Anne Frank, the symbol of the suffering of the Jewish people during the Second World War, became famous through the diaries that she kept during the occupation of Holland.
- Read more about how Anne Frank’s world-famous diaries came to be.
- Discover how her diaries were published after the war.
- Visit Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam.
From poetry album to diary
When Anne was given a poetry album on her thirteenth birthday, in 1942, no one could have suspected how significant the little book would become. For shortly after her birthday, the Frank family had to go into hiding, and Anne decided to use the album as a diary, recording everything about the time she spent in hiding, her life and her dreams.
To be a writer
In early 1944, Anne heard the Dutch minister of education and culture speaking over the radio. He expressed his hope that Dutch people would record their experience, so that the people’s suffering under the occupation would be remembered. This inspired Anne to begin editing her entries to make them fit for publication after the war.
A dream come true
Anne’s last entries were made on the 1st of August, 1944, a few days before her family and the people they shared their hiding place with were betrayed and transported to a concentration camp. Of the entire group, only Otto Frank, Anne’s father, would survive the war. After the war, he took it upon himself to realise Anne’s dream by having her diaries published. Using her two diaries, he compiled a version, now known as the C version, which was published in 1947 under the title “Het Achterhuis” (The Secret Annex). Anne Frank’s Collected Work was not published before 2013.
Anne’s original diary can be seen in the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, as well as a few of her notebooks.