Anne frank–The Diary of a Young Girl.

This is a book review of “The Diary of a young girl” by Anne Frank. Recently I had the opportunity to read the diary that she kept while she was hiding, in secret rooms for more than 2 years, during World War II. She entered the Annex when she was 13 and continued to write in her diary about their life in hiding during the Holocaust.

At first I thought I would not be able to relate to the stories of a 13-year old but I was so wrong. Anne was very mature for her age and I learnt a lot from her.

Who was Anne Frank?

Anne Frank was born on 12 June 1929. She was the youngest daughter of German-Jewish parents who were forced to leave Germany and settle in Amsterdam, Holland. She and her family went into hiding at the beginning of World War II, in annex rooms, that were above her father`s office. They shared it with another family of three and another man.

Anne Frank Diary entries

Anne wanted to be a writer. She entrusted her friend Kitty, with her innermost secrets and was quoted saying that:

 “Paper has more patience than people.”

She wrote about her love for writing, her troubled relationship with her mother, how she adored her father and the day-to-day life in the secret annex. Mostly she wrote about her dreams, fears and how the war was affecting her.

When Anne and her family went into hiding they took whatever they could carry. It wasn`t much but nobody knew how long the war would last. Nobody suspected it would last so long. Anne wrote about her clothes getting too tight. too short and that shoes didn’t fit. But as the time went by she realized that:

“Memories mean more to me than dresses.”

She battled to relate with her mother. Throughout the diary you can see that she didn’t bond with her mom. Anne felt that her Mom was too harsh and made fun of her. It bothered her a lot and she wrote frankly about the fact that she doesn’t love her mother.

Taken into account that Anne was at this stage a typical teenager and many teenage girls have strained relationships with their mothers. I am sure given an opportunity, Anne would have changed her opinion. Anne`s mom died of starvation in the concentration camp, smuggling food to her daughters, Margot and Anne.

“The whole time I’ve been here I’ve longed unconsciously and at times consciously for trust, love and physical affection. This longing may change in intensity, but it’s always there.”

The young Anne Frank spoke a lot about the strained relationships in the house. Living with other people wasn’t easy. Each one had their own opinion and Anne often felt that nobody understood her or that she wasn’t allowed to have an opinion. This upset her a great deal. She was always in trouble. Either she was too quiet, too outspoken, too load or too rude.

She poured her heart and soul into writing and studying.

“This week I’ve been reading a lot and doing little work. That’s the way things ought to be. That’s surely the road to success.”

She read a great deal about many subjects. She loved collecting clips about the Royal families and Movie Stars. She also had a love for Greek Mythology.

As time went by Anne was battling in hiding. She suffered from depression and cried herself to sleep many nights. It is understandable. She was a teenage girl that was cooped up in small rooms and was dying to be outside with her friends, laughing and being in nature. It was quite evident from the diary that Anne wanted to be outside and in nature. She made many references about it:

Let me out, where there’s fresh air and laughter! a voice within me cries.

I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer.

The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity.

When Anne fell in love with the son of the other family, Peter, she rebelled against her beloved father. It was after a long talk with her dad that she wrote in her diary:

“Sometimes I think God is trying to test me, both now and in the future. I’ll have to become a good person on my own, without anyone to serve as a model or advise me, but it’ll make me stronger in the end.

She was appaled by her own behavior and  concluded that she was wrong and spoilt. However she always maintained that she didn’t`t love her mother.

Anne often spoke about fear especially when the sirens went off for the air-raids and she was trembling in her boots. Every time she believed she would die. The fear was even bigger when people fiddled with the bookcase that was blocking the entrance to the secret annex.

Now that I’ve been spared, my first wish after the war is to become a Dutch citizen. I love the Dutch, I love this country, I love the language, and I want to work here.

If God lets me live, I’ll achieve more than Mother ever did, I’ll make my voice heard, I’ll go out into the world and work for mankind!

The war dragged on and many Dutch people, that were starving, started to hate the Jews. Many people, like the ones who helped Anne and her family, were sympathetic towards them. Not only did the Jews suffer but also Christians. The atmosphere in the Annex was grim and they started to lose hope if the war will ever finish. She formed her own political opinion and often referred to the war and it`s destructiveness.

anne frank quotes from her diary

“There’s a destructive urge in people, the urge to rage, murder and kill.”

anne frank inspirational quotes

“I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death!”

“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.”

anne frank biography summary

This is the last entry in the diary of Anne Frank before they were discovered in the secret rooms and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp were Ann died at the end of February or early March 1945 .

“Oh, Kit, it’s such lovely weather. If only I could go outside!”

anne frank diary facts

Anne`s father, Otto Frank, was the only person from the annex that survived. He dedicated his life after the war to promote Anne`s work and to tell her story. There are a couple of versions of her diary. Frank decided to cut the parts where she spoke about her mother and where she discovered her own sexuality. After his death, the unedited diary was published. This review is based on the unedited version of “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank.