The Diary of a Young Girl Quotes

"The first to greet me was you, possibly the nicest of all." (Anne Frank, June 14, 1942)
This is Anne describing the joy she felt upon receiving her diary for her birthday. This is the beginning of her telling the world what it was like to be a young Jewish girl during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She chooses to make her diary entries in the form of letters addressed to an imaginary friend named Kitty. She, of course, thought that no one would ever read her words and that probably would have been true if she had not left the diary behind in the "Secret Annex" after she was taken by the Gestapo.

"There is nothing we can do but wait as calmly as we can till the misery comes to an end. Jews and Christians wait, the whole earth waits; and there are many who wait for death." (Anne Frank, January 13, 1943)
Anne and her family along with the Van Daan family are in the "Secret Annex" hiding and waiting for the war to end. She can see from her window the people being taken to the concentration camps. She also sees how starved and impoverished those who are left behind have become. She learns from listening to the radio, with the others in their group, that this scene is being played out across the world. It leaves her with a feeling of helplessness and to some degree, resignation. She is resigned to her fate, and the fate of others who she knows are not as fortunate as she, to be in hiding.

"Himmelhoch jauchzend und zum Tode betrübt" certainly fits here. "(Anne Frank, December 24, 1943)
This is a line from Goëthe which means "On top of the world, or in the depths of despair." Anne is dealing with conflicting emotions: she is happy to be safe and secure from the Gestapo, but she despairs because she is unable to have a normal life. She misses the ability to go outside, play with her friends, and participate in normal activities. She is jealous of those who are able to go about their daily business and children who are able to have fun. She also longs to be able to talk, whistle and even sing whenever she wants. In hiding, they have to spend most of their time either in silence or talking at a whisper. It is hard for Anne to keep her spirits up, but she knows that it is expected of her by the adults in the group. She realizes that crying about the situation can bring her some relief, even though it does not change the circumstances.

"But, seriously, it would seem quite funny ten years after the war if we Jews were to tell how we lived and what we ate and talked about here." (Anne Frank, March 29, 1944)
Anne is talking in response to a suggestion by an M.P. on the radio. He would like the people of Holland to collect their diaries and letters for use after the war. She feels the idea is absurd because she feels the average person would not find the information of much use. Instead she feels it would be boring to them. After all, in her mind, who wants to know about the minutia of their day to day lives? But this quote does lead to Anne revealing how the daily bombings cause fear, especially amongst the women. Another insight to the daily lives of the people, of Holland, is the rampant thievery that exists. It has become as prevalent as to make leaving a person's home unattended can lead to the total clearing out of the house. To go along with the loss of property is the scarcity of food. The food ration allotments do not last for more than a few days, thus most of the people are undernourished.

"I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me." (Anne Frank, April 4, 1944)
Anne had talked before about her desire to write professionally, but this is the first time she expresses the desire to have her writing live on after she herself is gone. It foreshadows her diary, which does in fact live on after her death, she does have her desire fulfilled. It is fulfilled in a way that she never imagined it would. She could not know at the tender age of fourteen the impact her words would have around the world. The gift she had been given she gave back to the world. She let everyone know through her words the real meaning of being Jewish and in hiding during World War II.

"In any case, I want to publish a book entitled Het Achterhuis after the war." (Anne Frank, May 11, 1944)
Anne wrote these words approximately three months before her family was taken by the Gestapo. The title, which was the original Dutch title of the book, means "in back of the house". This is a good description of where the Franks, Van Daans and Mr. Dussel were hiding. Anne had wanted to use her diary as a basis for the book she wished to write. She didn't know if she was as talented as she hoped to be, but wanted to try writing a book none the less. In the end, her diary was turned into a book with the title she had chosen and it had the success she had hoped for.

"This is D-day," came the announcement over the English news and quite rightly, "this is the day." The invasion has begun!" (Radio announcer and Anne Frank, June 6, 1944)
At first, the group living in the "Secret Annex" do not believe the news. They think it may be a trial landing, because that had happened two years earlier. But, the confirmation by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on the radio, gave them the confidence to believe that this time it is real. This is cause for hope and a gives the families renewed courage to continue on in hiding. The hope is that they might be able to leave the "Secret Annex" in 1944. This is the best news that has come to them yet. Anne feels for the first time as if friends are coming to save them.

"We have been oppressed by those terrible Germans for so long, they have had their knives so at our throats, that the thought of friends and delivery fills us with confidence! (Anne Frank, June 6, 1944)
Anne vents her feelings about the German occupation. How hard it has been on not just the occupants of the "Secret Annex", but on everyone in each country that is under German occupation. Now all of them have the hope of freedom and the courage of unity to get them through the last months of the war. She feels as if, instead of dreading the sound of marching feet, she will welcome the marching feet of the Allied forces.



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