July/August 1943
Sunday, 11 July, 1943
Anne is upset at the criticism she receives even when she tries to be good. She and Margot are doing office work. She writes about how much books and radio mean to her.
Tuesday, 13 July, 1943
She asks Dussel politely if she can use their little table, but he refuses. Anne negotiates persistently and is surprised with how small-minded he is for an adult.
Friday, 16 July, 1943
Burglars steal money, sugar coupons, and checkbooks from the offices downstairs. Luckily, nothing is taken from the Secret Annexe.
Monday, 19 July, 1943
Anne is horrified to hear of the destruction of North Amsterdam, and of all of the deaths and orphans, and she recalls the sound of the trains headed for the concentration camps.
Topic Tracking: Holocaust 15
Friday, 23 July, 1943
They talk about their first wish for when they are allowed outside again. Margot and Mr. Van Daan: a hot bath, Mrs. Van Daan: cream cakes, Dussel: his wife, Mummy: coffee, Peter: town and cinema, Daddy: seeing Vossen, and Anne: a home of her own and school.
Topic Tracking: Optimism 10
Monday, 26 July, 1943
There is a warning siren at breakfast, and a heavy bombing afterwards. Anne cannot sleep until the bombing and firing stops at two in the morning. She wakes to the news that Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has resigned, and that the King of Italy has taken over. This gives them hope for peace.
Thursday, 29 July, 1943
Anne and Dussel fight over a book which he liked but which she and Margot did not like. He says that she has been brought up wrong and reads unsuitable books and had better hurry up and find a husband.
Tuesday, 3 August, 1943
Political news is good-the Fascist party has been banned in Italy. There is a third air raid. Mrs. Van Daan is cowardly. Anne complains that her body is stiff and out of shape.
Wednesday, 4 August, 1943
Anne begins to describe an ordinary day in the Annexe, starting in the evening: Nine p.m. they set up beds. There is creaking and thundering. Anne performs her beauty routine in the bathroom:
"Quickly into dressing gown, soap in one hand, pottie, hairpins, pants, curlers, and cotton wool in the other, I hurry out of the bathroom; but usually I'm called back once for the various hairs which decorate the washbasin in graceful curves, but which are not approved of by the next person." Wednesday, 4 August, 1943, pg. 86
Lights out at ten. At half past eleven, Dussel returns from work. Three a.m., Anne goes to the bathroom, Dussel breathes like a fish out of water, and she hears gunfire and runs to Daddy. They wake at quarter to seven.
Thursday, 5 August, 1943
At half past twelve, Margot and Daddy read, and others clean. At one, they listen to the
radio, and at quarter past one, they eat soup and hear news from Mr. Koophuis.
Monday, 9 August, 1943
The evening meal: Mr. Van Daan takes a lot of food, and is a know-it-all. Madame (Mrs. Van Daan) acts foolish and flirty. Peter eats like a bottomless pit and is very quiet. Margot eats little. Mummy eats and talks well. Daddy is unassuming and a great contrast with Dussel, who is nervous and impatient. Elli is always cheerful and cleans her plate.
Topic Tracking: Family 14
Tuesday, 10 August, 1943
Anne has taken to being quiet at mealtimes so that she is not criticized. Her favorite clocktower bell has stopped chiming. She has new shoes that are admired by all. Dussel endangers them by asking Miep to bring a forbidden book criticizing Hitler and Mussolini.
Wednesday, 18 August, 1943
They peel potatoes together. Mrs. Van Daan tries to flirt with Dussel and she also quarrels loudly with Mr. Van Daan. The Franks try hard not to laugh at them.
Friday, 20 August, 1943
Anne continues the timetable. Half past five, Elli comes to tell them that the warehouse is empty. Quarter to six, they set up to do their work.
Monday, 23 August, 1943
Quarter to eight in the morning, bathroom routine again, and afterwards a bit of family life, with the Franks all reading together, and after that, breakfast at nine.
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