Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl

Het Achterhuis

Anne Frank's extraordinary diary, written in the Amsterdam attic where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years, has become a world classic and a timeless testament to the human spirit. Now, in a new edition enriched by many passages originally withheld by her father, we meet an Anne more real, more human, and more vital than ever. Here she is first and foremost a teenage girl—stubbornly honest, touchingly vulnerable, in love with life. She imparts her deeply secret world of soul-searching and hungering for affection, rebellious clashes with her mother, romance and newly discovered sexuality, and wry, candid observations of her companions. Facing hunger, fear of discovery and death, and the petty frustrations of such confined quarters, Anne writes with adult wisdom and views beyond her years. Her story is that of every teenager, lived out in conditions few teenagers have ever known.

Zach Garcia

beauty remains, even in misfortune. If you just look for it, you discover more and more happiness and regain your balance. A person who's happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery!

Thinking about the suffering of those you hold dear can reduce you to tears; in fact, you could spend the whole day crying. The most you can do is pray for God to perform a miracle and save at least some of them. And I hope I'm doing enough of that!

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.

Why do people have so little trust in one another? I know there must be a reason, but sometimes I think it's horrible that you can't ever confide in anyone, not even those closest to you.

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!

I don't believe the war is simply the work of politicians and capitalists. Oh no, the common man is every bit as guilty; otherwise, people and nations would have rebelled long ago! There's a destructive urge in people, the urge to rage, murder and kill. And until all of humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis, wars will continue to be waged, and everything that has been carefully built up, cultivated and grown will be cut down and destroyed, only to start all over again!

I've asked myself again and again whether it wouldn't have been better if we hadn't gone into hiding, if we were dead now and didn't have to go through this misery, especially so that the others could be spared the burden. But we all shrink from this thought. We still love life, we haven't yet forgotten the voice of nature, and we keep hoping, hoping for. . . everything.

The world's been turned upside down. The most decent people are being sent to concentration camps, prisons and lonely cells, while the lowest of the low rule over young and old, rich and poor. One gets caught for black marketeering, another for hiding Jews or other unfortunate souls. Unless you're a Nazi, you don't know what's going to happen to you from one day to the next.

Rose Donovan

I want to go on living even after my death.

Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me... because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen year old schoolgirl

Livaa

“Paper has more patience than people.”

clara

I'm what a romantic movie is to a profound thinker- a mere diversion, a comic interlude, something that is soon forgotten: not bad, but not particularly good either.

"Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old."  … It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.

"Every child has to raise itself." Parents can only advise their children or point them in the right direction. Ultimately, people shape their own characters.

We're all alive, but we don't know why or what for; we're all searching for happiness; we're all leading lives that are different and yet the same.

Oh, it's so hard, the eternal struggle between heart and mind. There's a time and a place for both, but how can I be sure that I've chosen the right time? 

An empty day, though clear and bright, Is just as dark as any night.

It's also easier to whisper your feelings than to shout them from the rooftops.

On the contrary, beauty remains, even in misfortune. If you just look for it, you discover more and more happiness and regain your balance.

Whenever you're feeling lonely or sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking outside. Not at the houses and the rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that you're pure within and will find happiness once more.

I've learned one thing: you only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character.

They’re so sentimental together, but I'd rather be sentimental on my own.

Just no. I couldn't. Even my teacher hated that we had to read it.

Katherine Jaenn

The book made it painfully clear that family structures, as we typically understand them, often broke down under the extreme pressure of survival—sanity and relationships deteriorated quickly. I wasn’t surprised by behaviors like hiding food or secretly keeping money; in situations where group cooperation was vital, selfishness often took over as a survival instinct. That said, my rating is based purely on how engaging I found the reading experience and the format of the book itself. It has nothing to do with my deep respect for the subject matter or the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust.

Liana

The Dairy of a Young Girl

Kristel Villarreal Saldua

First off, I must say that Anne was smart and an excellent writer. Yes, she did make mistakes but I'm still surprised what I was reading came from a mind of a young teen. In her diary she mentioned how she wanted to be a journalist and a writer, which makes her well known fate even more tragic. If she did survive, I'm sure she would have become a successful writer and that she would have published countless of books. We would probably even be reading the book which she was planning to publish "The secret annex" instead of her diary!

As for the book itself, it's more about what daily life had been in the secret annex. You'll be able to experience the terrible and terrifying times that people like Anne had to endure in this book. It also reminds us that they were also just ordinary people who also had dreams, emotions, and beliefs. This book sheds light on how humanity can truly be evil and disturbed.

The book isn't only about the dreams, thoughts, and fears that a young innocent girl once had... It's also about the lives of millions of people who met the same fate as hers. It's a book that reminds it's readers about a tragic event in history, an event which humanity should never ever forget. 

Everyone at least once in their life should give this book a read. You won't regret it!

