Play adapted for reading ease from website
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/ebesso/af2001script.html
Anne voiceover: I want to be a champion skater and a writer. I want my picture in all the
magazines. Maybe I'll be a movie star. I want to be different from all the other girls. I want to be
a modern woman. I want to travel. I want to study languages, languages and history. I want
to......
A boys voice: Anne! Anne!
Anne turns around and we see her face
ANNE FRANK
1939, Amsterdam, Holland
Outside the school
Anne: Oh, that bratty Leo Koopman. He thinks he's in love with me!
Hannah Goslar: He's always looking at you.
Sanne: Anne, do you want to come over and play Monopoly tomorrow?
Anne: Sanne, you know my grandmother's coming to visit. I'm simply too busy, Why don't you
ask Hannah?
Hannah: I'll be at shul.
Anne: So religious!
Leo: Anne! Anne!
Anne:Quickly.
Anne:[Runs into Sanne's bike]Oops. Sorry
Anne and Hannah ride their bicycles and laugh
Anne: Well, I'm off.
Hannah: Bye.
Anne: Bye.
Anne and Hannah ride off in seperate directions. People are seen looking in shop windows;
Anne rides her bicycle to her Father's business, Pectacon on the Princengracht. The office staff
is doing paperwork and Miep is taking a customer's call.
Miep Gies: No, No. I'm not saying you're a bad cook. Of course. I'm sure your husband loves the
way your strawberry jam is. mmm..hmm
Anne: Hello, Mr. Kleimen.
Mr. Kleimen: Hello, Anne.
Anne: Miep, where's Father?
Miep:[to the caller]One Minute. He's in the storeroom with Mr. Kugler and Mr. van Pels.
Anne: Thank You, Miep. May I say how nice you look today?
Miep points to Anne, returning the comment
Miep: [Back to the caller]The problem is you're using too much sugar.
Mr. van Pels, Mr. Frank, and Mr. Kugler are trying to figure out a spice mixture.
Hermann van Pels: Too much nutmeg, not enough coriander. I, uh...black pepper with uh..
black ginger.
Otto: No, close.
Anne hears Otto and runs over to him
Anne: Pim!
Otto: Your Mother telephoned. She was quite worried. You should've gone straight home.
Anne doesn't listen
Anne:[to Mr. van Pels] What are you doing?
Otto: Mr. Kugler is trying out some new recipes.
Mr. Kugler: Your mixing still needs work but you may have something.
Otto: That's high praise indeed, Mr. Kugler, as you know, Mr. van Pels has an infailible nose.
Hermann: Anne, joke for you. What is black and white and red all over?
Anne: [shakes her head] What?
Hermann: A newspaper! [Laughs] Ja!?
Anne gives Mr. van Pels a strange look. Otto pats her on the head then she laughs at the joke
Hermann: [Pretends like he's holding a newspaper] You know, read, huh?
The Franks are at their flat. Mrs. Frank is in the kitchen making tea
Anne: What a lovely book.
Margot: Thank you, Grandma.
Anne: Was it exciting coming all the way from Germany...by yourself? Tell me everything.
Otto: You see? She's still as curious as ever.
Anne grabs for Margot's new book
Anne: Let me see your book.
Margot:Let me see.
Otto: Wait, Grandma has another surprise.
Oma Hollander: And here's your present, Anne.
Anne: Margot a fountain pen!
Margot: It’s beautiful
Anne: (gets up to hug her) Thankyou Grandma, I’m so glad you came to visit.
Edith: Grandmother will be living with us from now on would you like that girls?
Anne: Oh yes, very much.
Otto: Anne, why don’t you try your new fountain pen?
Anne: Yes, immediately, excuse me.
Edith: And don’t take too long, the Goslar’s are expecting us. (to Margot) Make sure she gets
ready.
Otto: Let her have her fun Edith
Edith: You spoil her terribly Otto, she should have come straight home.
walking to the Goslar’s house
Anne: I’m starving
Edith: And please mind your manners Anne
Anne: Yes I know, like Margot
Margot: I thought you liked the Goslar’s
Anne: I do, I just wish Hannah’s family wasn’t so religious; I’d rather be at the movies.
Mr Goslar gives a prayer Heberew.
Anne looks bored and starts fiddling with her fork
Otto (mouthing): Anne!
At the table after eating
Otto: Hilters only a fever Hans, Germany will recover mark my words
Hans Goslar: And what’s to keep that madman from annexing Holland, and liberating his
Germanic brothers?
Otto: The Dutch are different
Hans: Sometimes Otto I think, you have too much faith in people.
In the kitchen while Hannah and Anne look at a book.
Edith: Poor mother, she’s used to better.
Ruth Goslar: God willing Edith, we’ll all go home but until then, we get by. Just be thankful
you have central heating.
Margot: Let me help you with those Mrs Goslar.
Ruth: Oh that’s very kind of you, such a sweet girl, your lucky, Hannah has two left hands.
Edith: Sometimes I miss a full time servant but we don’t have money to pay servants. The Dutch
ones are hopeless anyway, simply cannot be relied on.
Hannah: Mother? Anne says you shouldn’t call them servants, say ‘maid’.
Ruth: God knows everything, but Anne knows everything better.
Hans laughs
In Anne’s bedroom at night
Otto: You like to be spoiled, you like it even better when other people spoil you.
Anne: Does that make me a bad person?
Otto: (shakes head) Good people and bad people have one thing in common they both make
mistakes. The difference is that good people can admit their mistakes, and learn from them.
Anne: Tell me about the Paula’s.
Otto: That’s a story for children not a little woman like you.
Anne: No, I want to hear it.
Otto: The Paula’s live here with us, you can’t see them, but sometimes, if you keep absolutely
still, and really listen, you can tell where they are hiding,...
Otto and Anne: But beware…
Otto: You never know which Paula you will find, good Paula, or bad Paula who’s always
causing trouble.
Anne: I don’t mean to be bad Paula, but sometimes, sometimes she just escapes.
Otto: Doesn’t matter, as long as you have good Paula in your heart.
Anne: Daddy, couldn’t they be the same person? Good Paula and bad Paula?
Otto: Why, yes, I suppose that’s possible.
Anne: Maybe good Paula is afraid of what people might think of her, and that’s why she’s bad
sometimes. At least that’s what I think, and you always told me I should think for myself.
Otto: So I did.
June 1939
At the beach
In the background kids laughing and man yelling: I got it I got it! Thanks father!
Otto: The paper says Hitler has his eye on Poland now, Holland will stay neutral no matter what
happens. Still, all this Nazi talk is bad for business.
Fritz Pfeffer: I have fewer patients now but no matter, I still have Jewish cavities to be filled.
Otto: Haha.
Fritz: Say ah
Charlotte Kaletta: Ah….
Fritz: Ah, ah, ah (kiss)
Charlotte: Mr Pfeffer! Not until we’re married!
Margot is burying Anne in sand then runs off
Margot: Haha
Anne: Wait! It’s not fair you cheated!
Edith: Anne! Get out of the water! Otto, say something.
Otto: Anne, do as your mother says.
Edith: You know it’s not good for you to go swimming, here, dry yourself off.
Anne: You never let me have any fun.
Edith: I don’t want you getting sick you know how frail you are
Otto and Edith watch Fritz and Charlotte playing around in the sand
Otto: Were we ever like that Edith?
Edith: No Otto, we were never like that.
Birthday party at Frank home
Background girl: Oh your so funny.
Hannah: Hey , you took my strawberry!
Otto takes picture of Anne and Lucie
Otto: Look at my two little movie stars.
Anne: Hehe
Edith (talking to Grandma): Would you like anything else?
Hans Goslar walks in dressed as Hitler
Hans: Why was I not invited to this party?!?
Hans pulls ears out
Anne: Its Mr Goslar! Look it’s your dad.
