Letter to Kity

Antiel palim_

Letter to Kitty

Friday, 20 November, 1942

Dear Kitty,
None of us really knows how to take it all. The news about the Jews had not ns2
penetrated through to us until now, and we thought it
really
possible, Every now and
best to remain as cheerful as
then,
when Miep lets out something about what has
a
fnend, Mummy and Mrs.Van Daah alwäys happened to
to tell us any more. But begin to cry, so Miep thinks it is better not
Dussel
the stories he told us were was immediately plied with questions from all sides, and
mind. sogruesome and dreadfü) that one can't get them out of one's
Yet we shall have our jokes and tease edch other, when these horTors have faded a
bit in minds. It won't do us any good, or help those
our
as we are at the moment.
outside, to go on being as gloomy
And what would
into a "Secret Annexe of Gloom?" Must I keep on
be the object of makingour "SeCret Annexe3)
whateverI am doing? And if I want to thinking about those other people,
laugh about something, should I stop myself
quickly and feel ashamed that I am cheerful? Ought I then to cry the whole
that I can't do. Besides, in time this day long? No,
gloom will wear of.
Added to this misery there is
another, but of apurely personal kind; and it pales
uinto insignificance beside all the wretchedneas I've just,told you about. Still, I can't
refrain from telling you that lately I have begun to feei dëserted. I am surrounded by too
eat a void. I never used to feel like this, my fun and amusements, and my Noowe om
completely filled my thoughts. NowI either think about unhappy girl friends,
about things,
myself. or place
a And at long last I bave made the discovery that Daddy, although he's such a
cannot take the place of my entire little world of bygone days. But why do I darling, still

with such foolish things? T'm very ungrateful, Kitty; I know that. But it oftenbother
makes
you
head swim if l'm jumped upon too my
those other miseries!
much, and then on top of that have to think about all

ao w di Yours/Anne
[From Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, translated from the Dutch by B.M.Mooyaart
edition, New York: Pocket Books, (1947; this
1958) 49-50]
Topies for discussion
1. Why did Anne Frank address her
2. Anne Frank was a
diary as
'Kitty Imainaui faumd uaumas he bt-

young girl on her way to

maturity. Comment ón the adult world
which surrounded her
endud wh~s
pik pha happunuoln Rapke aA y good ad ha

nd M Van Saan
hn beo
.
2000, 2008 Dr Snoonana
ausabu t
u aeu vit to
Bhattacay. Jes-se ta, Colege. e
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi- 110021 40
 circumstances in which it was written, The Diay of Annerrank
Despite the tragic Referring closely to
anaiyzc
the text,
an rather than depressing book.
IS uplitting
why this is so? to answer the questiOns
ackgroud What kind of contexual infomation do you require
above? fwnk

S. What is the difference between Anne Frank's diary and an autobiograpny

nd
Whuhoh a e l
snal happensd
C i m w m e da
i u ) .

eauu
About the Author
In 1933, Otto Frank decided to leave Frankfurt, a city with a large Jewish community,
Anne born on June 12, 1929,
her sister
and settle in Amsterdam. The Frank family --

at
older, and lived in Amsterdam
their mother and father - -

Margot, who was three years

37 Merwederplein. But the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 cast a shadow
on this happy childhood, and the situation became worse with the increasing restrictions
to report for work, in the
placed on Jews. In July 1942,Margot received a summons
with his family. Ihe
East. For Otto Frank this was sufficient reason to go into hiding
Franks were relatively fortunate. They knew people like Miep and Jan Geis and others
who were ready to help those in hiding. With the help of the employees of this fim, oto
was located behind
the business
Frank had made thorough preparations in an Annexe that
the Danns.
premises at 263 Prinsengracht where they wère joined by their
friends, Van
The Franks were arrested and sent to the Westerbork transit camp from where they were
then sent to Auschwitz-Birkénau exfermihation camp. The Margot and Anne were then
ot
sent to Bergen-Belsen (an exchange camp) where they
both died of typhus within days
each other.
the Frank family? In the late 1940 Otto Frank's warehouse man
Willem Van betrayed
Who
Maaren was under investigation. Due to the lack of evidence, thbe
In thbe
in the 1960s. No evidence was found.
investigation was stopped, but opened again a
Lena Van Bladeren who worked in the office as
-

1980s a new name came up

- -

Otto Frank's business friend, Tony

cleaning woman. Carol Ann Lee has claimed that the
trade from the hiding place, betrayed
Ahlers, who helped him to continue his spice
family. TonyAhlers was a member of the Nazi party.

