Book SummaryThe Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most acclaimed works of the 20th century. Written by Anne Frank from 1942 to 1944, the diary reveals the humanity of those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands. The diary was preserved by Anne’s friend, Miep Gies, and shared for publication by her father, Otto Frank, after the war.

Anne wrote about her experiences regarding anger, love, puberty, and fear as she and her family hid from an occupying force that wished to see her and her Jewish counterparts dead. Tight quarters, limited food, and the inability to go outside took an emotional toll on Anne and her fellow residents. This led to tensions that reflected the raging war taking place outside of their hiding place.

1942

In 1942, Anne Frank described the Nazi’s occupation of Amsterdam, the life she lived before hiding, her family’s move into a secret Annex, and her feelings about her new environment. Anne received a diary as a gift for her 13th birthday. She loved the gift and began to confide in it almost immediately.

June-August 1942

In 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands and began implementing anti-Jewish restrictions such as curfews for Jews and limitations on transportation. At the end of the school year, Margot, Anne’s 15-year old sister, received a call-up from the SS, a Nazi paramilitary force. Receiving a call-up almost always meant being sent to a concentration camp.

The next morning, Otto and Edith Frank, Anne’s parents, decided to move their family into a hiding place before Margot had to report for her summons. Two of Otto’s business partners, Mr. Kleiman and Mr. Kugler, agreed to hide them in a hidden Annex in their office. Another family, the van Daans, would be joining the Franks in hiding. In addition to the two businessmen, a few others were informed of their move into hiding: Jan, Miep, Bep, and Mr. Voskuijl.

The Annex had previously been used as a laboratory for Mr. Kugler. It was originally hidden away behind a series of doors and offices. After a few weeks, a bookshelf was installed in front of the door to further hide it from workers and police. The Annex was three stories and contained multiple small bedrooms, a kitchen/dining area, and a bathroom. Though the space wasn’t large enough to ensure total privacy, the residents had enough space to be on their own if they needed to be. The residents also used a private office in the building, but to avoid discovery, that office could only be used after hours as it wasn’t directly connected to the Annex and could be accessed by Mr. Kleiman and Mr. Kugler’s employees.

The van Daans arrived about a week after the Franks. The family consisted of three people: Mr. van Daan, Mrs. van Daan, and their 16-year old son Peter van Daan. Anne didn’t like them at first. She constantly fought with Mr. and Mrs. van Daan, who thought Anne had a bad attitude, and she thought that Peter was obnoxious.

September-October 1942

A variety of conflicts and scenarios led to immediate tension within the Annex. Some were personality-related while others were isolated incidents. Regardless, the close quarters and inability to escape led to constant frustration and arguments:

• Anne found herself in conflict with her mother, Edith. Anne believed that her mother didn’t understand her and thought that she went out of her way to shame her.
• Mrs. van Daan was a constant source of conflict for everyone in the Annex. She and her husband would have intense screaming matches, she would try to flirt with Otto, and she and Edith disagreed about how the makeshift home should be run.
• In an example of an isolated incident, Peter found a book the adults had kept away from the children. The book had to do with women, and the adults didn’t want the children reading books written for an adult audience. However, Peter’s curiosity got the best of him. He went behind his parents’ backs to read the book. Mr. and Mrs. van Daan caught him and punished him for his disobedience. Initially, Peter refused to apologize and stayed in his room in the loft. However, after a few days of sulking, things returned to normal. At the time, Anne didn’t like Peter’s behavior and often referred to him as awkward and insolent.

A combination of the internal conflicts and the fear of discovery took its toll on Anne’s emotional well-being. The adults often criticized Anne for being arrogant and selfish, especially when she disagreed with them. With the constant criticism, she began wondering if she actually was as poorly behaved as the adults implied. She felt torn because she knew that she was supposed to smile and take the abuse, but she wanted nothing more than to defend herself and speak out.

November-December 1942

In early November, as reports of persecution grew more intense, the residents of the Annex decided to bring in a new member—Albert Dussel, a local dentist. Dussel moved in in mid-November. The residents of the Annex welcomed him with coffee and cognac.

Once they talked him through the rules, they began to ask Dussel for updates on the outside world. He revealed that many of their friends had been taken to concentration camps. He told them that the Nazis had intensified their efforts to find Jewish people and began taking entire families out of their homes. As Anne heard these stories, she began to feel guilty for her own security in the Annex. She questioned why she should be able to hide in safety while so many others were suffering at the hands of the Germans.

At first, Anne took a liking to Dussel. She thought he was nice and selfless. He was a bit slow to learn the rules, but this didn’t bother her because she knew he needed time to adapt to the new environment. However, her opinion of him quickly began to change as he turned out to be more selfish and strict than Anne originally thought.

Because she had to share a room with him, she was the...

The Diary of a Young Girl Summary 1942

The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most acclaimed works of the 20th century. Written by Anne Frank from 1942 to 1944, the diary reveals the humanity of those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands. The diary was preserved by Anne’s friend, Miep Gies, and shared for publication by her father, Otto Frank, after the war.