Hans: Hehehe
Anne: Hahaha
Hans:(to Otto) You see? And you told me he would never come to Holland. Hehehe. (to Anne)
Happy birthday Anne.
Anne: We must have a picture, a picture please?
Hannah: Yes Daddy!
Otto: A picture? Adolf as your birthday present?
Girls: Hahaha
Otto: The girls and Uncle Adolf. *click* Hannah point at your dad, everyone point at uncle
Adolf.
Otto: It’s very good *click*
Newsreel with Hitler speaking German
Film Announcer: Germany invades Poland and the free state of Danzig ending the efforts and
hopes of diplomats for peaceful settlement. The roar of gunfire replaces the talk of statesmen and
the curtain of war falls over Europe.
Background people: Get out! Booo! Order of the Swastika! Lousy traitor! Sit down! Booo!
FA: …huge French guns move to the front
Anne: When will the picture start?
Otto: Soon Anne, soon.
FA:The nations first bulwark of defence.
Walking home from cinema
Anne: Wasn’t Norma Shear beautiful? Much too pretty to lose her head. I don’t like the king
very much though; Tyrone Power was much more handsome… like the boy I’m going to marry.
Otto: You’ve already chosen?
Anne: Oh no, too many admirers.
Otto: Just like poor Marie Antoinette.
Anne: The war won’t come here will it Daddy?
Otto: No.
Anne: I don’t think I’d like that very much.
Otto: Oh Anne, the British will see to herr Hitler.
Office workers listening to radio
Radio Announcer: Violating repeat proclamation of Holland’s neutrality in the current conflict,
German troops…
Air raid sirens and aeroplanes can be heard outside
In Frank home
Anne: What is it?
Runs to the balcony to take a look outside
Edith: Anne! What do you think you’re doing?
Edith, Grandma, Margot and Anne huddle together until air raid finishes
Leaflets fall from the sky which says:
Citizens of Amsterdam! Surrender Now! Or suffer the fate of your countrymen!!!!
In Frank dining room
Herman: I ask you Mr Gies, what is the good of the Dutch army in the face of a Blitzkrieg?
They’ll be riding to the front in bicycles. Hahaha!
Jan Gies: I wish I could disagree with you, but I’m afraid I can’t.
Auguste van Pels: Kerli All this talk about an invasion is nonsense. Why haven’t they? What’s
stopping them?
Hermann: Why don’t you stay out of it? I’ll do the thinking, if you please.
Auguste: Ha, Mr Frank listens to his wife. You see what he’s like? He knows all the answers.
Hermann: Beware of marriage Mr Gies, its merits are highly overrated.
Auguste: Here, here.
Otto: My sister begged me to send the girls to London to live with her.
Miep: And will you?
Otto: How can I keep them safe there? It’s better if we stay together, hope for the best.
awked silence
Hermann: Ah, heres a joke for you.
Auguste: We heard it.
Otto: Hahaha
Shows documentary footage of the German invasion
May 15, 1940
Hans: Five days was all it took, now people are throwing themselves out of windows
Otto: Where does panic get us Hans? We learn to adapt.
Hans: We adapted in Germany.
Ruth: I want my baby to be born in a different world, not like the one we left.
Edith: It’s Frankfurt all over again.
Ruth: No, I mustn’t let myself think that, not now
Sign in front of the cinema: Jooden ingang verboden! Anne reads it dissapointedly
Another sign: Juden Viertel Joodsche Wijk.
Painted Jew signs on shop windows. One man is painting one while Anne watches.
Background men: haha
Painter: Is that good?
Jewish Registration office
January 1941
Photographer takes photo of Anne.
Photographer: Next. Come on. Keep moving. Next in line.
Anne: Whats going on Pim? Why do we have to be here?
Otto: It’s just a formality Anne, like a census, you know, beuocracy
In another line they print their thumbprint.
Otto: Anneliese Marie Frank.
Otto: Otto Frank.
‘J’ stamped on ID cards
Anne and Hannah walk with baby carriage
Lucy: Anne, Hannah, wait for me. Is this her? She’s adorable.
Hannah: Her name is Gabi, I’m still not use to having a sister. She keeps me busy all the time.
Anne: You musn’t spoil her Hannah, No one likes a spoilt child. I’m not sure if I care for your
outfit Lucy, if you don’t mind me saying so.
Lucy: Mother makes me wear it. She said we should show some allegiance, what ever that
means. Papa has been out of work for so long, Mother says Hitler will create jobs here the way
he did in Germany.
Lucy’s mother (from the window): Lucy, what are you doing? Get away from those girls!
In office
Otto: Not to worry Mr Kleiman, we’ll beat the Nazis at their own game, paper work. Because
Pectacon is registered as a Jewish business it’s necessary to create a whole new company and
with your permission Jan, we’ll call it Gies and Company.
Jan: Whatever I can do to help but you must be careful Mr Frank, the beaurocrats are silent
collaborators.
Otto: You’ll be listed as supervisory director but with no responsibilities. Mr Kugler will take
over day to day operations along with Mr Kleiman. It will be a purely Aryan enterprise, all
strictly legal. On paper I won’t exist.
Sign on door, ‘Pectacon, N.V. Specialists in Fine Spices and Preservatives’ changes to ‘Gies and
Co. Specialists in Fine Spices and Preservatives.’
In office
Anne: Is there something wrong with us? The Jews?
Miep: No, you must never think that.
Anne: We must have done something awful.
Miep: No. I was a little girl like you in Vienna when the war came and there wasn’t enough food
to eat. Then one day, my mother bundled me up and she took me to the train station. She put me
on a train to Holland, she hung a sign around my neck, and she said good bye.
Anne: Didn’t she love you anymore?
Miep:Yes she did, that’s why she did it, there was food here and families willing to share it, but I
did not know that at the time. I felt so sick and so alone, but when I got a little older I realised:
good people sometimes find themselves in trouble without having done anything wrong.
Anne: Do you think I am a good person?
Miep: Yes I do.
Knock on door, and Jan shows Miep a wedding ring
Miep: Only one?
Jan: We’ll get another one later, when times are better. This ones yours. To prove someone’s
finally going to make an honest Dutch woman out of you.
Miep: I’m already honest. (kiss)
Miep and Jans wedding
Minister: Miss Sandtrouschitz?
Jan: Your turn.
Miep: Oh! I do! I do!
Hermann: Hahaha! (Auguste elbows him)
Minister: I now pronounce you man and wife.
clapping
The wedding reception at the office
Background voices: More dancing! Music and champagne
Everyone is dancing
Auguste: You have two left feet.
Mr Kleiman gets more champagne but there’s none left.
Mr Kleiman: Gone.
Anne: You dance divinely Miep.
Miep: Oh thankyou Anne.
Anne: You too Jan.
Jan: She leads, I just follow.
Anne: May I see your ring again please Miep? I want one just like it when I get married. And a
husband like Jan.
Miep: You’ll find one, I did.
Jan puts a new song on
Jan: May I?
Auguste: Oh please Kerli just one more dance.
Hermann: Oh sit down please Putti, before you make a fool of yourself!
Auguste: Surely you wouldn’t refuse a lady’s invitation Mr Frank?
Otto: Well I’m afraid at the moment you have a rival Mrs van Pels.
Otto: Mademoiselle.
Anne: Charmed, sir.
everyone dances
Jewish Lyceum
October 1941
Teacher: The name of the man who discovered the basic laws of geometry was Pythagoras.
Write it down please. P-y-t-h-a-g-o-r-a-s.
Anne: Ahem.
Teacher: Yes?
Anne:I’m afraid however interesting your lesson might be I can’t see it.
Teacher: Well um, you, will you change places with Miss…
Anne: Frank… Frank.
Teacher: Change please.
Anne moves to the front and sits next to Jacque.
Teacher: The square of the hypothenuse….
