This, as the name suggests, is the diary of a girl called Anne Frank who lived during the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War. It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of it but just in case, Anne Frank is a teenage Jewish girl and her family have emigrated to the Netherlands from Germany to escape the Nazi regime there. But when the Netherlands are invaded the Frank family along with some other Jews go into hiding in what was known as the Secret Annexe. Sadly Anne Frank and her family and fellow hiding Jews are discovered, probably betrayed, and Anne Frank doesn’t survive the concentration camp that she is sent to.
The reason I picked it up this year was because it was one of those books that I tried to read as a child and failed. It’s been so long since those attempts that I didn’t have any memory of what I was reading so it all came to me as new. Having now finished it, it has gone on my list of books that should be read by everyone. It’s important, just as Gulag Archipelago is important, but maybe in a different way. This is just one story but there must be thousands of others like it and they must be told and not forgotten. And if Anne Frank’s father had not survived this story too may have been forgotten.
I was really struck by how an ordinary life can be so quickly turned upside down. The start of her diary describes ordinary teenage stuff, school, friends, boys etc. But then it all comes to a sudden end and her existence is restricted to her hiding place and the kindness of others. You get a real feel for the tedious nature of their concealment but also their fear of discovery. And even though she gets used to this existence that too comes to a sudden halt when they are discovered.
I would more than recommend this book if you haven’t read it before. And have tissues on hand because the story is real and it is heartbreaking. Also to say it’s written by a teenage girl it’s remarkably well written, what books might Anne Frank have written had she survived?
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