Notes

after the Red ross confirmed the deaths of

The making of the Diary: In July 1945,
Frank the diary along with a bundle of loose
Anne and Margot, Miep Gies gave Otto described
return them to Anne. Anne had candidly
Notes that she had saved, hoping to
and their situation in the diary, while beginning to
her life, her family and companions, she heard a radio
In March
ambition tó write fiction for publication. 1944,
recognize her exile- who
Gerrit Bolkestein-a member
Dutch
of the government in
broadcast by record of the Dutch people's
said that when the warended, he would create a public
German occupation. He mentioned the publication of letters and
oppression under came. She began editing her
to submit her work when the time
diaries, and Anne decided with the View to publication. She created
writing, removing sections and rewriting othes,

and Mary College, Chanakyapuri, New Delhl-110021 41

Dr .Shobhana Bhattacharij, Jesus
2000, 2008.
 Letter to Kitty

pseudonyms
in the form offor
the members of the
houschold and the helpers. These were diary entnes
letters addressed to an
Oto Frank imaginary friend Kitty.
gave the diary to the historian Annie
have t
publishe Romein-Verschoor, who tried to
he
hideousness of fastism, diary. "stammered out in child's voice, embodies al the
a

article
ntore so than all the evidence at
Nuremberg put together. nis
attracted aftention from publishers, and the diary
Netherlands in 1947, followed by a second
was
published in 1ne
run in 1950.
It was first
published inGermany and France in 1950, and after being rejected by
several
Frank
publishers, was first published in the United
Kingdom in 1952. In Japan, Anne
quickly became identified as an
destruction of youth during the war. A important
cultural figure who represented the
and Albert Hackett
play based upon the diary, by Frances Goodrich
premiered in New York City on October 5, 1955, and later won aa
Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was followed
by the 1959 movie The Diary of Anne Frank,
which was a critical and commercial success.
Over the years the popularity of the diary
grew, and in many schools, particularly in the United States, it was included as part of the
cumiculum, introducing Anne Frank to new generations of readers.

The Anne Frank

Foundation,
foundation in Basle established
Basle, Switzerland: The Anne Frank-Fonds
(AFF),
a
by Otto H. Frank on 24 January 1963, is a charitable
foundation with
tax-freea status. Its purpose is to promote charitable work and
the spiritA
Q Anne lFrank in society and culture. Otto Frank especially wanted the Fonds to q
contribute to better understanding between different religions, serve the cause of peace
between people and encourage international contacts between the young. As the sole
suving member of his family, and as sole heir of Annelies Marie Frank (Anne Frank), t
Otto Frank appointed the AFF his universal legatee and
assigned to it the rights to all the
writings of Anne Frank. All contracts entered into by Otto Frank to disseminate the
works and message of his daughter devolved to the AFF on his death.

What is a memoir? The Diary of Anne Frank is a memoir of World War IL. Memoirs are
in essence historical documents. They describe a period of history and address collective
human experiences. History, after all, happens to real people. It isn't just cold facts but a «
living, organic changing thing. It is about human life with all its triumphs and failures, its
increases and decreases, its courage and weakness, its lights and darks. Personal stories
make history jump alive. They provide the texture, the details, the sights, the sounds, the
smells, and, above all, the emotions of important events in the past. Faceless statistics
suddenly become real people. With the death of an eyewitness, whose story has not been h
shared, a piece of the past is lost, and the worldis poorer for it. It is this fact, and the
enduring truths, that make memoirs so precious. These memoirs are important as they act
as a source of records of the Second World War as very little was known about the effect
of this war on the lives of the common people especially the old and the children of those
times. hen yu acoe ou tpunu,had d tallud Momoius

References

willy Lindwer, The Last Seven Months ofAnne Frank (Anchor books,1992)

2000, 2008. Dr Shobhana Bhattachari, Jesus and Mary College. Chanakyapuri, New Delh-110021