Riding their bikes home
Anne: I like your eyes Jacque, they were the first thing I noticed about you. People say my hair
is my most attractive feature. Do you think they are right?
Jacque van Maarsen: Yes of course.
Anne: You know, we live on the Merwedeplein. It’s not far away. You can come to my house if
you want. We can do our homework together; I’d like that very much.
Jacque: So would I.
Anne: We’re going to be famous friends I can tell…. At the Montessori school I was very
popular. I cried when Mrs Kuprus told us we couldn’t go there anymore.
Jacque: At my school, there was these awful boys. They use to call us ‘Jew girls’. We were so
scared we ran away.
Anne: I don’t know, maybe its better this way. Think about it, if it wasn’t for the Germans, we
probably would have never met.
Mrs Frank and Oma Hollander are sitting in the Frank living room, Edith is knitting, while Anne
and Jacque do homework at the table.
Cat jumps on table: meow!
Anne: This is Moortje. She’s going to have kittens soon, because she keeps meeting lots of men.
Anne picks Moortje up.
Edith: Anne…
Anne: Mummy, would it be alright if Jacque stayed over one night?
Edith: If she wants to.
Anne: Wait I have a better idea. I’ll come over to your house, (leans in and whispers) we can
talk about things they don’t want us to.
In her room, Anne takes Margot’s bra out of the closet and models it in front of the mirror. Not
liking what she sees, she puts it on and stuffs cotton balls inside. She then takes another look in
front of the mirror, much happier with the changes she made.
The sleepover in Jacque’s bedroom. Jacque is showing Anne photographs of women in dresses
Jacque: You want to see something really magical? Mother designed that, the best people use to
wear her dresses. She stopped making them when the war started, she thinks they’re out if place.
Anne: After the war I’m only going to wear the finest of clothes. (acting it out) ‘Miss Anne
Frank was radiant at the Prince’s Ball last night wearing a beautiful gown of gold lace….’
Jacque claps. Anne spots a book on the shelf on the other side of the bedroom and takes it out to
look at
Anne: Joop Ter Heul!
Jacque:You’ve read it?
Anne: Three times. I love Cissy Van Marxveldt, she’s my favourite writer.
Jacque: Didn’t you just love the part where Leo proposes to Joop?
Anne: Here, I’ll be Joop and you be Leo.
They go over to sit on the bed
Anne: Hold my hand.
Anne puts on an exaggerated sad face on
Jacque:‘Joop, you’re crying’.
Anne: ‘Let go of my hand Leo!’
Jacque: ‘What if I told you you are my one true darling?’
Anne: ‘Oh Leo’
Jacque: ‘Kiss me Joop!’
Anne gives Jacque a kiss on the cheek
Anne and Jacque: hahahaha!!
Anne: Jacque, if I tell you a secret will you promise not to tell anyone?
Jacque: I promise.
Anne: I’ve never been kissed by a boy before. Have you?
Jacque nods her head
Anne: What was it like? Kissing?
Jacque: It was…. You’ll find out.
Anne: I want to be a real woman, with a woman’s body.
Unbuttons the first button of her pyjamas and pulls out the cotton balls and throws them at
Jacque. Jacque is shocked!
Anne: Hahaha!
Anne: I’d love to know what one feels like. May I?
Jacque: No.
Anne: But we’re best friends aren’t we?
Jacque: Of course we are, we’ll always be best friends.
Anne: If one of us has to go away, promise to exchange letters?
Jacque: Promised.
Jacque throws the cotton balls back at Anne
Anne: Right!
They start a cotton ball fight
Teacher: We measure the circumference of a circle in which the formula 2 Pi r. Write it down
please.
Anne, Jacque and Hannah are talking in the middle of the class
Teacher: Ahem.
Girls are busted and turn to the front again.
Teacher: You’re quite the chatterbox aren’t you, Miss Frank? Well perhaps you’d like to share
your wisdom with us. A little essay perhaps, entitled, “Quack, Quack, Quack Went Mrs
Quackenbush”.
Class laughs
Teacher: Let’s say, 500 words. Due tomorrow.
Anne is sitting at her desk in her room not far from Margot who is also doing homework and
Anne is thinking. She gets an idea then starts to write.
The van Pels’ and Franks in the Frank living room
Auguste (fanning herself): Ugh these blackout drapes make everything so stuffy in here I feel as
if I’m suffocating sometimes.
Hermann: It’s all in your head.
Auguste: You know that isn’t true. I’m a very delicate creature Mr. Frank, very delicate.
Edith gives Otto a look while Otto adjusts his tie uncomfortably.
Hermann: I tell you the Germans will lose this war.
Auguste: And I keep asking you when?
Otto: We must be thankful for what blessings we have.
Edith: Blessings? Otto really.
Otto:Our families are together that’s enough.
Anne walks in
Anne: Attention everyone, ahem, “Quack, Quack, Quack Went Mrs Quackenbush, A Story By
Anne Frank”.
Auguste rolls her eyes, still fanning herself
Otto: Go ahead Anne, we’re all listening.
Anne: “Once upon a time there was a mother duck with three beautiful ducklings who lived in a
lake ruled by a proud swan. ‘Quack, quack, quack’, said Mrs Quackenbush to her brood. ‘Quack,
quack, quack’ said the ducklings. ‘Keep your voices down!’ roared the swan, his feathers all in a
ruffle, ‘keep quiet or I’ll bite you, and then you’ll never quack again’”.
Surroundings change from Frank living room to the classroom.
Anne: “This swan was not a nice swan, he was a black swan, and all the other ducks in the lake
were afraid of him. But not Mrs Quackenbush. ‘You won’t bit these children’, she said to the
swan, who answered, ‘they are only ugly little ducklings and I am their master’. And then he
started to bit the ducklings, ‘save us Mama!’ the poor little ducklings cried. And then Mrs
Quackenbush began to quack. She quacked, and she quacked, and she quacked. ‘Stop it! Stop
that infernal quacking!’ cried the swan, putting his wings over his ears. But Mrs Quackenbush
did not stop, not until the black swan flew away, never to return. She gathered her ducklings
around her and together they swam off together happily ever after, singing, ‘quack, quack,
quack’.
Class applaud
In the back stairway of the office building
Mr Kleiman: Right up here.
Mr Kugler: I’ve been thinking it might be a good idea to take over the building behind us. I’ll
show you what I have in mind.
Walk up stairs and into the rooms
Mr Kugler: Its two rooms and a bathroom below, an attic upstairs. It’s a perfect laboratory
space wouldn’t you say? A place for Mr van Pels and me to cook up our little experiments. What
do you say?
Otto: Yep, why not. Business is good, the war. We can afford to expand. Yeah.
Registration Office
Man is stamping ID cards: Next.
Otto: The Germans are feeling especially generous today. Four stars for a single textile coupon.
Edith: Must we be branded now too?
Otto: So it appears, and we must pay for the privilege.
Walking home from school, with new yellow stars sewed onto their clothes
Anne: Aren’t you going to miss school now that it’s nearly over? I am. Especially history, I love
history.
Jacque: Such a long walk to the lyceum, I miss having a bike.
Anne: Hmm! Personally, I’m glad mine was stolen, at least the Germans didn’t get it.
Hannah and Sanne are walking behind them
Hannah: Oh Miss Quackenbush!
Sanne and Hannah together: Quack, quack, quack! Hahaha! Quack, quack, quack!
Jacque and Anne look annoyed
Anne: They can act so childish sometimes.
They stop in front of the book shop where a red checkered diary is on display
Anne: Look, isn’t it darling? I asked Daddy to buy it for me for my thirteenth birthday. It’s
going to be the best ever, the most smashing.
Anne continues to stand there admiring the new diary. She walks away without looking and
bump into a passer by.
Anne: Oh, sorry!
Passer by: Um, you’re Anne Frank, you go to school with my cousin Wilma. I’m Hello. Hello
Silberberg.
