Novels based on true stories

 

cover page of the novel

The Diary of a Young Girl:

Anne Frank, a teenage Jewish woman, wrote a book called The Diary of a Young Girl ,in which she described her family's two years (1942–1944) of hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Two years after Anne's death in a concentration camp, the novel was originally published in 1947 and went on to become a classic of war writing.

Following Adolf Hitler's ascent to power, Anne's family—her father, Otto; mother, Edith; and older sister, Margot—moved from Germany to Amsterdam in 1933. Following its invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, Germany implemented a number of anti-Semitic policies, one of which mandated that Anne and her sister attend an all-Jewish school the following year. For her thirteenth birthday on June 12, 1942, Anne was given a red-and-white plaid diary. "I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone," she wrote in the book on that day. "I also hope you will be a great source of comfort and support." Margot was given instructions to go to a labor camp the next month.

Anne wrote regularly in the diary for the next two years, dedicating many of the entries to "Dear Kitty," whom she eventually came to see as a friend. Anne described the day-to-day activities in the annex in her journal and later notebooks. The cramped living quarters and limited provisions caused numerous disputes among the occupants, and the departing Anne found the atmosphere oppressive. The constant worry that they would be found out heightened tensions. Nonetheless, a lot of the entries deal with common teenage problems, such as growing sexual consciousness, irritation with others, particularly her mother, and jealousy of her sister. In addition to having a brief romantic relationship with Peter van Pels, Anne was open in her writing about her changing body. She also talked about her career aspirations, which included becoming a journalist.

Anne started editing her diary in preparation for it to be published as a novel called Het Achterhuis, or "The Secret Annex," after she learned of plans to gather diaries and other documents to document people's experiences during the war. Notably, she invented aliases for each of the occupants, finally settling on Anne Robin. Pfeffer was named Albert Dussel, whose last name is German for "idiot," and Anne had grown to despise him as a result of their frequent arguments about the use of a desk.

The final item in Anne's diary dates from August 1, 1944. After receiving a tip from Dutch informants, the Gestapo found the hidden annex three days later. Every resident was placed under arrest. The Franks arrived in Auschwitz in September, but Anne and Margot were moved to Bergen-Belsen the next month. Anne lost her mother, sister, and herself in 1945.

Otto Frank was the only one of the eight occupants of the covert annex to survive the war. After he got back to Amsterdam, Gies gave him some documents she had kept from the annex. Anne's diary was among the documents, yet several of the notebooks—most notably, those from 1943—were missing. Otto started going over Anne's writings in an attempt to achieve her ambition of publication. Her amended entries, scribbled on loose sheets of paper, were referred to as the "B" version of her notebook, while the original red-and-white checkered journal became known as the "A" version. Otto eventually combined her diaries into the "C" edition, which left out about thirty percent of her writings. A large portion of the language that was removed dealt with sexual matters or Anne's issues with her mother.

Otto could not find a publisher, so he turned the work on to historian Jan Romein, who was so taken by the journal that he published an article about it for the newspaper Het Parool's main page in 1946. Het Achterhuis was published on June 25, 1947, thanks to a publishing agreement with Contact that resulted from the attention it received. The piece quickly became a big seller in the Netherlands and started to appear overseas. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the preface for the 1952 release of the first American version of Anne Frank, which was titled Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. The work was subsequently translated into over 65 languages and made into a stage and film adaptation. Every penny raised was donated to a foundation named in Anne's honor.

The Diary, which humanized the Holocaust and provided a poignant coming-of-age tale, was written with insight, humor, and intelligence and went on to become a masterpiece of war literature. The book served as a source of inspiration and hope for countless others. Anne wrote poignantly, "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart," in the face of such suffering.

salma waleed