The Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank

Background

Perhaps the most well known of all personal accounts of the Holocaust, The Diary of Anne Frank was written between 1942 and 1944. Its author started keeping a diary on her thirteenth birthday, beginning each entry "Dear Kitty." After Anne and her family were arrested on August 4, 1944, the books containing the diary were found strewn over the floor by two secretaries working in the building. The secretaries handed the diaries over to Miep Gies, who held them, unread, in a desk drawer. In 1945, Gies was able to hand the diaries over to Anne's father, who had survived the horrors of Auschwitz.

Otto Frank knew of his daughter's wish to publish her diary. Originally, she kept the diary only for herself. But, in 1944, she heard a broadcast by Gerrit Boklestein, a member of the Dutch government in exile, who, in declaring his hope to publish Dutch people's accounts of the war, changed Anne's mind. Otto Frank selected passages from the diary, keeping in mind constraints on length and appropriateness for a young adult audience. He also left out passages that were unflattering to his late wife and the other residents of the annex. When he died in 1980, the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, inherited the copyright to the diary. A new edition, including passages left out of the original edition, was published in 1991.

Summary

Anne's diary begins on her thirteenth birthday and ends shortly after her fifteenth. At the beginning of the book, she writes of her friendships with other girls and her performance at school. She attends the Jewish Lyceum along with her sister, Margot. Her father comes from a wealthy background but his family's fortune was lost after World War I. Just before World War II, the Franks moved to Holland to escape oppression in Germany. However, when, in 1942, the Germans invaded Holland, the family was forced to go into hiding. They, along with another family, moved into a small, secret annex above Otto Frank's office, where they had stockpiled food and supplies. The employees from Otto's firm helped to hide the family and keep them supplied.

Anne has a tumultuous relationship with her mother and does not write much about her sister. Her attention is at first focused on her dealings with Mrs. van Daan, a family friend who also is hiding in the annex. Later, she begins to write more about Albert Dussel, a dentist who joins them in hiding. Before long, she develops a close friendship with Peter van Dussel, the only teenaged boy in the annex, and experiences her first romance. Her father does not approve, and she mentions Peter less in her diary. Her diary ends without comment on August 1.

Anne matures considerably throughout the diary, but her personality is well-formed from the beginning. She is a warm, optimistic, inquisitive, ambitious young girl trapped in a time of death and destruction. Her diary is one of the few accounts of the Holocaust written by young people.

Anne Frank - The author of the diary, Anne, was born in 1929 and went into hiding with her parents and older sister in 1942. She kept a diary until 1944, when she and her family were arrested by the Nazis and transported to Westerbork, a transit camp for Jews. She and her sister were then sent to Auschwitz and later Bergen-Belsen, another concentration camp near Hannover, Germany. She died of typhus in late February or early March of 1945, only weeks before the camp was liberated by British troops on April 12, 1945.

Margot Frank - Anne's sister Margot was born in 1926 in Frankfurt, Germany. She died of typhus a few days before Anne.

Otto Frank - The only member of the annex to survive the war, Otto Frank remained in Auschwitz until it was liberated by Russian troops, and then he repatriated to Holland. He remained in Holland until 1953, when he moved to Basel, Switzerland, to join his sister's family. He married another survivor of Auschwitz and devoted the rest of his life to disseminating Anne's diary. He died in 1980.

Edith Frank - Anne's mother. Anne feels that she has very little in common with her mother, and the two share a very tumultuous relationship. Edith died of hunger and exhaustion in Auschwitz in January 1945.

Mr. van Daan - Hermann van Pels, called van Daan by Anne, was father of the family that hides in the annex along with the Franks. He was gassed to death in 1944 in Auschwitz.

Mrs. van Daan - Auguste van Pels, called Petronella van Daan in Anne's diary, was the mother of Peter and wife of Mr. van Daan. She is a friendly, teasing women, though she often has arguments with other members of the annex. After being discovered in the annex, she was transferred to several different concentration camps; the exact date of her death is not known.

Peter van Daan - The teenage son of the van Daan's, Peter and Anne became close friends. During their time in the annex they also develop a romantic attraction, which Otto frowns upon. Peter is Anne's first kiss. Peter van Pels was forced to participate in the 1945 "death march" from Auschwitz (Poland) to Mauthausen (Austria). He died on May 5, 1945, three days before the camp was liberated.

Albert Dussel - A dentist, Fritz Pfeffer, who came to live in the annex. He was often difficult to deal with, especially for Anne. He died in 1944 at the Neuengamme concentration camp.

Mr. Kugler - Victor Kugler, who helped to hide the Franks, was arrested along with Kleiman in 1944 but escaped in 1945. He immigrated to Canada in 1955 and died in Toronto in 1989. (Mr. Kugler is also referred to as Mr. Kraler.)

Mr. Kleiman - Johannes Kleiman, who helped to hide the Franks, was arrested in 1944 but released because of poor health. He remained in Amsterdam until his death in 1959. (Mr. Kleiman is also referred to as Mr. Koophuis.)

Bep Voskuijl - Elizabeth Voskuijl worked in Otto's office and helped the family by serving as a liaison to the outside world. She remained in Amsterdam until her death in 1983.

Mr. Voskuijl - Bep's father

Miep Gies - A secretary at Otto's office, she also helped to hide the family. After the Franks were arrested she stowed the diary away in a desk drawer and kept it there, unread, until Otto's return in 1945. She is still living in Amsterdam.

Jan Gies - Miep's husband. He died in 1993.

Hanneli - Anne's school friend. She was arrested by the Nazis early in the war.