Anne: Oh hello… Hello. Haha! This is my best friend Jacque.
Jacque: How do you do?
Hello: Perhaps you would allow me to buy you a hot chocolate?
Anne: I love chocolate!... chocolate.
At shop
Anne: Is your name really Hello?
Hello: Helmuth, but my grandfather doesn’t like it so he calls me Hello instead.
Anne: But doesn’t your parents think it’s funny?
Hello: I don’t know, I haven’t seen them in four years.
Now sitting outside
Anne: You came all by yourself?
Hello nods
Anne: It must’ve been so... so dangerous. I’ve never had an adventure like that before. I suppose
Oma did, but she didn’t talk about it much. She died last winter, she had cancer.
Hello: Oh, I’m sorry.
Anne: I never got to tell her how much I loved her.
Walking home
Hello: I’d like very much to see you again, if that would be alright.
Anne: You don’t have a girlfriend do you?
Hello: Well, there’s Ursula, of course. She’s very pretty.
Anne: Oh really?
Hello: But not as interesting as you are.
Hello: We can meet on Wednesday evenings. My grandparents think I go to woodcarving
lessons but I actually go to silence meetings. I’m not a fanatic or anything. You know, mainly
everyone just yells. I’d much rather be with you.
They reach the front door of the apartment building
Anne: Well, here I am.
Hello: I can call for you then?
Anne (nodding): That would be nice.
Hello: Until Wednesday, then.
They shake hands
Anne: Bye.
Hello: Bye.
Old footage of Jews being dragged around and being rounded up. Some are pulled out of a
synagogue. You can see Bep walking to work in the background. Screen turns to colour as the
Jews are rounded up and hoarded into cattle trucks screaming and yelling.
In office
Otto: Come in Miep, sit down.
Otto closes the door behind him
Otto: You’ve no doubt read how the Germans have emptied the provinces of Jews and sent them
all here to Amsterdam. Our own Jewish council urges cooperation. There’s talk of mass
deportations, labour camps. Remember those poor boys they rounded up last February? They
were sent to labour camps, not one came back.
pause
Otto: Miep, I have a great secret to confide in you. Edith, the children and I are going into
hiding. Mr van Pels and his family will join us. I’m not going to wait for the Nazis to drag us
away, we’ll simply disappear.
Miep: Where will you go?
Otto: Here.
Miep: I don’t understand.
Otto: In the annexe at the back of this building. We’ll make the move on the 16th of July.
Miep: That’s less than a month away.
Otto: Kleiman and Kugler have been helping to move certain belongings and supplies a little at a
time. We’ll need someone to rely on for necessities, to act as caretaker. You know how much I
trust you here in the office but what I’m asking… well, what I’m asking of you now—
Miep: Yes, I’ll do it. Of course.
Otto: Think Miep. It’ll be a great burden, not without risk. The penalties are bound to be severe.
Miep: I said yes, I meant it.
Otto: Thankyou Miep.
Miep nods
Miep: Anne and Margot, do they know?
Otto: No, not yet. Let them enjoy their lives for a little while longer.
Anne is in bed sleeping and Moortje nudges her, trying to wake her up. She wakes up, looks at
her clock, pats Moortje, gets out of bed and goes to the living room. There her birthday presents
are on the table, including the red diary. She picks it up excitedly and runs into her parents room
and jumps on the bed.
Anne: Pim. Thankyou, Pim. Thankyou so much!
Smoothers him with kisses
Anne: Thank you, thank you, Pim. Oh I love you, Daddy. It’s beautiful. Thankyou so much,
thankyou!
Jumps off bed and runs off, totally ignoring her mother. Edith gets up.
Otto: She’s just excited.
Edith: I’m sure.
Anne runs in her bedroom and opens the curtains, blinding a sleepy Margot in the process.
Margot puts her glasses on to see what’s going on. Anne sits at her desk which has the walls
covered completely by movie stars. Turns the lamp on, opens the diary up, takes her fountain pen
out of the drawer then a photograph of herself and holds it up
Anne: Quite a glamour girl, wouldn’t you say?
Puts the photograph on the left side of the page and starts writing on the right hand: June 12,
1942.
Frank living room, Anne’s birthday party
Anne is looking at a pair of red shoes
Anne: The soles are like real leather.
Hannah: You’re so lucky.
Anne: I know! Hahaha
Sanne: Anne, who’s that boy?
She turns around to look and sees the boy sitting at the table
Anne: Oh, that’s Peter van Pels, he’s always hammering something out in the back garden
behind us. He’s a dope. Mummy says I have to be nice to him because his father works with Pim.
Sanne: I think he’s cute.
Anne: Cute?
Anne turns around to take another look
Margot: Peter, would you like a biscuit?
Peter: Umm.
Margot: Anne baked them herself.
Peter: Great, I’d love one thankyou.
He takes a handful
Door bell rings and Edith answers. Hello is at the door holding flowers
Edith: Come in
Hello: Thankyou
Edith: I’ll get Anne
Anne comes along and brings him over with the rest of the kids
Anne: Hello
Hello: Hi. Good afternoon everyone.
Otto: Take your seats everyone. The show is about to begin.
Kids sit down while Otto puts projector on with a silent Rin-Tin-Tin movie.
Hello: Oh, um, these are for you.
Hello gives Anne the flowers
Anne: Thankyou.
Hello: You’re welcome.
Jacque gives Anne a cheeky look
Anne: I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not in love with anybody. We’re just friends.
Anne gives Hello a look and slowly puts her hand next to his
Sunday July 5, 1942
Front door
Hello: My grandparents don’t approve of my seeing you. They say you’re not old enough.
Anne: Well you shouldn’t so anything your parents don’t approve of.
Anne goes to close the door with a smile on her face
Hello: Love always finds a way.
Anne: I’ll see you later then.
Hello: Good bye.
Anne: Good bye.
After Anne closes the door she leans against it with the same big smile on her face and walks off.
She goes and sits on her bed patting Moortje while Margot is sitting in front of her reading a
book
Anne: Margot, what do you think of Hello?
Margot: He’s… he’s very nice. And decent. It’s easy to see he’s in love with you.
Anne (laughing to herself): Yes, It’s rather fun.
Margot shakes her head at Anne
Anne: Margot, how old were you when you got your period?
Margot: Anne! Little girls shouldn’t talk of such things.
Anne: I’m tired of being a little girl. I want to be a woman.
Margot: Well, it’s different for every girl... woman. Your turn will come, you just have to be
patient.
Margot walks off
Anne: For how long?
Door bell rings and Edith answers to a man in uniform.
Messenger: Frank?
Edith: Yes.
Messenger: Sign here.
Edith signs and gets the letter, messenger gives one last dirty look. Edith hurriedly opens the
letter which says:
(Swastika)
ATTENTION!
Margot Frank
Merweideplein 37
Amsterdam
16. 2. 1926
You are hereby ordered to report immediately for Westerbork Transit Camp on:
15. JULI 1942 at 1.50 hours
At the Central Station, Amsterdam.
As luggage you may take with you:



1 suitcase or rucksack
1 pair of work boots
2 pairs of socks








2 pairs of underwear
2 shirts
1 work suit
2 wool blankets
2 pairs of clothes
1 plate
1 spoon
1 sweater
With a food supply for three days and valid distribution…..
It is strictly forbidden to take with you………..
Edith puts on her coat and wipes the tears in her eyes
Edith: Margot.
Closes the door behind Margot
Edith: I have to go to the van Pels’. Don’t answer the door until I get back, you understand?
Margot: Why? What’s the matter?
Edith: You- Your father’s gotten a summons. Don’t worry, he’s made plans. I’ll come back as
quickly as I can. Anne has to be told. Break it to her as gently as you can. And remember, keep
absolutely still. They’re to think no one’s home.
