Anne frank's Diary excerpts
"Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves.
The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars
to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they're sending all the
Jews....If it's that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and
uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most of
them are being murdered. The English radio says they're being gassed."
-
October 9, 1942
On Nazi Punishment of Resisters
"Have you ever heard the term 'hostages'? That's the latest punishment for
saboteurs. It's the most horrible thing you can imagine. Leading
citizens--innocent people--are taken prisoner to await their execution. If the
Gestapo can't find the saboteur, they simply grab five hostages and line them up
against the wall. You read the announcements of their death in the paper, where
they're referred to as 'fatal accidents'."
- October 9, 1942
"All college students are being asked to sign an official statement to the
effect that they 'sympathize with the Germans and approve of the New Order."
Eighty percent have decided to obey the dictates of their conscience, but the
penalty will be severe. Any student refusing to sign will be sent to a German
labor camp."
- May 18, 1943
On Writing and Her Diary
"Mr. Bolkestein, the Cabinet Minister, speaking on the Dutch broadcast from
London, said that after the war a collection would be made of diaries and
letters dealing with the war. Of course, everyone pounced on my diary."
- March 29, 1944
"When I write, I can shake off all my cares."
- April 5,
1944
Describing her Despair
"I've reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die. The world
will keep on turning without me, and I can't do anything to change events
anyway. I'll just let matters take their course and concentrate on studying and
hope that everything will be all right in the end."
- February 3,
1944
"...but the minute I was alone I knew I was going to cry my eyes out. I slid
to the floor in my nightgown and began by saying my prayers, very fervently.
Then I drew my knees to my chest, lay my head on my arms and cried, all huddled
up on the bare floor. A loud sob brought me back down to earth..."
-
April 5, 1944
On Her Old Country, Germany
"Fine specimens of humanity, those Germans, and to think I'm actually one of
them! No, that's not true, Hitler took away our nationality long ago. And
besides, there are no greater enemies on earth than the Germans and
Jews."
- October 9, 1942
On Still Believing
"It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and
impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of
everything, that people are truly good at heart.
It’s utterly impossible
for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the
world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder
that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet,
when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the
better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return
once more"
- July 15, 1944