Anne Frank
The first publication of Anne's diary
In one of her diary entries, Anne Frank states
that one day, when the war was over, she wants to become a famous writer, and
she intended to write a book about her time in hiding, which she would call The Secret Annex. Anne Frank, like
millions of others, did not survive the war, but her diary did. Anne and her
diary have become a symbol of the Holocaust. The diary has sold over
30 million copies worldwide (Sawyer). It has been translated into 70 different
languages ("List"), and been made into plays and movies.
Anne and her family (Otto, Edith, and Margot) went into hiding at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam on July 6, 1942, when Anne was 13. The van Pels family (Hermann, Auguste, and Peter) joined them a week later, and Fritz Pfeffer joined them in November. They remained in hiding for over two years, until August 4, 1944, when they were betrayed, the Annex was raided, and they were arrested. Meip Gies, one of the people who helped hide the Frank family, came across Anne's diary among a pile of papers on the floor of their hiding place after the eight people in hiding were taken away. She hid it away for safe keeping, planning to return it to Anne. A few days after their arrest, the Franks, van Pels and Mr. Pfeffer were sent to Westerbork transit camp, and in September they were sent to Auschwitz. They were on the final transport train to Auschwitz from Westerbork. In October/November of 1944, Anne and Margot were transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where they died in March 1945, weeks before the camp was liberated (April 15, 1945). Anne's father Otto was the only member of the group to survive. He learned of the deaths of his daughters in July 1945, and Miep gave him Anne's diary. On June 25, 1946, the first version of Anne's diary, edited by her father, was published as Het Achterhuis. On May 3, 1960, 263 Prinsengracht opened as the Anne Frank House (Jacobson 146-148).
Anne's legacy lives on in her diary, capturing hearts and minds across the world.
Anne and her family (Otto, Edith, and Margot) went into hiding at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam on July 6, 1942, when Anne was 13. The van Pels family (Hermann, Auguste, and Peter) joined them a week later, and Fritz Pfeffer joined them in November. They remained in hiding for over two years, until August 4, 1944, when they were betrayed, the Annex was raided, and they were arrested. Meip Gies, one of the people who helped hide the Frank family, came across Anne's diary among a pile of papers on the floor of their hiding place after the eight people in hiding were taken away. She hid it away for safe keeping, planning to return it to Anne. A few days after their arrest, the Franks, van Pels and Mr. Pfeffer were sent to Westerbork transit camp, and in September they were sent to Auschwitz. They were on the final transport train to Auschwitz from Westerbork. In October/November of 1944, Anne and Margot were transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where they died in March 1945, weeks before the camp was liberated (April 15, 1945). Anne's father Otto was the only member of the group to survive. He learned of the deaths of his daughters in July 1945, and Miep gave him Anne's diary. On June 25, 1946, the first version of Anne's diary, edited by her father, was published as Het Achterhuis. On May 3, 1960, 263 Prinsengracht opened as the Anne Frank House (Jacobson 146-148).
Anne's legacy lives on in her diary, capturing hearts and minds across the world.
The 29 editions of Anne's diary shown below are all available at the online store at www.annefrank.net.
The Diary of a Young Girl
By Anne Frank
Published: 1947
Awards:
ALA Best Books for Young Adults - Nonfiction (1996)
Since its original publication, Anne Frank’s diary has been published and republished in a variety of formats. There is the original edition, the Enriched Classic edition, the Critical Edition, the Revised Critical Edition, the Definitive Edition, a version with related readings, the Cliff Notes version, and even an acting edition. Some editions are more comprehensive in scope. The Revised Critical Edition, for example, contains three versions of the diary: Anne’s original diary, Anne’s editing of her original diary, and the first version that was edited and published by her father. The first publication of the diary excluded many passages that her father deemed inappropriate for publication: “several passages dealing with Anne’s sexuality were omitted; at the time of the diary’s initial publication, in 1947, it was not customary to write openly about sex, and certainly not in books for young adults. Out of respect for the dead, Otto Frank also omitted a number of unflattering passages about his wife and the other residents of the Secret Annex” (Forward viii*). The diary, in its entirety, is available in the Critical (and Revised Critical) Edition, and the Definitive Edition. Since its publication, the diary has been challenged for its authenticity – with some people claiming it was written by Otto Frank after the war as pro-Jewish propaganda. Therefore, extensive research has been done to prove that it was, in fact, written by Anne Frank. Both Critical Editions include the results of these studies. The Critical and Definitive Editions also include the real names of the people hiding in the Secret Annex, other than the pseudonyms assigned by Anne when she went through and edited her diary.
*This quotation is from the Forward of The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. The author of the forward is not given. For the general book citation, see the listing of this title under the "Books" section on the Citations page.
Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography
By Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón
Published: 2010
Awards:
Sydney Taylor - Notable Book for Teen Readers (2011)
This graphic novel account of The Diary of Anne Frank incorporates some of Anne’s recorded thoughts, but also includes a brief history of her parents, and “Snapshots” and little bits of history, placing Anne’s story into the framework of the outside world of the Nazi occupation. Using extensive research, the book also reveals what happened to the Frank and van Pels families after they were discovered, including the publication and success of Anne’s diary. Some of the images are drawn depictions of actual photographs of Anne and her family, while other panels are combinations of images and drawings. Together, they bring a new life to Anne’s famous tale.
Published: 2010
Awards:
Sydney Taylor - Notable Book for Teen Readers (2011)
This graphic novel account of The Diary of Anne Frank incorporates some of Anne’s recorded thoughts, but also includes a brief history of her parents, and “Snapshots” and little bits of history, placing Anne’s story into the framework of the outside world of the Nazi occupation. Using extensive research, the book also reveals what happened to the Frank and van Pels families after they were discovered, including the publication and success of Anne’s diary. Some of the images are drawn depictions of actual photographs of Anne and her family, while other panels are combinations of images and drawings. Together, they bring a new life to Anne’s famous tale.
