26.03.2013 Views

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL : THE DEFINITIVE EDITION ... - Fidele

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL : THE DEFINITIVE EDITION ... - Fidele

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL : THE DEFINITIVE EDITION ... - Fidele

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

efforts? Ingratitude and rude remarks. I'm always the black sheep; I get blamed<br />

for everything. What's more, it's my opinion that the war is making very little<br />

progress. The Germans will win in the end. I'm terrified that we're going to<br />

starve, and when I'm in a bad mood, I snap at everyone who comes near."<br />

Mr. van Daan: "I just smoke and smoke and smoke. Then the food, the political<br />

situation and Kerli's moods don't seem so bad. Kerli's a sweetheart. If I don't<br />

have anything to smoke, I get sick, then I need to eat meat, life becomes<br />

unbearable, nothing's good enough, and there's bound to be a flaming row. My<br />

Kerli's an idiot."<br />

Mrs. Frank: "Food's not very important, but I'd love a slice of rye bread right<br />

now, because I'm so hungry. If I were Mrs. van Daan, I'd have put a stop to Mr.<br />

van Daan's smoking long ago. But I desperately need a cigarette now, because my<br />

head's in such a whirl. The van Daans are horrible people; the English may make a<br />

lot of mistakes, but the war is progressing. I should keep my mouth shut and be<br />

grateful I'm not in Poland."<br />

Mr. Frank: "Everything's fine, I don't need a thing. Stay calm, we've got plenty<br />

of time. Just give me my potatoes, and I'll be quiet. Better set aside some of my<br />

rations for Bep. The political situation is improving, I'm extremely optimistic."<br />

Mr. Dussel: "I must complete the task I've set for myself, everything must be<br />

finished on time. The political situation is looking 'gut,' it's 'eempossible' for<br />

us to get caught. Me, me, me . . . ."<br />

Yours, Anne<br />

THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1944<br />

Dearest Kitty,<br />

Whew! Released from the gloom and doom for a few moments! All I've been hearing<br />

today is: "If this and that happens, we're in trouble, and if so-and-so gets sick,<br />

we'll be left to fend for ourselves, and if . . ."<br />

Well, you know the rest, or at any rate I assume you're famthar enough with the<br />

residents of the Annex to guess what they'd be talking about.<br />

The reason for all the "ifs" is that Mr. Kugler has been called up for a six-day<br />

work detail, Bep is down with a bad cold and will probably have to stay home<br />

tomorrow, Miep hasn't gotten over her flu, and Mr. Kleiman's stom- ach bled so<br />

much he lost consciousness. What a tale of woe!<br />

We think Mr. Kugler should go directly to a reliable doctor for a medical<br />

certificate of ill health, which he can present to the City Hall in Hilversum. The<br />

warehouse -- employees have been given a day off tomorrow, so Bep will be alone in<br />

the office. If (there's another "if') Bep has to stay home, the door will remain<br />

locked and we'll have to be as quiet as mice so the Keg Company won't hear us. At<br />

one o'clock Jan will come for half an hour to check on us poor forsaken souls,<br />

like a zookeeper.<br />

This afternoon, for the first time in ages, Jan gave us some news of the outside<br />

world. You should have seen us gathered around him; it looked exactly like a<br />

print: "At Grandmother's Knee."<br />

He regaled his grateful audience with talk of-what else?-food. Mrs. P., a friend<br />

of Miep's, has been cooking his meals. The day before yesterday Jan ate carrots

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!