Writings from the diary of Anne Frank, a Dutch teenager who died in the Holocaust, were first published on this day in 1947. The book, known by several names, documents her mindset and experiences in the years leading up to her family’s capture during a raid of the house they were hiding in. Frank’s eloquence and thoughtfulness was especially pronounced for someone her age and remains a fundamental work in the public memory of the Holocaust.
As with any other diary, Frank spent much of her time writing about family and friends, including romances with teen boys and her big aspirations. Over time, the book displays more and more of the oppression experienced by Jews in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation, documenting how Frank and her family had to shelter with a few others for two years in rooms behind a moving bookcase tucked in the back of her father’s business.
Frank’s family was found in 1944 and sent to concentration camps; she died in February 1945 of typhus. Of the eight people who lived behind the bookcase, only her father, Otto, survived the Holocaust. He would discover her diary and publish parts of it a couple of years later, understanding the poignance of her writings and their potential to contribute to historical memory.
