Anne Frank's Diary: Difficult Fate of The 13th Girl

It was composed by then-teen Anne Frank from 1942 to August 1, 1944. This could be a diary written by any 13-year-old girl in the present day, with all the concerns and concerns of a young girl, if ever. She was not living precisely in one of the most difficult contexts in human history, World War II.

The Impact of War on a Young Girl's Life

She was only 13 years old and suddenly saw her existence undergo a radical transformation. Suddenly Anne was living with her family and other fellow Jews, hidden in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at the time this country was invaded by the German Nazis.

A Glimpse into Daily Life as Refugees

In simple words and easy to understand, the girl tells the routine of this small community during the time that its members remained refugees in the basement of the office where her father worked, where the group goes to learn the destiny that would be reserved for them if they were captured by the forces of Germany.

The Bonds of Friendship and Family

In this basement are sheltered the family of Anne, the teenager, the parents and the sister, and the one of Lord Van Daan, he, the wife and the son Peter, that becomes the best friend of the girl, and for which she is enchanted. Anne records the experience of these people under the constant threat of death and her personal insight into this terrible war confrontation.

The Birth of an Important Legacy

Anne has the idea of writing a diary that could actually be published after listening to a radio broadcast that encouraged people to document war-related events, as this material would in the future have a high significance. She inscribes in her writings everything that goes on in the daily life of the fugitives, including her notorious fondness for her father, whom she considered loving and noble, unlike her mother, with whom the girl was always confronted.

The Tragic End and Its Aftermath

After difficult times, Gestapo officials discover the hideout on August 4, 1944, arrest the refugees and take them to various concentration camps. That same day the father, Otto Heinrich Frank, receives the diary of the daughter and, as it is the only remnant of the period spent like a prisoner, fights for the publication of his texts, finally realizing the dream of Anne. With the help of writer Mirjam Pressler, he achieves his goal and launches the diary in 1947.

Censorship and Publication History

In the first version, many passages were censured by his own father, who was aware of how controversial it would be at this time to disclose the conflicts between mother and daughter, as well as to reveal aspects of Anne's emerging sexuality. In a later edition, the diary was published in full.

Anne died in the concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen at the end of February 1945. The original journal is preserved at the Dutch Institute for War Documentation. The copyright to Anne's work is reserved to the Anne Frank Fund, located in Switzerland since Otto Frank died in 1980.