No doubt, in ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ Anne Frank describes her childhood friends, her school, family, the Van Daans and many more things. However, the diary is more than an autobiography. Her diary is not confined to herself and her family. Anne gives a striking description of the political, social and cultural climate of Germany, Holland and other parts of Europe. She has an eye for details and vivid descriptions. The Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews has been systematically described. When Anne Frank sat down to write her diary, she could have never imagined the impact her words would have on generation of readers. On July 15, 1944, Anne writes : “I feel the suffering of millions”. Little did she know at that time that ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ would become the testament of those millions who suffered, persecuted, tortured and killed by the Nazis and their Gastapo.
The Diary of a Young Girl’ can be called an autobiography in the sense that it describes the innermost feelings and sentiments of the young girl Anne. A selfdescribed clown, Anne has none with whom she could be completely open. Her mother Edith Frank was insensitive, critical, conservative and unresponsive. Margot too didn’t share her feelings and provided no moral support to her younger sister. No doubt, her father Otto Frank was a role model for Anne and she adored him. But the age difference prevented her to discuss sex and sexuality and other delicate matters with him. So Anne discovered the persona of ‘Kitty’. All her diary entries are addressed to ‘Kitty’.
We certainly have quite intimate autobiographical descriptions regarding her age, puberty, periods and her growing desire to have a relationship with a young boy- friend. She partly finds in Peter a boy-friend who can share her ideas and can talk about sex and sexuality.
Anne Frank’s diary contains nothing of her experience at Bergen-Belsen, the concentration camp where she and her sister died. The diary does provide ‘an altogether human portrait of the Jewish suffering during the Holocaust.
