May 1944
Tuesday, 2 May, 1944
She and Peterdecide to tell Daddy a bit about their relationship. He tells her to be careful, for Peter is not a strong character and is easily influenced. Anne tells Peter she trusts him as much as Daddy, and worries that he will forget about her when they leave the Annexe. Dussel has apologized to Van Daan. They celebrate his birthday.
Wednesday, 3 May, 1944
There are no new politics. Peter's cat has disappeared. They are eating very little, almost no vegetables. Anne wonders why so much money is spent on war and so little on medical services, the poor, and artists.
"I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone, are guilty of the war. Oh no, the little man is just as guilty, otherwise the peoples of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There's in people simply an urge to destroy, an urge to kill, to murder and rage, until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated, and grown will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again." Wednesday, 3 May, 1944, pg. 201
She is often downcast, but never in despair. She regards hiding as a dangerous adventure, and she can laugh because she is young and strong, with a happy nature.
Topic Tracking: Optimism 23
Friday, 5 May, 1944
She writes Daddy a letter telling him how she has struggled bitterly and can now live completely without being responsible to anyone. When she was struggling, no one helped her. Now, she will go upstairs, and either he forbids it or he trusts her.
Topic Tracking: Family 21
Saturday, 6 May, 1944
The letter upsets Daddy. Food and supplies are getting extremely scarce and expensive.
Sunday, 7 May, 1944
Daddy tells her that her loving parents did not deserve a reproach. Anne feels guilty for being harsh, and her pride is wounded, for she has been taken off the pedestal where she can do no wrong or hurt. She is ashamed of herself and realizes she still has a lot to learn, but that she is not alone, for she has Peter's love and her writing and happy temperament.
Topic Tracking: Family 22
Monday, 8 May, 1944
Mummy and Daddy's families were wealthy. Anne hopes they will still be rich after the war. She wants to study in other countries. Miep tells them of a lavish engagement party she went to, and their mouths water. Anne wonders how the granddaughters of a millionaire are now so poor.
Tuesday, 9 May, 1944
She finishes a short story about a fairy for Daddy's birthday. A woman who works in the office wishes to eat lunch in the office, so they are restricted.
Wednesday, 10 May, 1944
Mouschi the cat uses the wood shavings as a litterbox and the urine drips and just misses the potatoes and the dining room table. They all laugh about it. They hear the Queen of Holland speak, and there is also a prayer for the Jews.
Topic Tracking: Holocaust 18
Thursday, 11 May, 1944
Anne is busy reading about Galileo, Palestine, Charles V, mythology, and the Bible. She is bursting with excitement about learning. She wants to publish her journal as Het Achterhuis, or Secret Annexe, and she wonders if she will ever achieve greatness.
Saturday, 13 May, 1944
Friday was Daddy's birthday. He receives many presents, including books and sweets.
Tuesday, 16 May, 1944
The Van Daans quarrel about the war, and put each other down. Mummy, Anne, and Peter can't help laughing.
Friday, 19 May, 1944
Anne had a stomachache on Thursday. Peter likes kissing even more than she does. She loves him, but he will have to work harder to get her to talk more about her inner self.
Saturday, 20 May, 1944
Water spills on Anne's books, and family trees. She cries, but it turns out to be not as bad as she thought, and she laughs at the fact that her algebra book is destroyed.
Monday, 22 May, 1944
Daddy loses five bottles of yogurt on a bet. They are horrified to hear that Jews are blamed for giving secrets to the Germans, and for the fates suffered by those Christians who hide them. German Jews who emigrated to Holland may have to return. What one Jew does is thrown back at all Jews. Anne does not understand why the Dutch of all people judge them, for she loves Holland, and wishes to make it her homeland.
Thursday, 25 May, 1944
Their vegetable man is picked up for hiding Jews. The world is turned upside down, with innocent people sent to concentration camps. Being hungry is better than being discovered.
Friday, 26 May, 1944
Anne is miserable, alternating between laughing and despairing. They are all extremely tense about the invasion delay, the bad food, and a blocked sewer. She wonders if it would have been better for them not to have gone into hiding, for they are suffering and putting Miep and Henk in danger. Yet they still love life, and have not forgotten about nature and hope. It is just the restlessness that crushes them.
Topic Tracking: Optimism 24
Wednesday, 31 May, 1944
It has been very hot in the Secret Annexe. They are listless and complaining.
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