What was it like to live in the hideout—or the Secret Annex as it was called?
First of all, the hideout was small. Although on two floors, the entire space was only fifty square yards. Behind the secret door were two rooms, one with a stove and sink, and the bathroom. A floor above had two more narrow little rooms, one for Edith and Otto, the other for Margot and Anne. Luckily Anne’s postcards and movie star photos were waiting for her.
Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
Her father had brought the postcards beforehand. So Anne pasted up as many as she could on the bare walls to make her room more cheerful.
Food supplies were stored in the attic, which had two small windows. From one window Anne could see a tall clock tower. From the other was a view of a large chestnut tree. The attic became the place where Anne would often go to be alone and think.
One of the very first things Anne and her father did was sew rough curtains over the windows. They could not risk people outside noticing them. During the day, everyone in the Annex had to walk barefoot and whisper. No one could use the toilet or turn on a faucet from nine in the morning to seven at night. People working in the office building might hear them. Anne said everyone was “as quiet as baby mice.” Trash was burned in the stove. It had to be done after dark because smoke coming out of the chimney might attract notice.
It was a cramped space with just the Franks in it. Then a week later another family joined them. They were friends of the Franks—Mr. and Mrs. Van Pels and their only child, fifteen-year-old Peter. Peter had brought his cat, Mouschi.
Five months later one more person joined the group: a man named Fritz Pfeffer. Anne thought he was stuffy and boring.
THE VAN PELS FAMILY
Nevertheless, Anne ended up having to share her room with Mr. Pfeffer while Margot moved in with her parents.
FRITZ PFEFFER
Miep was going to be the Franks’ main link to the outside world. She was one of four helpers. Besides Miep there was another young woman from the pectin company named Bep, and the two men who now ran Otto’s business. Their names were Victor and Johannes. The helpers were putting their own lives at risk. But they would do whatever possible for their friends.
BEP VOSKUIJL
MIEP GIES
Miep usually came first thing in the morning while the offices were still empty. She got the day’s shopping list from Anne’s mother or from Mrs. Van Pels. At lunchtime she or one of the other helpers would return with the groceries. Miep brought books, newspapers, and news of the outside world. Anne was most eager to hear about her friends.
Even though eight people were together all the time, it was lonely in the Annex. Anne and her sister had never been very close. Margot was their mother’s pet. Margot was pretty and intelligent and perfect. Next to her sister, Anne felt she always came out second best. But she and Peter van Pels became good friends. Anne was very happy to have Peter’s company. She later developed a crush on him and wrote to Kitty when Peter kissed her for the very first time. She wrote, “I am not alone any more; he loves me. I love him.”
PETER YAN PELS
During the day Anne and Margot and Peter spent a lot of time reading their schoolbooks. Otto Frank helped with their lessons. There was history, literature, foreign languages, geography, and math. Anne still hated math. But she wanted to keep up with her class. So did Margot and Peter. They hoped to return to school very shortly. Later on they taught themselves shorthand, which is a type of speed writing.
With so many people packed into the Secret Annex, quarrels broke out. It surprised Anne that the grown-ups argued so much. Of course, sometimes the arguments were about Anne. Peter’s parents thought Anne was spoiled. So did Mr. Pfeffer. Edith Frank argued with her younger daughter more than ever. But even if they were boiling mad at one another, nobody could yell or make a scene. It was too dangerous.
At night, sometimes everyone in the Annex went downstairs to the empty offices. It wasn’t the same as going outdoors. But still, Anne could peek out the window and catch sight of people walking on the street.
It was at night, however, that she sometimes felt saddest. She would think about all the things she had lost—her friends, her cat, the feel of sunlight on her skin, the smell of grass and flowers. Anne would pour out her troubles in her diary. She also started writing stories about life in the Annex, stories about her childhood, and even fairy tales that she made up.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Winter came. Anne had been living in the Secret Annex for six months. Now it was dark out by four thirty every afternoon. No lights could be turned on; they might attract attention. To pass the time, Anne and the others told riddles or talked about books they’d read. They even tried to exercise in the dark.
The boredom was terrible. But being bored was not as bad as the fear of being found. One day there was a knock on the door to the Secret Annex. Was it Nazi soldiers? Was everyone going to be arrested? No! Thank goodness it was only one of their helpers. He told them that a carpenter was at work nearby in the offices and not to worry. Another time Peter dropped an enormous fifty-pound sack of beans. The sack opened and beans, beans, and more beans clattered everywhere. Anne thought it was funny. She was up to her ankles in beans. But making any kind of racket was very risky.