Margot: I understand.
Edith: All right.
Edith kisses Margot on the forehead and leaves.
Anne is still sitting on her bed with her diary
Margot: Anne….
Edith runs up spiral staircase to the van Pels apartment. Hermann shows Edith into the living
room where Auguste is.
Hermann: Come in, sit down.
Auguste: What’s happening?
Edith (with tears): They’ve come for Margot. We always thought they would come for Otto or
me. But never the children.
Hermann: Where’s Otto?
Edith: Visiting some friends at the Truat hospital.
Hermann: I planned for the 16th, but this changes everything, Otto will know what to do.
Frank living room, Frank women wait in the living room with Hermann, Anne has tears in her
eyes. Otto comes home. Anne goes and hugs Otto
Anne: Daddy, I thought I would never see you again.
Otto: Oh, don’t be silly Anne. What’s happened?
Pulls Anne off him, Edith hands the letter over to Otto where he quickly reads it
Otto: Anne, listen to me. I want you and Margot to pack a rucksack. There won’t be any time
tomorrow.
Anne: Daddy, what’s going on?
Otto: I’ll explain everything later. Now go.
Otto wipes Anne’s tears away
Margot: Come on.
Otto (to Hermann): Call Mr Kleiman, he has instructions. Fetch Miep and Jan, have them come
around and see you’re off the street by curfew.
Hermann leaves
Anne and Margot in their room packing their things
Anne: These pictures are important.
Margot: Anne, I know it’s hard, but we have to try and be sensible.
Anne: I don’t care; my stars mean everything to me.
Edith: Jacque’s on the phone.
Anne: Jacque?
Edith: Yes.
Edith:And remember… (Puts finger to mouth)
Anne: Hello, Jacque?
Jacque’s voice over the phone: Anne, you won’t believe it, Joop’s got a baby now. Did you
ever think she would become a mother?
Anne: Who?
Jacque v/o: Joop. Joop Ter Heul. Haven’t you seen the new Cissy Van Marxveldt book? I’m
almost halfway through.
Anne looks heartbroken
Anne: It sounds divine.
Jacque v/o:I’ll come up tomorrow. We can read it together, you be Joop, and I’ll be Leo, just
like the last time.
Anne: Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Jacque v/o: I can’t wait to show you the cover, it’s so darling.
Door bell rings
Anne: I have to go now, our guests are here. Goodbye Jacque.
Otto: Yes?
Miep (on other side of door): Miep and Jan.
Otto: Right through here.
Edith (to Anne): Go on now, finish packing your clothes.
Otto: Jan.
Anne and Margot continue in their room, and Edith, Otto, Miep and Jan sort clothes out, Miep
starts putting clothes on.
Miep: Mr Frank, here, let me. Mm-hm. Jan, help Mr Frank.
Otto writes a letter which says:
Capt. Hermann Steiner
Bergerstraat 12
Maastricht
Dearest Friend,
Circumstances has led us to leave for Maastricht sooner than expected…
Otto: This’ll put people off the track. If anyone enquires, tell them that we’ve gone to
Switzerland. Oh, post this to my mother in Bautzen. You understand.
Anne puts diary in rucksack. Miep and Jan are now stuffed with clothes, Miep has so much she
looks pregnant. They go to leave.
Otto: You know what to do
Miep nods
Otto: Tomorrow.
Anne is lying on her bed with Moortje, Otto is tying up her rucksack
Anne: How long will we be in hiding?
Otto: A few weeks, perhaps a month or two. Until the war is over.
Anne: Where will we go? Will it be in town? The country?
Otto: You’ll know tomorrow. We’ll all be together, that’s the main thing.
Anne: Will I be able to write to Jacque?
Otto: She must never know.
Anne:Moortje? Can I take Moortje with me?
Otto: I’m sorry. We’ll leave some food and a note for the neighbours.
Anne: It isn’t fair!
Anne starts to cry and Otto hugs her
Otto: No, no.
Moortje: meow!
Early the next morning, Miep comes to the doorstep with her bike. The Frank family are inside
waiting
Miep: Hurry, Margot, before it gets light.
Margot: Bye.
Otto: Please, back inside everyone.
Margot hops on a bike that was waiting outside and they ride off
Miep: Everything will be fine. You’ll see.
Edith starts making her bed
Otto: Edith, leave everything.
Anne is still sorting some clothes out in her room, what to take, what to leave behind.
Moortje watches from her bed.
Moortje: meow!
Edith takes one last look at her and Otto’s framed wedding photo. Anne throws her new red
shoes she got for her birthday on the floor and goes over to the bed with Moortje and hugs and
kisses her.
Moortje: meow!
Anne: Moortje.
Otto: We can’t live in the past Edith, only the future. Hmm?
Edith starts crying and hugs with Otto. Anne is still with Moortje
Otto:Anne, quickly please.
Moortje: meow!
Gives Moortje one last kiss and leaves her on the bed. They put head scarfs and coats on and
leave out the door.
Anne, Edith and Otto start walking from Merweideplein to Prinsengracht. Shot of the Frank
dining room with breakfast dishes still out, Moortje is on the table picking on the food, with the
note to the neighbours on the table. They continue walking and arrive at Gies and Co. Miep, Bep
and Mr Kleiman hears footsteps outside and Miep gets up. Miep leads them up the spiral
staircase to the annexe’s front door.
Edith: And Margot?
Miep: She’s waiting here.
Edith: Oh, Thank God.
They walk inside, Otto and Miep exchange one last look and Miep closes the door behind her.
November, 1942
Four Months later
Anne is at her desk writing
Anne narrates: Dear Jacqueline, you’re the only person I can tell about what happened, but you
must promise not to say a word to anyone. Don’t ask any questions about where we have gone. If
you do, it could be very dangerous for us. Since you’ve never had to disappear, I’ll try to give
you an idea of our life. I call our hiding place ‘The Secret Annexe’, and strange as it may seem,
it’s actually quite cosy here. You’d be surprised to find out that we’re just above Daddy’s office.
We take a tour around the annexe
Anne v/o: Up the back staircase and behind a small door. Open the door, take one giant step and
voila. Daddy and Mummy’s room is right behind the staircase. Margot and I reside next door.
We’ve even got a bathroom. Upstairs there’s a larger room with a kitchen. The van Pels’ sleep
there at night but during the day it’s a big living room. We have to stay upstairs as long as the
workers are still in the building. Peter van Pels has a room off to the side, much smaller than
mine. And there’s an attic for storage. There are warehouses on both sides of us and neighbours
all around. We have to be invisible day and night.
Anne and Otto organise stuff and test the blackout boards on the windows
Otto: Still see light, sweets.
Frank family organise clothes in cupboards and books on shelves
Anne v/o: At first it was only Daddy and me doing all the work. Mummy and Margot eventually
got over their shock and started to help.
Otto: Shirts.
Otto is putting things in a trunck labelled: Lieutenant of the Reserves. Otto Frank
Anne v/o: It’s amazing to see how much of our things Daddy had managed to sneak away. I
wasn’t the only one to bring my memories with me, Daddy kept his old soldiers trunk.
Anne pastes movie star pictures on walls and packs books on the shelf in her room
Anne v/o: It was hard for all of us not to think about the life we had left behind. I miss my old
room but at least I have my movie stars to keep me company. With a little luck we can all be
happy here until we go back home.
Mr Kleiman and Mr Kugler carry and adjust the bookshelf
Anne v/o: And now our annexe is really a secret. Mr Kugler and Mr Kleiman had a bookcase
built in front of our little doorway. You have to be careful when you go downstairs to bend down
low and try not to bump your head. Everything was ready by the time the van Pels arrived on
July 13th.
Van Pel’s arrive up the stairs carrying luggage
Anne: There here
Otto: Well done. Come in, come in.
