Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl is the published version of three diaries written by Anne Frank in the midst of World War II and the Nazi rule in Europe. Each entry is written to an obscure recipient, called Kitty, that Anne has created, possibly paralleling a pre-war friend of her father's. The entries begin when the Frank family was still living normally in their home, until Nazi police send a notice for her father Otto Frank and her sister Margot Frank to be deported to a concentration camp, so they hide in a secret annex above her father's business. Another family, the van Daans, move into the annex as well. Some days they get along better than others, but Anne writes that she is still grateful that they have food, shelter and each other to keep hope alive. They have more hope when it is announced that Italy has surredered to the Allies. Anne writes in such a detailed manner that a reader feels as if they know the characters in the annex personally. However, after a long time being cramped in the small annex with so many people, things become tense. She wishes that the war would end, and loathes the darkness and cruelty of war. She longs to find safety and escape the confines of the annex for fresh air.
Anne's relationship with her mother is a major part of her diary, and had so much frustration with her. Revising her diary, she later ralixed that the differences between them were just misunderstandings, and begins to respect her mother more.

Because this is a real diary and nonfiction, it does not have the same type of thought and ideas behind it as fictional story might, when an author has time to plot and plan the character's actions. When a story is real, it makes a huge difference in the value and thought that a reader takes away from it. The story of Anne Frank and her family is an exemplary case of strength, determination, and the will to live. She did not let the scary news of the outside world crush her dreams and hope of being free one day.

Anne Frank's diary ends on August 1, 1944, her last entry before the secret Annex was raided and the dwellers were arrested and taken to concentration camps. She was first moved to Auschwitz, then relocated to Bergen-Belsen. Anne died in the German concentration camp of typhus approximately two weeks before the camp was liberated in April 1945.