Pim whispers, “You are a brave young woman, meisje, who’s been unjustly brutalized by forces far beyond your control. My only prayer is that if you can forgive me, perhaps you can begin to forgive the world as well. And, more important, forgive yourself.”
But even before she opens her eyes, Anne knows that she will see Margot there. Waiting. Waiting for her to atone.
34 THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
Seriously, though, ten years after the war people would find it very amusing to read how we lived, what we ate and what we talked about as Jews in hiding.
—Anne Frank, from her diary, 29 March 1944
1961
Waverly Place and Mercer Street
Greenwich Village
NEW YORK CITY
Dear Miss Frank,
I think I must be one of your biggest fans. I’ve read “The Diary of a Young Girl” six times! The library at my school only has one copy of it, and I keep checking it out over and over again. Sometimes, though, Mrs. Mosley (our librarian) says I should give somebody else a chance to read it, and makes me check out a Nancy Drew instead, which is O.K. I like Nancy Drew books, but I like your book better. You are so smart, and Nancy Drew has never had to escape Nazis or hide in a secret annex with nothing very good to eat.
Maybe this isn’t nice to tell you, but once after somebody else had checked out your book, I found mean things written in the margins about Jewish people. If it had been in pencil, I would have just erased it, but it was in pen, so I had to scratch it out. This got me in trouble with my Granny Flynn, because she saw me scratching it out and said I should NEVER write with a pen in a library book for ANY reason. But I still think I did the right thing. I hope you will think so too.
Warm regards,
Edwina C. Buford (Winnie)
P.S.—Grampa Flynn says that he doubts your whole story is really true. He says writers like to make things up. But I told him that I think it is ALL true. It is, isn’t it?
Dear Winnie,
It made me very happy to receive your letter. You are so kind to have checked out my book so many times. And there is certainly nothing wrong with reading Nancy Drew either. Though I will have to admit that I read several Nancy Drew books when I first came to America and couldn’t understand what the heck was happening! That was probably because I was still so new to this country and never felt like I understood what the heck was happening inside or outside of the books I was reading.
And as far as what mean things people choose to think about Jews, I’m sorry to say that there’s nothing very new in that. Though I believe you are quite brave to try to do something about it. I can’t tell you if it’s worth getting in trouble with your grandma over it, though. That will have to be your decision.
Your friend,
Anne Frank
P.S.: I am sending you an autographed copy of “The Diary” in the mail. This way you’ll never have to borrow it from the library again. And you can assure your grandpa, or anyone who asks you, that it is true. All of it is true.
Dear Miss Frank,
My name is Sally Schneider, and I am in the sixth grade at William Howard Taft Elementary School. (We just call it “Taft.”) I am a very big fan of your diary, but I feel bad sometimes, because my last name is Schneider, which is German. My grandmother came from Germany before World War II, but I still feel sorry for what the Germans did to your Jewish people. My mom says it’s none of our business what happened in Europe and that I should be proud of my German heritage. Which I am. There’s a festival every fall (called Oktoberfest), and I always help my nana make the “Baumkuchen.” She won’t talk about World War II or Germany at all, because she says she is a good American now. Which she is. But I still felt sad reading your book, although I also really liked it. It’s confusing, isn’t it?
I hope you are happy being an American now too. Maybe one day we can meet if you ever visit Cincinnati (Ohio).
Yours truly,
Sally Schneider
Dear Sally,
It IS confusing. Yes! But you don’t need to feel bad because you are from German stock. It took me quite a long time, I’ll confess, but I can honestly say I am no longer angry with the Germans simply for being German. And I could never think of blaming you for your ancestry. That is the same thing the Nazis did to the Jews, blamed children for the blood that flowed in their veins.
I have to disagree with your mom, however, if you don’t mind. What happens in the world is everybody’s business, especially when it comes to attempting to murder an entire people.
Thank you for sending me your letter, Sally. I hope I have explained how I feel on the subjects you broached. I am happy being an American now, though I often miss being a “Niederlander” in Amsterdam.
Enjoy your time at “Taft.”
Anne Frank
Dear Miss Frank,
Our teacher gave us the assignment to write to our favorite author, so of course I picked you! All the girls in my class have read your diary, and we all really, really love it!
My mom got me “The Diary of a Young Girl” for my birthday, and I must have read it ten times already. And every time I finish it, it makes me feel good, even though what happened to you is very, very sorrowful.
Thank you for letting us read about your life during World War II. My teacher says you must have been very courageous, and I agree!
Your fan,
Judy Borstein
Township Middle School
Morristown, New Jersey
Dear Judy,
Thank you for your lovely letter. It was very kind of you to pick me as your favorite author. I’m very honored and happy that you are a fan of my diary. Is it okay that it makes you a little sad after you finish it? I think it should. I think it should make everyone a little sad.
Sincerely,
Anne Frank
Dear Miss Anne Frank,
We both have the same name! Though I am Presbyterian, and my last name is “French.” Also, I don’t have an “e” on the end of my first name, which is “Ann.” I am in the seventh grade at Hillbrook Junior High School in Ft. Clarkson, Michigan. My English teacher, Mrs. Parsons, gave me “The Diary of a Young Girl” to read, because she said she thought I could “handle it.” (Though she says I’m still not old enough to read any of your other books yet.) Anyway, I read your diary, and she was correct! I could handle it, though it made me cry sometimes. It was so good and so sad at the same time. But I loved it so much that I have read it over and over again! Though I’m really sorry to hear that your sister and mom died after your diary ended.
My mom died too. It happened last winter, though my mom died in a car accident coming home from the grocery, which I know is so different than what happened to yours. I still miss her so much, sometimes in the middle of the day, or even when I’m playing volleyball in gym class. It just comes over me for no reason. It’s hard to explain. But somehow your book has made me feel better. Thank you for writing it.