Auguste: Ugh, I need oxygen. Well, I told Mr van Pels that I’m not going anywhere without my
little potty.
Pulls the potty out of a hat box and shows it around
Auguste: Hahahaha!!
Peter in his room
Anne v/o: Peter van Pels, the dope that he is, brought his cat even though Daddy told him not to.
Mrs van Pels asked me to love Peter like a brother. But that’s impossible. Mummy says he’s shy,
but I think he’s rather boring.
Anne at her desk writing
Anne v/o: Now we’re to have another guest. The other day Daddy announced we have an
opportunity to save one of our acquaintances.
Everyone in the living room
Otto: Mr Pfeffer has asked me about a hiding place. Now, we know this will only add to your
worries so the final decision rests with you.
Mr Kugler: It’s just as dangerous for seven as it is for eight.
Otto: So we’re agreed.
Anne at desk
Anne: From what we can tell, Mr Pfeffer is quite congenial, for a dentist anyway. That’s all I
had better write for now. I’m sure we’ll see each other again Jacqueline, but probably not before
the wars over. Until then, a little kiss from your best friend, Anne.
Westertoren clock chimes, Anne looks over to Margot from her writing and Margot, who was
reading a book on the bed, smiles too. Workers leave the warehouse while Miep looks out. When
she sees that it’s alright she goes upstairs
Otto: Good morning Miep.
Miep: Good morning Mr Frank.
Edith: Good morning Miep, here you are.
Edith, Auguste and Hermann hands something to Miep.
Hermann: Some cigarettes, if you don’t mind Miep.
Auguste: And some peppermint tea, I’ve been having the most frightful dizzy spells lately.
Miep: Things are harder and harder to come by.
Otto: Whatever you can do will be fine, for all of us.
Anne: So Miep, what’s the news? I have a letter for Jacque but Daddy won’t let me give it to
you.
Miep: When I finish with the shopping, we’ll have our talk.
Otto: And, what about our friend Mr Pfeffer?
Miep: He can’t come tomorrow, he has patients.
Auguste and Hermann laugh
Auguste: The idea!
Hermann: What nerve.
Otto: Tomorrows Friday. Tell Mr Pfeffer we will expect him Monday. That’ll give him time to
settle his affairs but not a day later.
Miep: I’ll see to it.
Mr Kleiman and Fritz walk down Prinsengracht and pass two German soldiers. Mr Pfeffer stops
to look at them but Mr Kleiman pulls him inside the office.
Mr Kleiman: Miep, you remember one of our salesmen Mr Wichtor.
Miep: Mm-hm. May I take your coat?
Fritz looks confused and raises his hat to her
Miep: How are sales?
Fritz: Oh, what? Bad.
Miep: Mm-hm.
Fritz: Through the summer, very bad.
Miep drags him out the door since the cleaning lady is looking as she cleans
Miep: I hear that…. Mr Kleiman and Bep continue working as if it was nothing out of the
ordinary
Edith is peeling potatoes, Hermann is making sausages with a cigarette in his mouth, Peter is
sawing a piece of wood and Auguste is stirring something in a pot and reading a book at the
same time
Auguste: Noir.
Otto is reading Dickens
Otto: Noir.
Auguste: Noir .
Otto tries to correct her pronunciation
Otto: Oir, oir.
Auguste: Black.
Miep comes in
Auguste: Oh, Mr Pfeffer.
Edith: Mr Pfeffer.
Fritz: But… you… you’re in Switzerland.
Anne: No, no, that was only a story.
Edith: Hello Mr Pfeffer.
Fritz: Mrs Frank.
Fritz and Edith shake hands and Otto extends his hand too
Hermann: Welcome.
Fritz: Pfeffer.
Hermann and Fritz shake too
Anne: Well, here it is Mr Pfeffer.
Fritz: (to Auguste) nice to meet you.
Anne: Don’t worry; it’s only like this when the workers are out to lunch. For the rest of the day
(puts finger to mouth, whispering), it’s quiet. You have to learn the rules of course, there are
scads of rules.
Otto carries his bags out
Otto: Mr Pfeffer appreciates the value of discipline. Here idleness is our enemy. Our motto:
work and hope.
Auguste: Hehe, listen to the Prussian officer.
Anne: Breakfast is at 9am, except on Sundays and holidays when its 11:30. Lunch is from 1:15
to 1:45, and then we expect visitors.
Fritz: Visitors?
Anne: Our helpers of course. Here.
Takes a seat out for him
Fritz: Thankyou.
Anne: Dinner after the nightly news broadcasts, and lights out promptly at 10.
Auguste:Parlez-vous Francais, Monsieur Pfeffer? (Do you speak French Mr Pfeffer?)
Fritz: Oui, oui, je parle un peu. Comment ca va, madam? (yes yes, a little. How do you do,
Madam?)
Auguste: What does that mean?
At table eating dinner
Fritz: My poor Charlotte, She thinks I’ve been spirited away to the country. Who would ever
believe that I was right here, in the centre of Amsterdam?
Auguste (Flirty): Would you like some more vegetables, Mr Pfeffer?
Fritz: Thank you.
Anne: I think we’re all very fortunate here.
Auguste: What a ridiculous thing to say.
Anne: I don’t think its ridiculous at all, it’s a wonder I don’t cry all the time thinking about my
friends.
Auguste: Has she been taking her valerian drops? Be quiet.
Hermann: Putti, you’re spoiling my digestion.
Fritz: Children know nothing of what goes on in the world.
Auguste: Here, here.
Getting ready for bed
Auguste: Where’s my pillow? What have you done with it this time?
Hermann: I ate it. How am I suppose to know where it is?
Peter is in bed rolling his eyes at his parents
Auguste: You keep losing everything.
Hermann: Here!
Hermann throws a pillow at Auguste. Fritz is packing his things in his room while Anne is in the
bathroom cleaning her teeth. Fritz looks at a picture of Charlotte, and runs his finger along the
shelf to see how dirty it is.
Auguste: And your predictions never come true.
Hermann: When have I ever been wrong?
Auguste: When have you ever been right?
Margot and Otto pull out Margot’s divan bed.
Margot: I think it’s a bit odd, Anne in there with Mr Pfeffer.
Otto shakes his head
Margot: He’s so old.
Otto: Anne’s still a child, she won’t mind.
Anne is now putting peroxide on her upper lip. Fritz is waiting impatiently in their room.
Auguste: We use to have such fun, before.
Hermann: Before we were married you mean.
Anne comes out of the bathroom
Fritz: Ah, do you always take this long?
Anne: Only as long as I need to.
Fritz: I’ll have to have a word with your father.
Fritz goes in the bathroom. Hermann and Auguste are laughing in their bedroom, Peter is trying
to get comfortable in bed with his parents making all that noise
Auguste: Hahaha!!
Hermann: Don’t touch me!
Edith: Listen to them, every night the same racket. It would have been different with the
Goslar’s.
Otto: With two children and a baby on the way. We’ve been over this Edith. If the baby had
cried, what then? It would have given us all away. This is no place for a woman as pregnant as
she was.
Edith: At least I could have taken care of her. I still can’t believe it, mother and baby both dead.
Margot: Mother, don’t.
Edith: It would have been different if… I had been there to help.
Otto: You don’t know that Edith.
Edith: That’s just it Otto, I will never know.
Otto: You have to try not to think of things outside these walls. It’s hard, I know, but we can’t
be responsible for everyone. Just for ourselves.
Fritz is snoring. Anne wakes up and gets out of bed, there’s a red stain on the bed. She goes to
the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror happily (she’s a woman!). Then she sits on the
toilet and cries her eyes out.
Margot is bathing in a small washtub in the front office and Anne helps to wash her back, then
goes over to the window and takes a peek outside.
Margot: You mustn’t do that.
