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Summary
Summary
The candid, poignant, unforgettable writing of the young girl whose own life story has become an everlasting source of courage and inspiration.
Hiding from the Nazis in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building in Amsterdam, a thirteen-year-old girl named Anne Frank became a writer. The now famous diary of her private life and thoughts reveals only part of Anne's story, however. This book rounds out the portrait of this remarkable and talented young author.
Newly translated, complete, and restored to the original order in which Anne herself wrote them in her notebook, Tales from the Secret Annex is a collection of Anne Frank's lesser-known writings: short stories, fables, personal reminiscences, and an unfinished novel, Cady's Life .
From the Paperback edition.
Summary
Hiding from the Nazis in the secret annex of an old office building in Amsterdam, a 13-year-old girl named Anne Frank became a writer. The now famous diary of her private life and thoughts reveals only part of Anne's story, however. Tales From the Secret Annex rounds out the portrait of the remarkable and talented young author. Newly translated, complete, and restored to the original order in which Anne herself wrote them in her notebook, it's a collection of Anne Frank's lesser-known writings.
Author Notes
Anne Frank, June 1929 - March 1945 Anneliesse Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. She was the second daughter of Otto and Edith Frank. Anne's father was a factory worker, who moved his family to Amsterdam in 1933 to escape the Nazi's. There he opened up a branch of his uncle's company and Anne and her sister Margot resumed a normal life, attending a Montessori School in Amsterdam.
The Germans attacked the Netherlands in 1940 and took control, issuing anti-Jewish decrees, and forcing the Frank sisters into a Jewish Lyceum instead of their old school. Their father Otto decided to find a place for the family to hide should the time come that the Nazi's came to take them to a concentration camp. He chose the annex above his offices and found some trustworthy friends among his fellow workers to supply the family with food and news. On July 5, 1942, Margot received a "call up" to serve in the Nazi "work camp." The next day, the family escaped to the annex, welcoming another family, the van Pels, which consisted of Hermann and Auguste van Pels and their son Peter. Fritz Pfeffer also came to stay with them, causing the count to come to eight people hiding in the annex.
Anne, Margot and Peter continued their studies under the tutelage of Otto, and all of the captives found ways to entertain themselves for the long years they remained hidden. On August 4, 1944, four Dutch Nazis came to arrest the eight, having discovered their hiding place through an informant. Anne's diary was left behind and found later by one of the family's friends. The eight were taken to prison in Amsterdam and then deported to Westerbork before being shipped to Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, the men were separated from the women and Hermann van Pels was immediately gassed. Fritz Pfeffer died at Neuenganme in 1944.
Anne, Margot and Mrs. van Pels were taken to Bergen-Belson, leaving behind Anne's mother, Edith, who died at Auschwitz of starvation and exhaustion in 1945. At Bergen-Belson, Anne and Margot contracted typhus and died of the disease in March of 1945. Anne was 15 and Margot was 17. The exact date and the place they were buried is unknown. Otto Frank was the only one of the original group of eight who were hidden in the annex to survive. He was left for dead at Auschwitz when the Russian Army came to liberate the camp. It is due to him that Anne's diary was published and became the success it is.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (1)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-Kathe Mazur enchants listeners with her skillful narration of some of the lesser-known writings by Anne Frank, author of the now world-famous diary in which she recorded her thoughts, fears, and joys while in hiding from the Nazis during the Second World War. The precocious and talented 13-year-old also penned a variety of short stories, fables, personal reminiscences, and reflections-all of which provide additional insight into her life and character and testify to the depth of her writing abilities. This collection (Bantam, pap. 1994) also includes her unfinished novel, Cady's Life. Many of the selections detail the personalities of the others trapped in hiding with Anne, including Mr. and Mrs. van Daan and their son Peter, Mr. Dussel, and Anne's parents and sister Margot. In clear and humorous prose, Anne manages to capture and make interesting even the smallest moments of her life "in the attic." Mazur's voice portrays a young girl on the verge of womanhood, by turns both wistful and willful, and struggling against great odds to live a life as normal as possible. This would make a wonderful companion piece for students reading the diary for the first time as well as a listening treat for devotees of the better known work.-Cindy Lombardo, Cleveland Public Library, OH Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Was There a Break-in? Wednesday evening, March 24, 1943 Mother, Father, Margot and I were sitting quite pleasantly together when Peter suddenly came in and whispered in Father's ear. I caught the words "a barrel falling over in the warehouse" and "someone fiddling with the door." Margot heard it too, but was trying to calm me down, since I'd turned white as chalk and was extremely nervous. The three of us waited. In the meantime Father and Peter went downstairs, and a minute or two later Mrs. van Daan came up from where she'd been listening to the radio. She told us that Pim had asked her to switch it off and tiptoe upstairs. But you know what happens when you're trying to be quiet--the old stairs creaked twice as loud. Five minutes later Peter and Pim, the color drained from their faces, appeared again to relate their experiences. They had positioned themselves under the staircase and waited. Nothing happened. Then all of a sudden they heard a couple of bangs, as if two doors had been slammed shut inside the house. Pim bounded up the stairs, while Peter went to warn Dussel, who finally presented himself upstairs, though not without kicking up a fuss and making a lot of noise. Then we all tiptoed in our stockinged feet to the van Daan family on the next floor. Mr. van D. had a bad cold and had already gone to bed, so we gathered around his bedside and discussed our suspicions in a whisper. Every time Mr. van D. coughed loudly, Mrs. van D. and I nearly had a nervous fit. He kept coughing until someone came up with the bright idea of giving him codeine. His cough subsided immediately. Once again we waited and waited, but heard nothing. Finally we came to the conclusion that the burglars had fled when they heard footsteps in an otherwise quiet building. The problem now was that the chairs in the private office were neatly grouped round the radio, which was tuned to England. If the burglars had forced the door and the air-raid wardens were to notice it and call the police, that would get the ball rolling, and there could be very serious repercussions. So Mr. van Daan got up, pulled on his coat and pants, put on his hat and cautiously followed Father down the stairs, with Peter (armed with a heavy hammer, to be on the safe side) right behind him. The ladies (including Margot and me) waited in suspense until the men returned five minutes later and told us that there was no sign of any activity in the building. We agreed not to run any water or flush the toilet; but since everyone's stomach was churning from all the tension, you can imagine the stench after we'd each had a turn in the bathroom. Incidents like these are always accompanied by other disasters, and this was no exception. Number one: the Westertoren bells stopped chiming, and they were always so comforting. Plus Mr. Voskuijl left early last night, and we weren't sure if he'd given Bep the key and she'd forgotten to lock the door. Well, the night had just begun, and we still weren't sure what to expect. We were somewhat reassured by the fact that between eight-fifteen--when the burglar had first entered the building--and ten-thirty, we hadn't heard a sound. The more we thought about it, the less likely it seemed that a burglar would have forced a door so early in the evening, when there were still people out on the streets. Besides that, it occurred to us that the warehouse manager at the Keg Company next door might still have been at work. What with the excitement and the thin walls, it's easy to mistake the sounds. Besides, your imagination often plays tricks on you in moments of danger. So we lay down on our beds, though not to sleep. Father and Mother and Mr. Dussel were awake most of the night, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I hardly got a wink of sleep. This morning the men went downstairs to see if the outside door was still locked, but all was well! Of course, Excerpted from Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex by Anne Frank All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