First off, I must say that Anne was smart and an excellent writer. Yes, she did make mistakes but I'm still surprised what I was reading came from a mind of a young teen. In her diary she mentioned how she wanted to be a journalist and a writer, which makes her well known fate even more tragic. If she did survive, I'm sure she would have become a successful writer and that she would have published countless of books. We would probably even be reading the book which she was planning to publish "The secret annex" instead of her diary!

As for the book itself, it's more about what daily life had been in the secret annex. You'll be able to experience the terrible and terrifying times that people like Anne had to endure in this book. It also reminds us that they were also just ordinary people who also had dreams, emotions, and beliefs. This book sheds light on how humanity can truly be evil and disturbed.

The book isn't only about the dreams, thoughts, and fears that a young innocent girl once had... It's also about the lives of millions of people who met the same fate as hers. It's a book that reminds it's readers about a tragic event in history, an event which humanity should never ever forget. 

Everyone at least once in their life should give this book a read. You won't regret it!

anjali

Nothing I ever write will ever do this book justice. Nothing.

This book is magnificence.

The diary of a young girl

Ryan Mateyk

I don't know why I held off reading this so long. Anne Frank was a very talented writer. I was blown away that what I was reading was written by a 14 year old. The content wasn't quite what I expected; less war commentary, more recounting daily life in the Annex and all of her inner contemplations and conflicts. I loved it and would definitely recommend.

Arihant Verma

I read a lot about Julian Assange lately, with the US presidential elections, and the continuous streak of leaks happening. He has been living in one room, alone for over four years. Anne, her family and others had been living in hiding in one secret Annex for over a couple of years. Anne, a 13/14/15 year old girl penned down many things that she could. Her frustration about being treated as a child, her not getting along with everybody including her mother, her repeated stressing upon the fact that she wanted to become a journalist, and not in a whole wide world, could she imagine herself being just a mere housewife, after the influence of other women in the hiding, including her mother and Mrs. Van Dan. 

Reading the book was very tiresome for me, I couldn't read it continuously, I had to break it down over many days. It is a diary after all, mostly never written to be read. On some pages, due to lack of new things happening, Anne would repeat the same thing over and over, and sometimes toggle between two completely different opinions, or struggle in choosing one and ending up instead, questioning what was right or wrong. This was wearying, but interesting as well. 

One thing I could observe in reading her diary was that, being alone gave her time to think about things, that she couldn't have thought outside in the free world. At page 269 of my book she wrote 


How noble and good everyone could be if, at the end of each day, they were to review their own behaviour and weigh up the rights and wrongs. They would automatically try to do better at the start of each new day and, after a while, would certainly accomplish a great deal.


She testifies doing this in her last entry when she distinguishes Anne as being an inner Anne and an outer Anne, and how she'd always have immediate feedback check after something she'd have said with a You shouldn't have said that or That's right, go with it.

It was so hard for her to not be able to find at least one person to talk her heart out to, even though Peter was someone whom she shared many things with. Towards the end, she confesses that she isn't able to say / write things exactly how she feels. There has always been conflict in how she knows she's more mature than her age, and how she's always treated as a blabbering, arrogant, flirtatious, joke making child. 

Anne from the start, keeps mentioning her surprise over how women have so easily succumbed to men's wants and demands. If she'd have lived, she'd have made a wonderful statement through her work as a journalist writer perhaps, as she originally intended.

Over the journey of having feelings for the only boy of age in the hiding, doubting his shying and tacit, but loveable, adorable behaviour, reading so many books and languages, despising so many things still having faith in everything turning right in the end, and everyone ultimately being good at heart, the gnawing period of Nazi cruelty against Jews, the air raids, and the burglaries and constant fear of being found out, the fights over less food, the monotonous menu for suppers, breakfasts, lunches, not being able to bathe or go to the bathroom due to the fear of outside people getting a hunch of what was going on, a go read a book (read life).

Taught me a lot, especially the blockquote that I mentioned from the book above.

maitha mana

'Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old."

Vicky  Nuñez 

The Diary of a Young Girl is a poignant narration of the hiding of Jews in a secret Annex for two years during World War II, told through the words of a young teenager.
You know how the story will end but you are captivated by her words and her mind. 
It felt voyeuristic at times, but it is an important reminder of our past mistakes.

𓆨

Devastating, going to Amsterdam in two days to remember everyone 

Katie Roberts

ahmed

The importance of such a diary is undisputed.
The importance lies not in the literature work but in the record itself, the capture of of daily life events of this young girl in such time.

Thirteen-year-old Anne Frank, with her parents and sister and four other people, went into hiding in the sealed-off back rooms of an Amsterdam office building in 1942, when the Nazi invaders intensified their persecution of Jews.

For two years they remained safe. In August 1944 they were betrayed, Anne died in the ghastly concentration camp at Belsen. All the others perished too, except her father. 

Anne's astonishingly intimate diary was found by accident. With a touch of genius it records the strains of her unusual life, the problems of her unfolding womanhood, her falling in love, her unswerving faith in her religion. And it reveals the shining nobility of her spirit.