In 1942, Anne Frank described the Nazi’s occupation of Amsterdam, the life she lived before hiding, her family’s move into a secret Annex, and her feelings about her new environment. Anne received a diary as a gift for her 13th birthday. She loved the gift and began to confide in it almost immediately.

She believed that her diary had more patience than her friends, and that she would be able to share her deepest secrets without fear of judgment or abandonment. Because she saw the diary as a “friend,” she decided to give it a name: Kitty. She addressed most of her entries as if she was writing to “Kitty” and wrote as though she was speaking to a close friend.

(Shortform note: To give context to the events described in the diary, we’ve included some historical information about WWII at the end of each...

The Diary of a Young Girl Summary January-July 1943

While Anne and her “Annex family” tried to hold onto hope, growing frustration and resentment led to constant fighting between the members of the household. The conflicts inside the home were intensified by constant fear as WWII continued to rage on throughout Europe. Anne’s fights with her mother, the van Daans, and Dussel began to escalate. She cried herself to sleep often and couldn’t understand why they constantly felt the need to point out her shortcomings.

Her mother would often tell her that she should behave like her sister, Margot. However, Anne knew that she wasn’t anything like her sister, nor did she want to be. She thought Margot was too timid and weak-willed. Anne wanted to be outspoken, not passive. She wanted to get some distance from them, but, given the circumstances, had nowhere to go.

January-March 1943

As the new year began, the residents had to deal with a number of issues such as:

• New Owners: Near the end of February, the building housing the Annex was sold to a new owner without the knowledge of Mr. Kugler or Mr. Kleiman. Fortunately, Mr. Kleiman was in his office when the new owner and architect arrived. He showed them the...

The Diary of a Young Girl Summary August-December 1943

In the second part of 1943, the war continued approaching the hidden families, and tensions continued rising in the annex.

August-September 1943

Outside of the Annex, the air raids over Amsterdam grew more frequent. The gunfire was constant and jarring. While Anne tried not to let them affect her, not everyone was quite as strong. For example, Mrs. van Daan would run into her husband’s arms and sob as the sirens went off.

In addition to the stresses of occupation, some of the residents’ helpers continued to experience serious health issues. Mr. Voskuijl’s cancer caused his health to deteriorate quickly, and Mr. Kleiman’s intestinal issues continued to intensify. Even Bep, a relatively healthy young woman, felt overwhelmed at the number of errands she had to run while avoiding detection and had a nervous breakdown as a result.

In the warehouse, some of the employees began to grow curious about the Annex and its contents. The helpers would constantly make excuses to keep people from investigating and were extra cautious when visiting the residents. For example, Mr. Kugler once snuck up to the Annex through a set of back stairs after telling his employees he was...

The Diary of a Young Girl Summary January-April 1944

1944 marked a change for Anne. In her diary entries, she began discussing changes in her body as she hit puberty, as well as new perspectives on life in the Annex, the relationships with her fellow residents, and her future after the war. Though fights and conflicts continued in the Annex, Anne tried not to focus on them. She recognized that she was already feeling lonely and depressed and that putting energy into the fights just made her more upset.

January-February 1944

As Anne entered a new year, she yearned to return to normal life. She received movie magazines as a way to connect to the world outside of the Annex and began to practice dancing for when the war was over. She also began to take an interest in her family’s heritage and studied it when she wasn’t working on schoolwork.

She spent time reflecting on her life before the Annex. Before going into hiding, Anne didn’t think about “serious things” very often. She fought much harder for the approval of her family and allowed her emotions to dictate her behavior. While she recognized that she still had a lot of growing up to do, she noted the ways in which she had matured and the ways in which life in the...

The Diary of a Young Girl Summary May-August 1944

During the final months of their time in the Annex, talk of an impending invasion by the Allied forces had the Annex buzzing. While they all hoped for a quick liberation, the residents argued with one another about when and how the Allies would enter Amsterdam. For example, Mr. van Daan once snapped at Mrs. van Daan for saying that she didn’t believe in his invasion predictions, and that the Allied campaign should have been further along.

May 1944

The Annex suffered a severe loss after Mr. van Hoeven, the man who helped deliver potatoes to the residents, was arrested for hiding two Jews in his home. Anne lamented the state of the world and questioned the purpose of war. She hated that good people were being arrested for helping others while those driven by hatred were free to roam the streets and persecute others. She felt desperate and suffocated as their time in hiding continued without a clear end in sight. Even on more light-hearted days, the stress of isolation and fear of discovery put Anne in a constant state of anxiety and depression.

Holding Onto Daily Life

**As the war continued outside of the Annex walls, the residents and helpers tried to...

Shortform Exercise: Reflecting on The Diary

Reflect on the main takeaways from The Diary of Young Girl.

In a few sentences, describe the impact of hiding and isolation on Anne’s mental and emotional well-being. Think about her desire to live a normal life, the stressors of living in close quarters, and the anxiety associated with the constant fear of discovery.