Reviews:
“The full-color graphic biography of Anne, whose Holocaust-era diary has been read by millions, goes beyond the time period she recounts about the two years hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex in a building in Amsterdam…Working from letters, photos and documents supplied by the Frank museum in Amsterdam, which commissioned the project, the biography is as visually and historically accurate as possible – down to the clothing worn by the Franks, the military uniforms of the Nazis, the furniture and layout of the Franks’ secret apartment, and Bergen-Belsen” (Memmott).
Anne Frank and the Children of the Holocaust
By Carol Ann Lee
Published: 2006
One of many books by Carol Ann Lee about the Frank family, this book describes the early lives of the Franks before they went into hiding. Their story is woven into the tapestry of the events in Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, and the decisions and proclamations leading to World War II and the Holocaust. Lee also includes stories of other youth whose lives, families, and futures were destroyed by the Holocaust, as she includes testimonies from diaries and interviews from a variety of people. Some of these people knew the Frank family, and have helped uncover the horrors inflicted on millions of people, and to piece together the final months of the Anne Frank and her companions from the Secret Annex.
Published: 2006
One of many books by Carol Ann Lee about the Frank family, this book describes the early lives of the Franks before they went into hiding. Their story is woven into the tapestry of the events in Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, and the decisions and proclamations leading to World War II and the Holocaust. Lee also includes stories of other youth whose lives, families, and futures were destroyed by the Holocaust, as she includes testimonies from diaries and interviews from a variety of people. Some of these people knew the Frank family, and have helped uncover the horrors inflicted on millions of people, and to piece together the final months of the Anne Frank and her companions from the Secret Annex.
Reviews:
“While the events in the annex are more referenced than recalled, the description of the Franks’ experience after their deportation is presented here with horrific detail. The inclusion of other children’s accounts adds depth to the narrative and universalizes many of the truths recalled in Anne’s tale…This might nevertheless function as an independent read for students deeply engaged in the topic or just looking to expand beyond Anne Frank, and it would also juxtapose nicely with Bartoletti’s Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow” (Morrison).
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary - A Photographic Remembrance
By Ruud van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven for the Anne Frank House
Published: 1993
Awards:
ALA Notable Book of the Year
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers
Christopher Award - Books for Young People (1994)
Booklist Editors' Choice
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book (1993)
Mildred L. Batchelder - Honor Book (1994)
Sydney Taylor - Notable Book for Older Readers (1993)
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary gives readers a glimpse of Anne’s life outside of the diary-self we all know. Using photographs of Anne, her family, and the other people in hiding, alongside excerpts from Anne’s diary, Anne is brought to life in a new light, and we can see her as more than just a girl in hiding. Anna Quindlen, who provides an introduction to the book states it best:
“There is something so humanizing about these photographs. In them Anne has not yet passed into historical legend. In them the Annex becomes a building again, narrow and unprepossessing. We see the diary with all its teenage blemishes, not transcribed neatly on the page but pocked with pasted pictures, scribbled and haphazard, the work of a girl, not a symbol, not a metaphor…As we grew, and as the legend grew as well, Anne Frank had in some essential way ceased to be an ordinary person. These pictures make her whole again: one little Jewish girl, one life growing, thriving, struggling to break the surface of its soil like a seedling just at the time the soil was poisoned. The failed flowering means more with the seeds. Seeing the baby Anne, the smiling Anne, the free Anne, makes her life all that much more ordinary. And that much more heroic and heartbreaking” (xi-xii).
Through this book, we also get to see inside the Annex, as it looked while Anne and the others were hiding in it (temporarily furnished for the pictures), and as it looks now: devoid of furniture, but still alive with the memories Anne has provided. The final chapter reveals the fate of the eight people who were hiding in the Secret Annex, as well as the publication and success of Anne’s diary.
Published: 1993
Awards:
ALA Notable Book of the Year
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers
Christopher Award - Books for Young People (1994)
Booklist Editors' Choice
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book (1993)
Mildred L. Batchelder - Honor Book (1994)
Sydney Taylor - Notable Book for Older Readers (1993)
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary gives readers a glimpse of Anne’s life outside of the diary-self we all know. Using photographs of Anne, her family, and the other people in hiding, alongside excerpts from Anne’s diary, Anne is brought to life in a new light, and we can see her as more than just a girl in hiding. Anna Quindlen, who provides an introduction to the book states it best:
“There is something so humanizing about these photographs. In them Anne has not yet passed into historical legend. In them the Annex becomes a building again, narrow and unprepossessing. We see the diary with all its teenage blemishes, not transcribed neatly on the page but pocked with pasted pictures, scribbled and haphazard, the work of a girl, not a symbol, not a metaphor…As we grew, and as the legend grew as well, Anne Frank had in some essential way ceased to be an ordinary person. These pictures make her whole again: one little Jewish girl, one life growing, thriving, struggling to break the surface of its soil like a seedling just at the time the soil was poisoned. The failed flowering means more with the seeds. Seeing the baby Anne, the smiling Anne, the free Anne, makes her life all that much more ordinary. And that much more heroic and heartbreaking” (xi-xii).
Through this book, we also get to see inside the Annex, as it looked while Anne and the others were hiding in it (temporarily furnished for the pictures), and as it looks now: devoid of furniture, but still alive with the memories Anne has provided. The final chapter reveals the fate of the eight people who were hiding in the Secret Annex, as well as the publication and success of Anne’s diary.