Now known and loved the world over through State, Screen and TV adaptations or in translation, this touchingly human document remains timeless in its appeal.
--back cover

The Diary of Anne Frank

hileahrious

Jenna Sun

i must find and read the scholarly edition

Sara

so good, please read. kinda sad too with how it ended and all. my brain hurts, ciao

Oh my god. So hard to read, I can't imagine living like that I can't picture being with 7 other people in a small place for over 2 years just to get caught right before it all ends. 

Tuesday, 7 March 1944: This entry hit hard her talking about her journey and how she can find happiness in it and look for the beauty in life and nature.

Oh my god. So hard to read, I can't imagine living like that I can't picture being with 7 other people in a small place for over 2 years just to get caught right before it all ends. 

Tuesday, 7 March 1944: This entry hit hard her talking about her journey and how she can find happiness in it and look for the beauty in life and nature.

El diario de Ana Frank

Tania

Diary Of A Young Girl

Ayesha ahmed

First of all: I would have rated this book a five star only because the writer was 13, which is something I could not believe because her feelings and words are too intense for someone that young, but we live in a different age so... 
It's basically a diary of a teenager who lived during the holocaust. If teenagers today read this book they would learn much more than what they're learning in schools; as it is very informative and educational. It not only is tragic; but funny too, which makes it even more interesting although throughout the book I had the urge to finish it already, which finalized my decision of not giving it a full rating.

Jonathan Tysick

** spoiler alert **
           Very much the diary of a teenage girl (internal identity issues, puberty, romance, troubles with her mother, etc), which makes the holocaust and WW2 era come hauntingly to life. It's so fulfilling to watch Anne grow as a person from ages 13 to 15, and also incredibly heartbreaking to know how the story ends. Profound, funny, and poignant.

Dagboek van een joods meisje, dat in de Tweede Wereldoorlog met haar ouders, zusje en anderen ondergedoken is in een achterhuis op een der Amsterdamse grachten. Zij spreekt zich met grote openhartigheid uit over alles wat haar van haar 13e tot haar 15e jaar bezighoudt.

dagboekbrieven 12 juni 1942 - 1 augustus 1944

Het achterhuis

It was a good book, sometimes a little much of the same thing but overall really good.

Femke

dagboekbrieven 12 juni 1942-1 augustus 1944

Bouke van der Bijl

Required reading. The despair you feel as you read the happy parts of her diary, while knowing her imminent demise, is hard to describe.

Lacy W

How does one even begin to write a review on something such as this? This is someone's personal diary. You can't judge someone for bad sentence structure or poor choice of words or lack of dialogue. I've seen some negative reviews about this book and I can't help but want to ask them if they even read the book. 

My heart absolutely bleeds for Anne Frank. She has so much potential. It was obvious to me how bright and intelligent she was, even with her flaws. I think, had she lived, she clearly would have made something of herself. Perhaps we would be reading her books instead of her diary. 

It just floors me that the Holocaust even happened. I mean, how could someone, just one human, cause such a mass amount of murder? How in the world could that one person even talked people into doing such terrible things to their own countryman and countrywomen? As a psychology major, I try and understand people and try to understand how they work and what makes them tick. I don't think I even want to understand how Hitler's mind works. I think I would be frightened of what I would find.

As I type this, I can't help but think we are in the midst of something similar to the Holocaust. Of course, people aren't being executed. I mean the beginnings of what led to the Holocaust. But I think of Trump and his Muslim travel ban and I can't help but draw similarities. As someone who has studied the Holocaust (but am in no way, a pro) and what led up to it, I see a lot of the same things. To give one example, Trump uses fear, like Hitler did, to do what he wants and gets away with it. 

Okay enough about Trump because otherwise we would literally be here all day. I just want to make a few more points about this book before I wrap it up. 

I admire Anne's courage. The fact that she was able to hide for 25 months and be in somewhat good spirits is amazing. I don't think I would have been able to last even a month. The potential fear of getting caught would drive me to craziness. She took in all in stride and that is extremely admirable. 

I felt so much pity for her. What was supposed to be the best years of her life were spent in hiding. I couldn't help but feel bad for her when she chastised herself for wanting to go outside and be with friends while millions of Jews were being rounded up daily. I wanted to reach through the book and tell her she had every right to feel that way. You can't expect a teenager to not want these things. 

My last point I wanted to make is that she was so close to being liberated. I'm talking less than two months and she died. She could have made it had the Allies come just a little bit earlier. Every time I think about this, I can't help but almost cry. Two months! 

This book has revitalized my love of learning about World War II. Be on the lookout out for more of these books because after I finish my huge amount of books, I will be checking out a lot of WWII books.

Anum Memon

I devoured this book. It made mad giddy, furious, and sorrowful at different times in the novel. I read this in one sitting and the ending made my eyes bawl. I really love this novel and I think you should read it to.

The Diary of a Young Girl

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