year on 13 August, the family van Daan joined the Franks because they also had no place to go and was in need of a shelter for a while. Their only son Peter came with them and at the beginning Anna did not have a particularly high opinion about him.
The arrival of the new family seemed like a good idea for a while. They spent time together and ate together like a big happy family. However, the life of many people in a small place led to conflicts and tension. Everything got worse with time and caused irritability between people who couldn't afford the luxury of getting away from each other for a moment. The tension grew between Anna and mister van Daana, Anna and her mom, Miss van Daan and Annas mom.
There was a lot of time and little space. Anna and Peter kept on educating themselves and spent time learning English and French. Mister Koophius who was an associate of her father, secretly brought them book from the library. He did not only get them books for children so Peter got into a fight with his father over an inappropriate book. Anna loved history and mythology so her father started making a family tree with her and she enjoyed it thoroughly.
While the Franks and van Daans are hidden in the shelter terrible things happen on the streets. Trucks come and take a significant amount of people to camps. The streets are dangerous for the Jews and camps are terrible places from where they might never come back.
The 17 of November brings the eight tenant. It was Mister Albert Dussel and he was a dentist. He seemed like a nice, older gentleman and it was decided that he will be sleeping in Annas room. As time passed by Anna started noticing that he wasn't as nice as he seemed and he was annoyed by Anna who always spoke her mind. They got into a fight over a desk in the room that Anna wanted to use two times a week for a few hours. At the end, she had to ask her father for help and he took her side.
The space was limited and there were many people so they had to set up some rules before things get out of hand. Bedtime was at 10, and waking up was at 7:30 except during the holidays and on Sunday when they woke up at 10:30. Silence was crucial because any noise could expose them to the outer world so they had to talk quietly.
The radio was available for listening only after 6 p.m. and they listened to everything except German radio stations. They didn't have a specified dinner time because it all depended on the news. Bathing was also restricted and they only showered on Sunday morning. Life was hard and determined strictly by rules.
The situation got worse and worse, people got restless and disorders broke out. Robberies became a part of the everyday life and there was even an attempt of a break-into the building where they were hiding. Everyone was terrified. If the police came into the building, there was a great chance that they'll discover them and take them to camps.
Anna stopped talking around the table because it was better for her but she still felt the need to have a real friend to share her secrets with. She found that person in Peter. The more time they spent together the bigger her opinion about him got. She wrote down in her diary that she was afraid of boring him out but what was really happening was the exact opposite. Peter loved her and a young love was born. Neither of them was sure of his emotions but they were sure it wasn't friendship anymore.
Annas diary ends with the first of August, 1944 when she sends a letter to Kitty. She writes about her contradictory nature and a happy, chatty and cheerful girl. She emphasise that there is a different and better Anna that almost nobody knows and that is why everyone finds her way more unbearable than she really is.
The fourth of August was the day the police arrested the inhabitants of the shelter, including some of her fathers co-workers who helped, them and took them to concentration camps. Anna died in one of them of typhus in 1945.
Genre: diary
Time and place: Netherlands, Twelfth of June, 1942. - First of August, 1944
Characters: Anna, Peter, Annas parents, Mister and Miss van Daane, Albert Dussel
Author: Anne Frank biography
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