Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition

Written by Anne Frank

Narrated by Selma Blair

THE DEFINITIVE EDITION • Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, the remarkable diary that has become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.

Updated for the 75th Anniversary of the Diary’s first publication with a new introduction by Nobel Prize–winner Nadia Murad

“The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust ... remains astonishing and excruciating.”—The New York Times Book Review

In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: May 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9780739368152

Anne Frank

Annelies Marie «Anne» Frank, más conocida como Anne Frank (Frankfurt, 12 de junio de 1929 - Bergen-Belsen, 12 de marzo de 1945) fue una niña judía nacida en Alemania, célebre por su diario, escrito mientras se encontraba oculta en un desván junto a su familia para evadir la persecución de los nazis durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Los Frank fueron capturados y llevados a distintos campos de concentración alemanes, donde murieron todos salvo el padre, Otto. Anne fue enviada a Auschwitz el 2 de septiembre de 1944 y trasladada posteriormente al campo de Bergen-Belsen. Allí falleció de fiebre tifoidea el 12 de marzo de 1945, días antes de que Holanda fuera liberada.

Reviews for Anne Frank

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank

"Grow up, Anne." - Melissa Snyder

Here's the thing to me: Anne isn't remarkable. She's just a girl trapped in a heinous situation. And while people are really good at heart sometimes, they'll also throw anyone on a train to death sometimes. It's not either, it's both. And, had Anne lived, I guess she would have learned that. For the rest of us, another good reminder not to be complicit.

***

This morning (3/7/11), as she was leaving for school, the Possum was telling me about the various Holocaust memoirs she's been reading for English and/or Social Studies. Her comment on Anne was very apt, I thought: "There's nothing about the war in it. If it were fiction, it'd be realistic modern." Yeah, I can see that it's more like a middle grade novel than a war memoir.

[jgcorrea-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story is compelling. We get to see a 13 year old girl develop while hiding in the back attic of an apartment during the Holocaust. We see her go though all the emotional and developmental changes that teenage girls go through. We get to know about her dream of being a reporter. Her appreciation for the Dutch people for not only hiding them, but taking them in as refuges before the Germans conquered the country. Anne expresses her disassociation with her parents and the mixed feelings that age brings to a parent-child relationship. It is all there - pain, hope, frustration, happiness.

[mmodine-317038 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"I want to go on living even after my death."

I got the chance to visit Amsterdam in 2024 and see the Secret Annexe. It was an amazing and heart-rending experience, as was reading Anne's diary again some 40 years after I first slogged through it in middle school (I think). It boggles the mind how something like this should be subject to book bans just because it talks about Anne Frank having her period and confessing to her feelings of attraction to both boys and girls. It boggles the mind how anyone in the world can go on espousing the views of the N*zis even after the world fought and won and war against those views.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"The Diary of a Young Girl" was an interesting read about a young Jewish girl who had to go into hiding with her family for two years. Sadly, Anne annoyed me, especially at the start. However, throughout the story, he did mature, displaying wisdom, honesty, strength and self-awareness later in the book. I did question who wrote the journal, as her use of language and knowledge of words were far beyond her years. If Anne did write it, her entries have been heavily edited over the years.

Historically, "The Diary of a Young Girl" is an important book, giving a first-hand account of events during the Nazi reign but, and I feel guilty saying this, I found much of the diary tedious. The bickering and arguments between the various people hiding in the secret annexe were constant and many of Anne's musings were trivial. However, the last diary entry was haunting. Her entries just stop, and knowing what happened to Anne afterwards is heartbreaking.

[radiojen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hard to believe this book was written by a 12, 13, 14 and 15 year old girl. She was 12 when she started writing in her diary, and almost 16 when her family was captured and the writings ended. I have no doubt she would have been an incredibly successful writer had she been given the opportunity.

I laughed at Anne's descriptions of Mrs. Van Daan, I was amazed at her self-awareness (particularly toward the end of the book), and was really happy that she found a trusted friend in Peter.

If I didn't already have a sense of what was going on in the background with the war and the German occupation, I probably would have been a little lost. I think perhaps the last part of the book (a few pages of writings following the diary) should go toward the beginning to help set the stage.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Amsterdam and took a tour of the Anne Frank House. I could have spent HOURS there. It really made the book come alive for me, and I even went back and read a few pages over again so I could fully understand where they slept, ate and bathed. Hard to believe they spent such a long time in these quarters. Oh, and when she describes the stairs as steep, she's not kidding. They almost go straight up like a ladder! They didn't allow photographs to be taken inside the house, or I'd gladly share photos with you.

