Anne Frank was thirteen in 1942 when she started writing her diary. Reading her story for the first time, I felt an immediate relationship because I was almost thirteen and also kept a journal. Anne's knowledge about politics impressed me. Like Anne, I also had a love-hate relationship with my mother. Later, I realized this is normal behavior in thirteen-year-olds.
Anne Frank’s Birthday Present
Without doubt, Anne Frank is the most famous diarist of the 20th century. The diary was a present on her thirteenth birthday. I hope I can confide in you as I have never done before in anyone, and that you will be my voice, she wrote that day. The first proper entry was two days later, on the 14 June 1942, when she wrote how she had woken up at six on the morning of her birthday, but had to wait until a quarter to seven before she was allowed to unwrap her presents. The first thing I saw, was you, probably my best present.
Anne took her birthday with her when she and her family went in hiding. She scribbled to the last page and then continued writing in two exercise books. She wrote the last entry on 1st August 1944. Three days later the Grüne Polizei arrested and deported the family.
Anne Frank’s Diary Rewrite
The diary we read today is not the first version. After listening to a broadcast on Radio Oranje on 28 March 1944 in which the Secretary of Education and Science in exile urged people to keep letters and diaries so that they could be gathered together after the war, she wrote; Imagine how interesting it would be, if I had a novel published about het achterhuis (the Annex). The title would make people believe that this was a detective novel.
If she started rewriting from that day on is not known. However, on 11 May 1944 she wrote; You've known for a long time that my greatest wish is to become a journalist and a famous writer. After the war I want to publish a book entitled Het Achterhuis. If I succeed remains to be seen, but my diary entries will be very useful.
It is clear that the published work is the novel version of the diary. Aliases are used for the non-family members living in the Annex. Sentences are complex and well-constructed. The writing is fluent and much thought is given to the last entry to give the diary a satisfying ending.
.....everyone keeps an eye on me which makes me first snappy and then sad, in the end my heart turns, the bad goes out the good stays in, I constantly search for means how to become the person I would like to be or could be.... if no other people lived in this world.
Anne Frank a Compulsive Writer
Anne must have been a compulsive writer. At the same time she penned her diary, she also wrote stories for her Verhaaltjesboek, Story Book. Parts of these ended up in the diary. Towards the end of the almost two-year period in hiding, she must have found it difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction, as The Anne Frank Diary: The Critical Edition, published in 1986, claims.
The complete manuscript consists of five parts. Parts one to three represent the real diary. Part four consists of loose sheets. The revision of this part was to become the novel and the basis for the published diary. Part five consists of stories.
Doubts about the Diary’s Authenticity
After the war, Otto Frank edited his daughter's diary. As Dutch was not his first language, the manuscript was typed and edited by Frank's secretary, Isa Cauvern and her husband Albert Cauvern, a writer. Questions were raised as to whether the original diaries or Frank's personal transcription were used. He published the first Dutch version in 1947. The German and French versions followed in 1950, and in 1951 the diary was published in Britain and USA.
Rumours started circulating that the diary was not authentic. Otto Frank fought several court cases and won most of them. When in 1979, two Germans claimed the diary to be a forgery, a German graphologist produced a study to determine if the hand-writing was by the same person. The outcome proved that the diaries were written by the same hand. Until today there are doubts about the diary's authenticity. True to say, Anne started the muddle herself by rewriting her diary as a novel.
Diary or Novel, Does it Matter?
Without doubt, Anne Frank's diary is one of the most popular books in the world. It is an intriguing story and a war document. Does it matter that the diary is not a proper diary, but a novel in the making? The story appealed to the emotions of millions of readers and will continue to do so for generations to come.
Bibliography:
- Frank Anne. 1947. Het Achterhuis. Amsterdam en Antwerpen Uitgeverij Contact.
- Frank Anne. 1991. De Dagboekbrieven van Anne Frank. Amsterdam Uitgeverij Bert Bakker
- Frank Anne. 2007. The Diary of a Young Girl. London Penguin Books
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updated December 2010
Marianne Crone - Marianne is a retired teacher of English and started her writing career writing text books. She started writing about her travels after ...
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