The Diary of a Young Girl summary

The Franks were not alone in the Secret Annex. A week after moving in, they were joined by the van Daans, as they’re called in the diary. (Anne used pseudonyms.) This family had three members: Mr. and Mrs. van Daan, and their teenage son, Peter. Mr. van Daan was a colleague of Otto Frank, Anne’s father. 

A few select people at Opekta knew about the annex and its occupants, including Mr. Kleiman and Mr. Kugler, who ran the business, and two secretaries, Hermine and Elizabeth. Anne calls them Miep and Bep. These people would regularly check in with the Franks and van Daans; they were the families’ only connection to the outside world, bringing in food, books, and other supplies.

There was, of course, little privacy in the annex. Really, the best one could hope for was a stolen moment in the lavatory. Anne’s time spent writing in her diary was often a moment of solitude and peace of mind. Many of her entries speak to the challenges everyone faced by having to spend so much time together.

On July 12, a month after Anne’s birthday, she wrote about how she felt a distance growing between her and her mother and sister. She described her beloved father as the only one who understood her at all. With the others, she felt like she didn’t fit in; they were always picking on her, underestimating her, and treating her unfairly.

Living in close quarters with the same people, day after day, comes with unavoidable tensions. But there were other daily factors that could make life even more anxious and uncertain. Food and health, in particular, were two constant concerns over which the families had little control.

Early on, in late October 1942, Anne’s father came down with what appeared to be measles. This brought into renewed focus the precariousness of their situation. There was no doctor they could go to. Anne could only hope that her mother’s remedy – helping her father sweat it out – would do the trick. Coughs, colds, measles, influenza. As time went on, illness of any kind was cause for real concern. Medicines like aspirin, codeine, and valerian drops were precious commodities.

In November, after a few months in the Secret Annex, everyone agreed that there was room for one more person. There were, God knew, countless people in desperate need of refuge. So the van Daans and the Franks put their heads together to determine who that person should be.

After some deliberation, it was decided that the opportunity be given to Albert Dussel, a dentist. He was quiet and pleasant – the kind of man who would fit in with the rest of the residents. Margot moved upstairs, out of the room she'd shared with Anne, and onto a foldout bed. Mr. Dussel would be taking her place.

The annex residents lived with two constant fears. The first was making too much noise during the day and having one of the warehouse workers hear something and get curious. The second was burglars.

As the war dragged on, the city of Amsterdam became the site of more and more break-ins. People were afraid to leave their houses since it was becoming increasingly possible that your belongings might not be there when you got back. Of course, a business like Opetka, with its offices and warehouse sitting quietly apart from any residential buildings, was a target for more than one break-in.

When reading through the numerous beautifully written and empathetic diary entries, it’s impossible not to see that Anne was maturing rapidly in the Secret Annex. This maturity goes beyond the fact that she got her first period while in hiding. As her writing attests, she was constantly reflecting on her character and striving to adopt a more thoughtful and considerate approach to life, even under the extraordinary circumstances she found herself in.

During the winter of 1943 and into 1944, she was even becoming more understanding toward Mrs. van Daan and her own parents. Maybe, if you were not unreasonable and showed a little patience, Mrs. van Daan wasn’t so hard to come to terms with. And even though Anne struggled to see her mother as the role model she wanted her to be, she learned to be less negative and more appreciative of everything her parents had tried to provide her with. Indeed, she began to see her own behavior as part of the problem in her strained relationship with her mother.

Along with her creative writing and her regular diary entries, Anne still kept up with her studies during her time in the Secret Annex. This included learning French and English and the dreaded subject of algebra. She loved reading about history most of all and was fascinated with genealogical charts. She even read a massive 598-page book on Charles V, alongside a 320-page book on Galileo. But what she really longed for was to go back to school.

On June 6, 1944, that glorious prospect seemed closer than ever. On the radio, a voice announced, “This is D-Day.” The invasion of the Allied forces had finally begun. After two long years in hiding, it was a day everyone had been waiting for. 

Miep Gies went up to the annex immediately after everyone was taken away and managed to salvage some items, including Anne’s diary. She hoped to return it to Anne once the war was over.

The eight members of the Secret Annex were first taken to a prison in Amsterdam before being sent to a transit camp in Westerbrook, in the northern Netherlands. On September 3, 1944, they were placed on a train to Auschwitz. It was the last transport to leave Westerbrook.