This is one of those books that I wish I'd read as a kid, but am so glad I discovered as an adult. I'll probably end up reading it again down the road.

[mykl8s · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book, and a story, hard to read and hard not to read.

[rostie-672070 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

May we never repeat this history

[eavans-914612 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This really is a teen girl's diary, in all its glory.

[kslade-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good biography of a hidden Jewish girl and her family in Amsterdam. I read a couple more later in 2010 about her. The diary is not quite what I thought it was!

[debbie13410 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was so engrossed in the diary I began to root for Anne even knowing her fate.

[rostie2020 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

May we never repeat this history

[angelalam-300700 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A stark look at the Holocaust through the eyes of a hopeful teenage girl.

[oldandnewbooksmell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First off, you can't really review a diary, now can you? These are simply my thoughts and connections I had with Anne.

I studied writing in college (have a degree in Fiction Writing) and one of the common questions that would rise was - would you let others read your journals or would you read theirs? My answer was always "No" to letting others read mine - at least until I was way past gone and there was no one else alive that personally knew me. I then battled with the answer for authors, and honestly, I try to keep the same route unless the author says otherwise. I've read a ton of historical fiction based in World War II, I've watched movies, I've seen documentaries, I've even watched the multiple versions of this diary's adaptation, but I hadn't ever read the book. Until now.

It came up a lot, surprisedly, while in quarantine. Online, when people would whine about being stuck inside and not being able to go out, people brought up Anne and the others hidden away in the Secret Annex for 761 days. After doing research on it, I discovered it was Anne's wish to publish this diary. She didn't get to edit the entire thing, but she had gotten started. She writes in her diary how she wanted to be a journalist and share this with the world. That's the only reason I felt okay reading her diary.

That being said, reading this diary was like talking with a friend. Anne had such a perspective on life that was way beyond her years. I almost always forgot she started this diary as a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl and it ended shortly after fifteen. She made me laugh and smile, she made me really think of the world, even 75 years later. For someone who was in hiding for her life, she really did try to hold on to hope.

"...But I looked out of the open window too, over a large area of Amsterdam, over all the roofs and on the horizon, which was such a pale blue that it was hard to see the dividing line. "As long as this exists," I thought, "and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy." (23 February, 1944)

Anne went through important milestones in her life while being constantly under watch by some adult. You think being a teenager is hard enough, add being the youngest and having every adult you're even remotely close to hovering over your shoulder. She mentions a few times where she was just in a cranky mood but felt like she couldn't justify it and therefore would have to say she had a headache or something when the adults asked. Nothing was private.

All I can say is that I'm thankful for Anne for keeping this diary. She may have passed, but she still lives on, and will continue to live on as long as we keep sharing these stories.

"We all live, but we don't know the why or the wherefore. We all live with the object of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. We three have been brought up to good circles, we have the chance to learn, the possibility of attaining something, we have all reason to hope for much happiness, but... we must earn it for ourselves. And that is never easy. You must work and do good, not be lazy and gamble, if you wish to earn happiness. Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction." (6 July, 1944).

[caseybp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an unbelievable and beautiful account of life in war. I read the book on the dates prescribed. As one reads the diary it is easy to see this young girl go through the trials of maturing while trying to stand her circumsatance. Anne Frank's voice reaches to us to this day and will always be relevant as a triumph of humanity.

[andorion-259107 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The toughest part about reading this book was reading all of Anne's thoughts, dreams and ambitions and then looking at the date of the entry and realizing how little time she had left.

[lara9it · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the few "suggested" book from school that I really liked!

[betsy_crumley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reading again through my 13 year old son's eyes-school assignment-Since being a mother of a teenager I see this book's light so differently...amazing how no matter who or where you are in time or space-navigating the ages of 13-15 is eerily similar...something my son picked up on--I was still caught up in the impending events, emotion, love of Anne's spirit, and the doom...he picked up on what he needed and every young adult needs during this crazy ride they are on...

[bloodmoney138 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Assigning a rating to this book just feels inherently sort of...off so I'll just slap it with a middling grade, plus half a point for its importance, and call it a day.

[lisa8025 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really love this book. I read this book when i was younger and I read it again a few years ago. It's a very good book. A very inspirational true story. Her story is very sad and i really admire her strength. I don't know if i could have been as strong as she was. She had so much hope and had so many dreams and I feel so bad that her life was cut short. No kid in this world deserves that. She truly is an inspiration to me and I always remember her story. Whenever I feel down about something, I try to remember that she had it worst and still she never lost hope. God bless her!

