جمعه، شانزدهم جولای ۱۹۴۳

CHAPTER TWELVE

Friday, 16 July 1943

There was a break-in last night, a real one! This morning, Peter went down to the warehouse and saw that the doors were open on to the street. We stayed quiet, and didn’t use any water or do anything to make a noise. We waited until eleven-thirty, when Mr Kleinian came upstairs. He told us that burglars had broken in and stolen some money. Luckily, they didn’t find much so they soon went next door to look there.

The Allies are arriving in Sicily!

Monday, 19 July 1943

A lot of bombs fell on North Amsterdam on Sunday. Whole streets went in the raid, and they can’t even dig out all the bodies yet. They’ve already counted two hundred people dead, and many more are hurt. The hospitals are full.

Monday, 26 July 1943

There was a terrible bombing raid yesterday. It started at about two-thirty in the afternoon. Margot and I were upstairs, but the guns were so loud that we went down again. The house shook, and the bombs kept on falling. I was holding my ‘escape bag’. But walking on the streets is as dangerous as an air raid on the Annexe. I know that I can’t really leave. After half an hour the planes flew away, and the smell of fire was everywhere. There was thick smoke over the city, like fog.

Later, after dinner, there was another raid. The bombs came down again like rain, and we heard from British reports that Schiphol Airport was bombed. We could hear the noise of the planes all the time, and we were very frightened. My legs were still shaking when I lay in bed that night.

At midnight, more planes! I ran to father’s bed and did not fall asleep in my own bed until half-past two.

But at seven o’clock in the morning we heard some wonderful news about Italy! Mussolini has gone, and the King of Italy is leading the government there now.

Tuesday, 3 August 1943

We just had a third air raid. I am trying to be brave. Mrs van Daan used to say, ‘Let them fall!’ Now she is the most cowardly of us all. She was shaking like a leaf this morning, and even burst into tears.

Our bodies are very stiff now. We stopped our exercise program a long time ago.

Friday, 10 September 1943

Every time I write to you, something special has happened. Usually, it’s unpleasant. But this time, it’s wonderful! The news was broadcast that Italy is out of the war! The British are now in Naples. The Germans are in North Italy.

But there is some very bad news too. Mr Kleinian is going to have a very difficult operation on his stomach, and he’ll have to stay in hospital for at least four weeks. He’s so brave! He’s always cheerful and smiling, although he’s usually in pain.