kev67
08-26-2013, 07:49 PM
written by Anne Frank, possibly the most famous diaryist of all time. Maybe Pepys is more famous but I can't think of too many others. It's probably the most remarkable book I have ever read, but it was hardly a book I enjoyed reading. I found it a hard read, because, obviously, everyone knows what happened to her. Reading the book is a bit like opening the lid on a fourteen-year-old girl's brain. She has a lot of teenage girl complexes and it was not always very pleasant to read. She is quite prickly. When she is not criticizing the people she lives with, her views on other subjects seemed more mature. Anne and her family, another family and a middle-aged man were all hiding in a secret annex next to a warehouse. It sounded very claustrophobic and frightening. Nevertheless the teenagers continued with their studies in preparation for the end of the war. For a while, Anne falls passionately for the son of the other family, which takes her mind off her other problems.
I often wondered how they managed to eke out their money to buy food. They were helped by a team of Dutch people, who brought them food, books and other supplies. I had heard that someone eventually betrayed them, but it seems to me that quite a few people may have suspected there were people hiding there but kept quiet. The warehouse was broken into several times, so possibly it was a criminal who betrayed them I think one of their helpers was arrested for sheltering another family. Maybe the Gestapo got to him or followed him.
There were some other surprises. Anne often comments on how the war is progressing. They all listened to the BBC news reports on the radio. I was not aware that Jews knew they were being sent to death camps. Obviously they knew they were being rounded up by the Nazis, but not that they might be gassed. I also was not aware that the allies bombed Dutch cities. It was very sad that it took so long to get the invasion under way. They were still in hiding at D-Day, but were arrested shortly after. That must have been a tryly terrifying experience. Anne and her sister died of typhus in Bergen Belsen two or three months before it was liberated. Peter, the son of the other family died only three days before his camp was liberated. The only one to survive was Anne's father Otto.
I often wondered how they managed to eke out their money to buy food. They were helped by a team of Dutch people, who brought them food, books and other supplies. I had heard that someone eventually betrayed them, but it seems to me that quite a few people may have suspected there were people hiding there but kept quiet. The warehouse was broken into several times, so possibly it was a criminal who betrayed them I think one of their helpers was arrested for sheltering another family. Maybe the Gestapo got to him or followed him.
There were some other surprises. Anne often comments on how the war is progressing. They all listened to the BBC news reports on the radio. I was not aware that Jews knew they were being sent to death camps. Obviously they knew they were being rounded up by the Nazis, but not that they might be gassed. I also was not aware that the allies bombed Dutch cities. It was very sad that it took so long to get the invasion under way. They were still in hiding at D-Day, but were arrested shortly after. That must have been a tryly terrifying experience. Anne and her sister died of typhus in Bergen Belsen two or three months before it was liberated. Peter, the son of the other family died only three days before his camp was liberated. The only one to survive was Anne's father Otto.