چهارشنبه هفتم اکتبر سال 1942

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1942

I imagine that. . .

I’ve gone to Switzerland. Daddy and I sleep in one room, while the boys’. study is turned into a sitting room, where I can receive visitors. As a surprise, they’ve bought new furniture for me, including a tea table, a desk, armchairs and a divan. Everything’s simply wonderful. After a few days Daddy gives me 150 guilders-converted into Swiss money, of course, but I’ll call them guilders-and tells me to buy everything I think I’ll need, all for myself. (Later on, I get a guilder a week, which I can also use to buy whatever I want.) I set off with Bernd and buy: 3 cotton undershirts @ 0.50 = 1.50

3 cotton underpants @ 0.50 = 1.50

3 wool undershirts @ O. 75 = 2.25

3 wool underpants @ O. 75 = 2.25

2 petticoats @ 0.50 = 1.00

2 bras (smallest size) @ 0.50 = 1.00

5 pajamas @ 1.00 = 5.00

1 summer robe @ 2.50 = 2.50

1 winter robe @ 3.00 = 3.00

2 bed jackets @ O. 75 = 1.50

Anne’s cousins Bernhard (Bernd) and Stephan Elias.

1 small pillow @ 1.00 = 1.00

1 pair of lightweight slippers @ 1.00 = 1.00

1 pair of warm slippers @ 1.50 = 1.50

1 pair of summer shoes (school) @ 1.50 = 1.50

1 pair of summer shoes (dressy) @ 2.00 = 2.00

1 pair of winter shoes (school) @ 2.50 = 2.50

1 pair of winter shoes (dressy) @ 3.00 = 3.00

2 aprons @ 0.50 = 1.00

25 handkerchiefs @ 0.05 = 1.00

4 pairs of silk stockings @ 0.75 = 3.00

4 pairs of kneesocks @ 0.50 = 2.00

4 pairs of socks @ 0.25 = 1.00

2 pairs of thick stockings @ 1.00 = 2.00

3 skeins of white yarn (underwear, cap) = 1.50

3 skeins of blue yarn (sweater, skirt) = 1.50

3 skeins of variegated yarn (cap, scarf) = 1.50

Scarves, belts, collars, buttons = 1.25

Plus 2 school dresses (summer), 2 school dresses (winter), 2 good dresses (sumr.ner), 2 good dresses (winter), 1 summer skirt, 1 good winter skirt, 1 school winter skirt, 1 raincoat, 1 summer coat, 1 winter coat, 2 hats, 2 caps. For a total of 10g.00 guilders.

2 purses, 1 ice-skating outfit, 1 pair of skates, 1 case (containing powder, skin cream, foundation cream, cleansing cream, suntan lotion, cotton, first-aid kit, rouge, lipstick, eyebrow pencil, bath salts, bath powder, eau de cologne, soap, powder puff).

Plus 4 sweaters @ 1.50,4 blouses @ 1.00, miscellaneous items @ 10.00 and books, presents @ 4.50.

OCTOBER 9, 1942

Dearest Kitty,

Today I have nothing but dismal and depressing news to report. Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves. The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they’re sending all the Jews. Miep told us about someone who’d managed to escape from there. It must be terrible in Westerbork. The people get almost nothing to eat, much less to drink, as water is available only one hour a day, and there’s only one toilet and sink for several thousand people. Men and women sleep in the same room, and women and children often have their heads shaved. Escape is almost impossible; many people look Jewish, and they’re branded by their shorn heads.

If it’s that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most of them are being murdered. The English radio says they’re being gassed. Perhaps that’s the quickest way to die.

I feel terrible. Miep’s accounts of these horrors are so heartrending, and Miep is also very distraught. The other day, for instance, the Gestapo deposited an elderly, crippled Jewish woman on Miep’s doorstep while they set off to find a car. The old woman was terrified of the glaring searchlights and the guns firing at the English planes overhead. Yet Miep didn’t dare let her in. Nobody would. The Germans are generous enough when it comes to punishment.

Bep is also very subdued. Her boyfriend is being sent to Germany. Every time the planes fly over, she’s afraid they’re going to drop their entire bomb load on Bertus’s head. Jokes like “Oh, don’t worry, they can’t all fall on him” or “One bomb is all it takes” are hardly appropriate in this situation. Bertus is not the only one being forced to work in Germany. Trainloads of young men depart daily. Some of them try to sneak off the train when it stops at a small station, but only a few manage to escape unnoticed and find a place to hide.

But that’s not the end of my lamentations. Have you ever heard the term “hostages”? That’s the latest punishment for saboteurs. It’s the most horrible thing you can imagine. Leading citizens-innocent people-are taken prisoner to await their execution. If the Gestapo can’t find the saboteur, they simply grab five hostages and line them up against the wall. You read the announcements of their death in the paper, where they’re referred to as “fatal accidents.’

Fine specimens of humanity, those Germans, and to think I’m actually one of them! No, that’s not true, Hitler took away our nationality long ago. And besides, there are no greater enemies on earth than the Germans and the Jews.

Yours, Anne