Anne: I can’t help it. I like watching people. Sometimes I make up stories for them, imagining
what their lives are like. What ours would be like if…
She daydreams a little more looking out the window
Margot: Anne…
Margot points to the towel; Anne gets it and wraps Margot up in it
Anne: Margot, don’t I look different to you?
Margot: Different?
Margot gives Anne a hard look.
Margot: Anne, have you…
Anne happily nods, Margot gives her a hug
Anne: I wanted it to be my own sweet little secret for a while, I’ve only told Bep. She fetched
some things from the chemist for me.
Margot: I’m happy for you, really.
Anne: If only people would just stop treating me like a child.
January, 1943
Jewish Lyceum
Background voices: Are you busy after school?
Sanne: Do you think they have Jewish schools in Switzerland?
Jacque: Of course they do, but there aren’t any Germans to force you to go there.
Hannah: I still can’t believe she left her shoes behind. She was so proud of them, remember?
Sanne: You really saw them?
Jacque: Right on the floor, like she just kicked them off.
Sanne: Did you see the diary?
Hannah: It was gone.
Jacque: But we looked.
Teacher comes in and everyone sits in their seats. There are hardly any students left in the
classroom in comparison to the full class before. The teacher picks up the chalk and is about to
write when he starts to cry and bangs his head against the chalkboard. The students don’t say
anything and just look around.
Teacher: I’m sorry. I’m sorry, my… my wife. They took her away last night.
Blows his nose
Miep walks past the Boekhandel (bookshop), with her bike on her side and meets with Charlotte
on a corner. Miep takes a letter out of her pocket
Miep: He sends you this.
Charlotte: You’ve seen Fritz?
Miep shakes her head
Charlotte: Can’t you even tell me where he is?
Miep: I don’t know.
Charlotte passes a small parcel to Miep
Charlotte: See that he gets this.
Miep: Of course.
Charlotte: Thankyou.
Miep: Mm-hm.
Charlotte: You’re so kind.
Miep: Ah.
Miep walks off with her bike but Charlotte follows.
Charlotte: Tell him that I love him, that I’ll wait.
Miep: Mm-hm.
Miep rides along on her bike carrying a bag of groceries, turns a corner where a group of
German soldiers on motorbikes also turn and falls off her bike
Miep: Aah! Damn you, you beasts!
Line of German soldiers walk past and laugh at her on the ground picking her things up.
Listening to the cabinet radio
Churchill on radio: There’ve been disasters far bloodier than anything we have experienced so
far in this. But in the end, all the oppositions fell together, and all our foes submitted…
Auguste: I can’t stand to hear that man. Half the time I don’t even know what he is saying. ‘This
is not the end. It is possibly the beginning of the end and it is certainly the end of the beginning’,
do you know what that means Mr Frank?
Hermann: Putti!
Auguste: If you ask me, the British should spend more time bombing Germany, less time
drinking tea.
Hermann: Shut up already.
Radio goes static and Peter reaches to tune the radio. Hermann smacks him on the head.
Hermann: Stop messing around.
Peter: I’ll fix it.
Hermann: Every time you try to fix something it only gets worse.
Edith: The Americans Otto, why don’t they come? Why do they take so long?
Otto: They got their hands full fighting the Japanese. You mustn’t despair Edith. The invasion
will come, they’ll be here soon.
Edith: Yes, but… will we?
Anne’s room
Anne (in a bad mood): Daddy will you please ask Mr Pfeffer why he thinks it’s so unreasonable
of me to insist upon being able to use my own desk?
Fritz: I have important work to do. Work, you understand? And besides, there are other places
you can go. This writing of yours, you can do it in the attic perhaps. It’s only a diary after all. A
childish pastime.
Anne: Childish?!
Otto: Now, now, we needn’t argue.
Anne stares straight ahead fuming
Otto: What I propose is this. Uh, Anne should have the desk, say, twice a week from 4:00 in the
afternoon to 5:30 and Mr Pfeffer may use it for the rest of the time.
Anne: But Pim…
Otto: Are we agreed?
Anne gives Fritz another angry look
In Otto’s room
Otto: We all have to make small sacrifices Anne.
Anne: You mean me, I have to make the sacrifices and it isn’t small. I’m not a little girl
anymore.
Otto: Mr Pfeffer has a right to the desk
Anne: And don’t I have rights? I work just as hard as anybody else here. I just don’t want that
man poring through my private thoughts.
Otto: That’s easily remedied don’t you think?
Takes out a briefcase from under his bed and spills the books already inside it onto his bed
Otto: I have it. Here. This will keep your diary from prying eyes.
Anne: Thank you Daddy.
Otto gives Anne a kiss on the forehead
Otto: My little woman.
Anne returns to her room and Fritz is at the desk. She takes her books from the desk
Anne: Pardon me.
Fritz: Oh.
Anne sits on the bed and puts her stuff in the briefcase. Fritz gets another book from the desk and
slides it in
Fritz: Never let it be said that Anne Frank failed her so called studies on my account.
Anne (clears throat): Thank you.
At night an air-raid siren and bombs go off. Fritz and Anne sits up from bed, Anne covers her
ears crying. Peter is looking out the window. Anne jumps out of bed with her pillow, but drops it
before reaching her dad. She runs to his bed and into his arms.
Anne: Help me!
Peter: I think they’re bombing the airport.
Hermann: Get away from that window!
Auguste sits in her bed, blocking her ears crying
Otto: Don’t be afraid. Listen they are British airplanes. They’re coming to save us.
Anne: No, it doesn’t sound like it.
Hermann: Peter, come down!
Anne continues to cry, and Edith lights a candle
Otto: What are you doing?
Edith: Not everyone here is an ex-soldier.
Another bomb explodes
Auguste: Aah!
In the front office Mr Kugler introduces a new worker and they all shake hands as they are being
introduced
Mr Kugler: This is my partner Mr Kleiman.
Mr Kleiman: Pleased to meet you.
Mr Kugler: Our indispensable Miep.
Miep: Hello.
Mr Kugler: And Bep.
Bep: Nice to meet you.
Mr Kugler: This is Mr Van Maaren, he will be taking over as foreman. At least until Bep’s
father feels well enough to return.
Everyone looks at him expecting him to say something
Mr Van Maaren: I’m not much for talk, but if it’s a hard worker you’re looking for, I’m your
man.
Mr Kugler: Fine. Show Mr Van Maaren the storeroom, please, Bep.
Miep: I’ll do it.
In the warehouse, Miep gives Mr Van Maaren a tour
Miep: Our salesmen give their orders to Bep once a week. Everything you need to fill in your
orders is right here. We have two kinds of Pectacon products: spices and jams.
Mr Van Maaren points to a crate of something
Mr Van Maaren: Wow, this would fetch a pretty penny on the black market.
Miep looks annoyed
Miep: I wouldn’t know about that. Uh, your office is going to be in here.
Mr van Maaren sees blue paint painted over the window on the other side of the room (which
faces the annexe)
Mr Van Maaren: What’s this blue paint for?
Miep: Ah, that’s to keep the spices out of the light. Hmm?
Miep continues the tour
Everyone is doing something at the table, Auguste is peeling potatoes, Fritz is doing something
with a bottle and Anne and Margot are shelling peas
Otto: What does Miep think?
Bep: She doesn’t trust him; she thinks he’s a thief.
Otto: A thief? Haha. Ah, she’s very protective.
Anne: Shelling peas is so boring. I can never be a housewife; it’s like being in prison.
Otto: It’s only temporary. Your father will be back soon enough I’m sure of it.
Bep: No. They say it is cancer.
Edith: So much suffering in the world.
Anne: Is that all you can say mother? It will only makes matters worse. Honestly, I don’t know
how you can be so thick sometimes!
Otto: Anne! That is no way to talk to your mother.
Anne: Don’t listen to them Bep. You know what I do when things get difficult? I go upstairs.
