The Message of Anne Frank's Diary

The Writing and Rewriting of the Diary of a Young Girl

Aug 7, 2008

Despite press releases and articles about Anne Frank's diary, many still have no idea that her original diary is not the one they read in high school.

In the first version, Volume 1 covers the period from June 12 to December 5, 1942 and is written in a red and white checkered diary. Volume 2 was an exercise book and starts on December 22, 1943, more than one year after the last entry in Volume 1. Historians believe it unlikely that Anne failed to keep a diary during this time, so it is assumed that a volume or several were lost.

Volume 2 continues until April 17, 1944. Volume 3 is another exercise book and on the inside is written, “Diary of Anne Frank. From 17 April 1944 to.” No end date is given. The last diary entry is August 1, 1944.

The Second Version

The second version of Anne’s diary was written on loose sheets of copy paper, given to her by Miep Gies. This diary is the version based on her first diary and is edited in many ways by Anne. She drew up a sheet of name changes, undoubtedly thinking of the eventual publication of the diary. She first writes to her “friend-of-my-own imagination Kitty” in the second version and not in the first. She inserts illusions of reality into this version, allowing the reader to think they are reading it as it was actually written, when truthfully, she was writing them two years later.

Anne cuts down a great deal of her obsession with Peter van Pels. Their relationship is described in much less detail and many of their attic meetings are cut from the second version, though her father reinstated them in the third version.

Otto Frank's Revisions: The Third Version

The third version was edited by Otto Frank and first published in 1952. After he returned from the war, he retrieved the diaries from Miep Gies and copied them for friends and family. This meant omitting passages that would not be interesting to them, passages that would offend living persons, and remarks about Anne’s mother.

It is interesting to compare the passages of the revised diary and consider why Otto cut out the sections he did. A great deal of them had to do with sex, including how Anne found out about sex and her discussions with Peter about the matter.

Is the Message the Same?

The fact that the diary went through so much revision and editing, even by Anne Frank herself, should not make readers question the diary’s overall message. The three versions instead show the growth Anne Frank experienced when editing her diary. In the end, she had a multifaceted voice to her diaries: remnants of the thirteen-year-old voice, the fifteen-year-old voice and the final voice from her last entry on August 1, 1944. There is merit to all three diaries, despite the changes.

The message isn’t just that people are basically good, the most-quoted piece from the diaries. The point is that no matter what time in history they live in, girls grow up painfully -- but with huge dreams that carry on to contribute to their lives as women. Even through the revisions, Anne’s balancing act still remains, hidden behind her naïve and, at times, wise voice. If anything, the diaries put forth a clearer image of the author and of the woman she wanted to become.

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. Eds. Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler. New York: Doubleday, 1991.

The copyright of the article The Message of Anne Frank's Diary in Biographies/Memoirs is owned by Sarah F. Sorensen. Permission to republish The Message of Anne Frank's Diary in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.