At night the loud sound of airplanes could be heard. Anne knew that the planes were Allied planes. They were on their way to bomb towns in Germany. The tide of war had turned against Hitler. Anne’s hope was that Germany would surrender—soon. Still, the noise of the planes frightened her. She would run to her father for comfort. He was the only person in the family who never scolded her. He was always ready to comfort her.
By spring of 1943, food was scarce in the Netherlands. It became harder and harder for Miep and the other helpers to bring supplies to the Annex.
A year had come and gone. Every page in Anne’s diary was filled. But Miep brought more paper so Anne could continue to write to Kitty. What Anne spent time writing about changed. She had become more serious. Her thoughts were often on the war. “What, oh, what is the use of the war, why can’t people live peacefully together . . . ?” she asked Kitty.
Anne herself was changing. She was turning into a young woman. On a wall in her parents’ room were little marks that recorded the girls’ heights. Anne had grown more than five inches! Her clothes were much too small for her. Her mind had grown, too. She was no longer a noisy child.
Another good thing was that Anne didn’t fight so often with her sister. They were becoming friends. Anne was also more understanding toward her mother.
One night Anne was listening to the radio. It was a Dutch broadcast from London. The man said that after the war, diaries and letters would be published. Anne’s dream now was to see her diary turned into a book one day. A book that others would read. To Kitty, she wrote, “You’ve known for a long time that my greatest wish is to become a journalist someday and later on a famous writer. . . . I want to publish a book entitled The Secret Annex after the war; whether I shall succeed or not, I cannot say.”
A FAN OF THE MOVIES
ANNE KEPT A LARGE COLLECTION OF POSTCARDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF MOVIE STARS. SHE LOVED THE MOVIES, AND ONE OF HER FAVORITE STARS WAS A HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS NAMED DEANNA DURBIN, FAMOUS FOR ROLES In FILMS ABOUT TEENAGERS. ANNE WAS ALSO FASCNIATED WITH ROYAL FAMILIES. SHE KEPT A POSTCARD WITH A PICTURE OF PRINCESS ELIZABETH AND PRINCESS MARGARET OF ENGLAND On HER WALL In THE SECRET ANNEX. TODAY, PRINCESS ELIZABETH IS QUEEN ELIZABETH II OF ENGLAND.
DEANNA DURBIN
ANNE SPENT A LOT OF TIME On HER PHOTO COLLECTION AND WAS ALWAYS CHANGING MAGAZINE CLIPPINGS AND POSTCARDS TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING. THE LAST PICTURES SHE HAD On THE WALL ARE STILL THERE.
MIEP AND JAN
MORE THAN ANYTHING, ANNE WANTED MIEP AND HER HUSBAND, JAN, TO SLEEP OVER ONE NIGHT. On THEIR FIRST ANNIVERSARY, THEY DID.
MANY YEARS LATER, MIEP WROTE A BOOK ABOUT THE FRANKS. In IT SHE DESCRIBED WHAT THAT NIGHT WAS LIKE. ANNE WANTED THE EVENING TO BE LIKE A GRAND PARTY. SHE HAD SPECIAL MENUS. EACH PART OF THE MEAL HAD A FANCY NAME. MIEP SAID SHE AND JAN WERE TREATED AS IF THEY WERE MOVIE STARS.
THAT NIGHT THEY WERE GIVEN ANNE’S ROOM TO SLEEP In. THE SECRET ANNEX WAS SO SMALL, MIEP COULD HEAR EVEN THE SMALLEST SOUNDS. A SLIPPER DROPPING OR SOMEONE COUGHING In BED. MIEP CAME TO THE SECRET ANNEX ALMOST EVERY DAY TO SEE HER FRIENDS. JAN HAD BEEN THERE MANY TIMES, TOO. BUT LYING THERE In THE DARK WAS DIFFERENT. MIEP FELT SCARED. ANY LITTLE NOISE STARTLED HER. WAS SOMEONE ABOUT TO BREAK INTO THE SECRET ANNEX? SUDDENLY MIEP BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HIDING WAS LIKE. IT WAS FRIGHTENING! AND MIEP AND JAN JUST DID IT FOR ONE NIGHT. |