Anne Frank Diary Entries
Directions
• In pairs, you will read and discuss three of
Anne’s diary entries.
• You will answer the questions in at least 2-3
complete sentences per question. You can do
one per group.
• After you discuss with your partner, we will
discuss the entries as a large group.
• Send to nmaist@mypanthers.org
• Subject: Anne Frank Diary Entry – Partner 1
Name, Partner 2 Name
1. On the Deportations
"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....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." - October 9, 1942
1. What does Anne say is happening to the Jewish people in
Holland?
2. What do you notice about the way Anne writes? Remember,
she’s 13 when she wrote this.
3. How do you think Anne felt as she learned what was
happening to her friends?
4. Do you think Anne realizes that she too might have the same
fate as her friends?
5. What feelings do you have as someone who knows/reads
about the genocide the Nazis committed?
2. On Nazi Punishment of Resisters
"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." October 9, 1942
1. What is a saboteur? In context of Nazi Germany, who do you
think these people are?
2. If do not agree with the Nazi Party, what happens to you?
3. Does the Nazi Party hide what they do? How do you know?
4. How do you think how the Nazis acted/kept order in cities
affected people?
5. Why were the Nazis able to do whatever they wanted to the
people (especially regarding the violent things they did to
Jews and non-Jewish citizens?)
3. On Nazi Punishment of Resisters
"All college students are being asked to sign an official
statement to the effect that they 'sympathize with the
Germans and approve of the New Order." Eighty percent
have decided to obey the dictates of their conscience,
but the penalty will be severe. Any student refusing to
sign will be sent to a German labor camp." - May 18,
1943
1. What are the Nazis asking of the college students?
(When they sign the statement, what are they pledging?)
2. How many people are agreeing with the Nazi regime?
3. Why do you think the Nazis are making college students
sign the statement?
4. Why do you think only 20% are actually agreeing to sign
the statement?
5. What does this say about the young people in Nazi
Germany?
4. Describing her Despair
"I've reached the point where I hardly care whether I live
or die. The world will keep on turning without me, and I
can't do anything to change events anyway. I'll just let
matters take their course and concentrate on studying
and hope that everything will be all right in the end." February 3, 1944
1.
2.
2.
3.
4.
Describe the conditions in which you think Anne
was living.
How does Anne feel?
Why do you think Anne feels this way?
Why do think Anne says she will continue to study?
(She literally means studying school-type subjects.)
5. If you were in Anne’s situation, do you think you’d feel
despair too? Why or why not.
5. On Her Old Country, Germany
"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
Jews." - October 9, 1942
1. What is the tone Anne uses in this entry?
2. What is she saying about the Germans?
3. What does she mean that Germans and Jews are the
enemies of earth?
4. How does what Anne’s saying relate to the historical
context we discussed as a class?
5. Why do you think Anne says “Hitler took away our
nationality long ago?” What does that mean?
Making Connections
• How does what Anne say relate to your
Holocaust project? What connections can
you make?