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

eing too optimistic.
The British have landed in Naples. Northern Italy is occupied by the Germans. The
truce was signed on Friday, September 3, the day the British landed in Italy. The
Germans are ranting and raving in all the newspapers at the treachery of Badoglio
and the Italian king.
Still, there's bad news as well. It's about Mr. Kleiman. As you know, we all like
him very much. He's unfailingly cheerful and amazingly brave, despite the fact
that he's always sick and in pain and can't eat much or do a lot of walking. "When
Mr. Kleiman enters a room, the sun begins to shine," Mother said recently, and
she's absolutely right.
Now it seems he has to go to the hospital for a very difficult operation on his
stomach, and will have to stay there for at least four weeks. You should have seen
him when he told us good-bye. He acted so normally, as though he were just off to
do an errand.
Yours, Anne
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1943
Dearest Kitty,
Relationships here in the Annex are getting worse all the time. We don't dare open
our mouths at mealtime (except to slip in a bite of food), because no matter what
we say, someone is bound to resent it or take it the wrong way. Mr. Voskuijl
occasionally comes to visit us. Unfortunately, he's not doing very well. He isn't
making it any easier for his family, because his attitude seems to be: what do I
care, I'm going to die anyway! When I think how touchy everyone is here, I can
just imagine what it must be like at the Voskuijls'.
I've been taking valerian every day to fight the anxiety and depression, but it
doesn't stop me from being even more miserable the next day. A good hearty laugh
would help better than ten valerian drops, but we've almost forgotten how to
laugh. Sometimes I'm afraid my face is going to sag with all this sorrow and that
my mouth is going to permanently droop at the corners. The others aren't doing any
better. Everyone here is dreading the great terror known as winter.
Another fact that doesn't exactly brighten up our days is that Mr. van Maaren, the
man who works in the warehouse, is getting suspicious about the Annex. A person
with any brains must have noticed by now that Miep sometimes says she's going to
the lab, Bep to the file room and Mr. Kleiman to the Opekta supplies, while Mr.
Kugler claims the Annex doesn't belong to this building at all, but to the one
next door.
We wouldn't care what Mr. van Maaren thought of the situation except that he's
known to be unreliable and to possess a high degree of curiosity. He's not one who
can be put off with a flimsy excuse.
One day Mr. Kugler wanted to be extra cautious, so at twenty past twelve he put on
his coat and went to the drugstore around the corner. Less than five minutes later
he was back, and he sneaked up the stairs like a thief to visit us. At one-fifteen
he started to leave, but Bep met him on the landing and warned him that van Maaren
was in the office. Mr. Kugler did an about-face and stayed with us until onethirty.
Then he took off his shoes and went in his stockinged feet (despite his
cold) to the front attic and down the other stairway, taking one step at a time to
avoid the creaks. It took him fifteen minutes to negotiate the stairs, but he