Anne's Diary
(Heller)
July 5, 1942 (1 day before going into hiding)
"A few days ago, as we were taking a stroll through the neighborhood square, Father began to talk about going into hiding. He said it would be very hard for us to live cut off from the rest of the world. I asked him why he was bringing this up now."
“Well Anne,” He replied, “you know that for more than a year we’ve been sending our clothes, food and furniture to other people. We don’t want our belongings to be seized by the Germans. Nor do we want to fall into clutches ourselves. So we’ll leave our own accord and not wait to be hauled away."
“But when, Father?” He sounds so serious that I felt scared."
“Don’t you worry. We’ll take care of everything. Just enjoy your care free life while you can."
(Frank)
July 8, 1942 (2 days after going into hiding, talking about her experience preparing to go to the Secret Annex)
"I was exhausted and even though I knew it’d be my last night in my own bed, I fell asleep right away and didn’t wake up until mother called me at 5:30 the next morning. Fortunately, it wasn’t as hot as Sunday; a warm rain fell throughout the day. The four of us were wrapped in so many layers of clothes it looked as if we were going off to spend the night in a refrigerator, and all that just so we could take more clothes with us. No Jew in our situation would dare leave the house with a suitcase full of clothes. I was wearing two vests, three pairs of pants, a dress and over that a skirt, a jacket, a raincoat, two pairs of stockings, heavy shoes, a cap, a scarf and lots more. I was suffocating even before we left the house, but no one bothered to ask me how I felt."
"Margot stuffed her school bag with school books, went to get her bicycle and, with Miep leading the way, rode off into the the great unknown. At any rate, that’s how I thought of it, since I still didn’t know where our hiding place was."
(Frank)
September 29, 1942 (About 3 months in hiding)
"Dearest Kitty,
"The strangest things happen to you when you’re in hiding! Try to picture this. Because we don’t have a bath, we wash ourselves in a tin tub, and because there’s only hot water in the office (by which I mean the entire lower floor), the seven of us take turns making the most of this great opportunity."
(Frank)