CHAPTER ONE
Saturday, 13 June 1942
On Friday, 12 June, I woke up early at six o’clock; it was my birthday. I’m not allowed to get up then, so I had to wait until quarter to seven. Then I went down to the dining-room, where Moortje, my cat, welcomed me. At seven I went in to Mummy and Daddy, and then to the sitting-room for my presents. The nicest present was you – my diary! There was a bunch of roses on the table, and lots more flowers and presents arrived for me during the day. Daddy and Mummy gave me a blue blouse, a game and a bottle of fruit juice which tastes quite like wine!
At school, I shared out some cakes with my friends, and I was allowed to choose the game that we played in the sports lesson. Afterwards, all my friends danced round me in a circle and sang ‘Happy Birthday’.
Saturday, 20 June 1942
It’s strange, writing a diary. Of course, I’ve written things before, but who will be interested in the thoughts of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl? Well, does it matter? I want to write, and I want to bring out so many things that lie deep in my heart.
I need a diary because I haven’t got a friend. You won’t believe that I am completely alone in the world! And I’m not. I have loving parents and a sixteen-year-old sister, a good home and about thirty people that I can call friends. There are plenty of boys who are interested in me too! But I haven’t got that one, true friend who understands me. So this diary can be my new friend. Let’s start with the story of my life.
My father – the best father in the world – was thirty-six when he married my mother, who was then twenty-five. My sister Margot was born in Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany in 1926. Then I followed on 12 June, 1929. Because we are Jewish, we moved to Holland in 1933. My father is the manager of a company called Opteka, which makes things for the jam-making business.
After 1940 things were not so good any more. First the war started, and then the Germans arrived in Holland. Our freedom disappeared. Under the new German laws, Jews must wear a yellow star. Jews must walk everywhere. They can only do their shopping in Jewish Shops’, and they must be indoors by eight o’clock at night. They must not even sit in their own gardens after that time. Jews cannot visit the theatre or the cinema. Jews cannot visit Christians, and their children must go to Jewish schools.