[tammyhil · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the few books I remember reading in 5th (or 6th) grade. Working on the play w/a Jewish director nearly 40 years later was an amazing experience.

[linyarai · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this for the "a historical non-fiction book" part of my 2018 reading challenge. I think I enjoyed it more now than I did when I read it in school, Anne's diary is a terrific reflection of all girls growing up, and the additional trials of living in close quarters with other people.

[sumisbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good historical reference. A bit dry to read through in it's entirety. Interesting that it came from a teenage girl (age 13 - 15). I think this is one that everyone should read at least once.

[siok-76276 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book at Anne Frank House during my visit there. The book contains Anne's diary entries written when she and her family hid from the Nazis in a shophouse sealed from the outside world. I learned to be grateful and thankful for my life after reading her diary, after all, I have the freedom to move and do what I want.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book had a profound impact on me when I read it as a youngster. If we ever forget the horrors of the Holocaust this is one book that will bring it back. It tells the true story of the author's hiding (with her family) from the Nazis for 2 years. They could not go outside, they couldn't even move during the day for fear someone in the offices downstairs would hear them and report them. And then the diary comes to an abrupt end because someone did report them.

I visited the building where Anne lived for those two years when I was in Amsterdam. The upstairs apartments have been left just as they were when the Nazis came. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life.

[varwenea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“I want to go on living even after my death!” – Anne Frank, April 4, 1944. She has far exceeded her expectations.

It is unnecessary to write a review of a person’s diary, especially when it’s the historical phenomenon of Anne Frank. My words here are perhaps notes more for myself than a review for my fellow LT users. Had she survived, I surmise that she would have been awarded a Nobel Peace prize, carrying on the message of peace and understanding, preventing these atrocities from repeating in the future, which is what Otto Frank did in his remaining years.

About the diary version, mine is “version b” the most common variant, a paperback stocked by the book shop at the Anne Frank House; this contains the editorial passages that Anne inserted upon her re-read and wanted her diary to be thorough and to be a reference for her future book, ‘The Secret Annexe’. It also has full content including her blossoming sexuality.

The diary was certainly intriguing. The first half was solid with historical notations, the specifics of living a life in hiding, and the relationships, interactions, frustrations, angst amongst those in hiding. I particularly enjoyed learning about their saintly helpers. The third quarter dragged for this reader as much of it was her pining for Peter van Daan. The last quarter contained her most mature and elaborate thoughts about war, its effects, the destruction.

Despite knowing the aftermath, I cried like a faucet reading the 'Afterword' and 'The Legacy of Anne Frank'.

Let’s close with these words from Anne, on July 15, 1944, shortly before they were taken on August 4, 1944:
“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 will end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I’ll be able to realize them!”

[tony2704 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great story of one family's struggle against Nazi Germany, a fantastic recollection of events

[katie1802 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The thing I am most grateful for is that I read this while I was still her age. It gave me a perspective on her thoughts and emotions that is difficult to articulate. This girl was an amazingly talented writer. Sometimes I like to just take out the book and read her last entry. It is just so amazing, describing feelings I have had at many points in my life. It's almost like she knew it was her last few days of freedom. It just feels sooo, sooo..........final.

[elleayess-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an amazing classic of the human spirit. As most children, I read this in middle school and still revisit the book decades later. Funny how one simple girl could have such an effect on future generations never really meaning to.

[drmaf-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What to say about a book that hasn't already been said, and is without doubt one of the most important booksof the 20th century? My own expereince is that I first read it when I was about the same age as Anne and it had an immediate impact on me. I think its the ultimate optmism of Anne, her belief that despite all she has endured that people are basically decent. How many of us undergoing the same ordeal could believe as much?

[littleton_pace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was one of those classics that I had always read pieces of and never the full thing. Having found the book on my mother's book shelf, I decided to read it fully and it was definitely worth it. A heartbreaking window in the mind of a vivacious adolescent girl in the mix of one of the worst acts of human cruelty and indecensry in history.

Often Anne laments on how crazy the world around her is, and how nice things would be if they were normal and everyone got along. A childish hope, perhaps, but one that deserves to be remembered and acted upon. This child did not deserve her fate, and her eloquence and maturity in the pages of her journal reflect what an incredible force for the good of humanity she may have become. But perhaps not, perhaps if she had survived she would just be remembered as one of the lucky ones who made it out, and her personal thoughts would have remained her own.

Due to her tragic death, we are given the honour of reading the pages of her diary and remembering that what happened to her and her family, her people, was a complete and utter waste of generous lives.