There’s a window in the attic where you can see the old chestnut tree in the yard. It has the most
wonderful branches. When they are in full bloom, it’s beautiful. When I look out I feel better
somehow. Makes me wonder, if God is a lot closer than people think.
Fritz (sarcastically): Did you read that in one of your books? Such a font of knowledge you’ve
become.
Anne: I suppose I’m just hopeless. Excuse me.
She gets upset and leaves the room
Anne is at her desk writing something when Otto comes in
Otto: Don’t you think you should apologise to your mother?
Anne: She can be such a trial sometimes.
Otto: You’re quite a trial yourself.
Anne: So people keep reminding me.
Otto: It’s only natural for a girl, um—I mean a young woman of your age.
Anne: Stop! I don’t want to hear that I’m like all other girls. I’m not. I’m me, Anne Frank.
Otto: Anne, your mother is your staunchest defender, I’ve heard her with Mrs van Pels, she’s
your friend.
Anne: I don’t want her to be a friend, I need her to be a mother. Someone I can look up to. To
set an example.
Otto: Your mother is a kind, generous woman. She’s a dutiful wife; she’s borne a great deal
without complaint.
Anne: You always take her side. But I’ve seen the way you kiss her. You kiss her the same way
you kiss me and Margot. I think even you’re not in love with her.
Otto: Never say that. You wouldn’t want me to take away your diary, would you?
Anne: Daddy. I’m sorry, I’m really really sorry. I just… I can’t help the way I feel. Mummy and
I … we’re so different. We’re like night and day. She doesn’t understand anything about me.
Otto: Have you tried to understand her?
Anne looks out the window of the attic, it’s snowing outside. Now she is sleeping in the attic, with
‘Swan Lake’ playing, she is having a dream that she is skating. She is whirling around. An
unidentified boy comes along and they spin around together
Peter: Anne.
Peter interrupts her dream; he is kneeling over her in the attic holding a sack
Peter: You alright?
Anne: I must have fallen asleep. How long have you been watching me?
Peter: Oh, I’ve just come up. Honest. Um, beans, from the storeroom. Everyone is gone now so
it’s safe to bring them up.
They keep looking at each other
Anne: Mmm.
Peter: Mmm.
Peter gets up with the sack of beans over his shoulder, but the seam on the bottom bursts open
and showers Anne with them. Anne shields her face from them but they keep coming until Peter
turns the sack around, then they both laugh together
Mr Van Maaren walks suspiciously through the warehouse, looking around. He takes a small
packet of something from the table and puts it in his pocket, looking around to see if anyone saw
him. Then he goes over to the window which is painted blue and tries looking through. When he
can’t, he takes the toothpick out of his mouth and starts scratching a section of the paint away.
Mr Kugler comes from around the corner and spots him. Once Mr Van Maarsen has a little bit
done, he takes a look. All he can see is a building with covered windows. Mr Kugler quickly
walks over to him.
Mr Kugler: What do you think you’re doing?
Mr Van Maaren: What’s in that building back there?
Mr Kugler: It does not belong to us.
Mr Van Maaren: (Not believing Mr Kugler) Is that right?
Mr Kugler: You are suppose to be at lunch. Get out. Go.
Mr Kugler pushes him out
Nazis on motorcycles and trucks drive noisily through the streets at night. Jacque takes a peek
out of her window. Nazis are yelling out and shoving people onto the trucks. We see the Goslar
home. The house is disorganised with piles of clothes everywhere. Hans is standing next to a
shelf with a candle, Gabi, now about 2 years old, is sitting on some suitcases holding a teddy
bear happily talking to herself. Hannah is sitting at the table crying. They can hear footsteps,
dogs barking, yelling and door thumping.
Gabi: Hehe, gua gua.
Hans is sadly looking at a framed photograph of his deceased wife Ruth. Then there is a
pounding on their own door, Hannah puts her hands over her mouth and is scared to death.
A man shouts in German: Are there Jews in here?
Hans in Dutch: Yes, there are Jews here.
Man outside: You have 5 minutes.
Hannah, still crying, picks Gabi up and walks outside. Hans blows the candle out, puts the
framed photo faced down, puts his hat on, grabs the suitcase Gabi was sitting on and also leaves
the house. The trucks are lined up along the Merweideplein, the Nazis heard the people in the
trucks. We can also see Sanne walking along with a little suitcase. The Goslar’s come out, now
Hans is holding Gabi, and they also get ushered onto the cattle truck by a soldier.
Hermann is looking through papers in one of the offices downstairs; Anne is sitting on a big
chair reading a book. Hermann scrunches the paper in his hand and throws it.
Hermann: Kugler’s records are getting sloppy.
Fritz walks in eating an apple
Fritz: The curtains in the front office, they’re open again.
Anne: They’re always open on weekends Mr Pfeffer.
Fritz:Oh I’m so sorry I forgot. Then tell me, how am I supposed to collect any papers? Surely no
one will see.
He starts heading that way, Anne calls out to him
Anne: That’s how it starts. No one will see, no one will hear, no one will pay any attention. Then
what?
Fritz takes a huge bite out of his apple and goes upstairs. At the same time, Peter comes from
around the corner, from the stairs going to the warehouse; he’s holding a big sack over his
shoulder and his cat Mouschi on top of it.
Anne: Hello Peter.
Peter: Hi.
Hermann: Did you bring the bread?
Peter doesn’t say anything
Herman: Give me the keys I’ll do it myself.
Peter hands the keys over
Hermann: And get rid of that cat, you look ridiculous. Like you’re wearing one of your
mother’s precious furs.
Slaps him on the head
Hermann: Dummkoft.
Hermann walks off
Anne: I think it’s beastly the way he treats you.
Peter: Don’t mind him. He gets like that when he hasn’t had his cigarettes.
Anne: Hehe
Mouschi: meow!
Mouschi jumps off Peter and Peter and Anne continue to look at each other
Peter: I like it when you smile.
Anne: Really?
Peter:Sort of makes your eyes sparkle. You have pretty eyes.
Anne: No, I’m not pretty.
Peter: Yes you are.
Anne: No I’m not.
Peter: Well, you’ll just have to believe me then.
They are still looking at each other til Peter breaks it and walks up the stairs. Anne is still
looking though ;)
Hermann goes downstairs to the warehouse to pick up the bread. He packs three pieces of bread
onto a wooden tray, but on the way out gets distracted by the baskets of herbs next to the grinder
on the long table. He puts the bread down to smell the herbs, to see how the business is running
without him. He doesn’t like what he smells and goes to leave. He pulls a handkerchief out of his
pocket to sneeze, and in the process, his wallet falls out of his pocket. The next working day, with
the men working and the machines running, Mr Van Maarsen spots the wallet on the floor, slides
the money out and puts it in his pocket. He goes to Mr Kuglers office and drops the wallet on his
desk as he is working.
Mr Kugler:Ah. I was wondering where that had got to. Thank you.
Mr Kugler puts the wallet in the pocket inside his suit
Mr Van Maaren: So it’s your wallet then, is it?
Mr Kugler: I’ve just told you.
Mr Van Maaren: You were in the warehouse last night?
Mr Kugler: That’s right.
Mr Van Maaren: Why?
Mr Kugler: I don’t have to explain myself to you.
Mr Van Maaren leans over the desk
Mr van Maaren: Didn’t a certain Mr Frank work here in the office at one time? A Jew?
Mr Kugler: What’s that got to do with anything?
Mr Van Maaren: What happened to him?
Mr Kugler: He… disappeared.
Mr van Maaren makes a birdy noise and movement with his hand
Mr Van Maaren: Disappeared?
Mr Kugler: That’s right. Now, if you will excuse me…
Mr Van Maaren doesn’t move
Mr Kugler: If it’s a reward you are looking for I’m sorry to disappoint you.
Mr Van Maaren: Haha, Oh I’ve got my reward alright.
He leaves
The second half of script...