The diary of anne frank
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Mrs. Frank (screaming). Otto! Otto! Komme schnell! 7 [The rest of the people wake, hurriedly getting up. ] Mr. Frank. Was ist los? Was ist passiert? 8 [DUSSEL, followed by ANNE, comes from his room.] Mrs. Frank (as she rushes over to MR, VAN DAAN). Er stiehlt das Essen! 9 Dussel (grabbing MR. VAN DAAN). You! You! Give me that. Mrs. Van Daan (coming down the stairs). Putti ... Putti ... what is it? Dussel (his hands on MR. VAN DAAN's neck). You dirty thief ... stealing food ... you good-for-nothing . . . Mr. Frank. Mr. Dussel! For God's sake! He me, Peter! [PETER comes over, trying, with MR. FRANK, to separate the two struggling men.] Peter. Let him go! Let go! [DUSSEL drops MR. VAN DAAN, pushing him away. He shows them the end of a loaf of bread that he has taken from MR. VAN DAAN.] Dussel. You greedy, selfish . . . ! [MARGOT turns on the lights.] Mrs. Van Daan. Putti ... what is it? [All of MRS. FRANKS gentleness, her self-control, is gone. She is outraged, in a frenzy of indignation.] Mrs. Frank. The bread! He was stealing the bread! Dussel. It was you, and all the time ee thought it was the rats! Mr. Frank. Mr. Van Daan, how could you! Mr. Van Daan. I'm hungry. Mrs. Frank. We're all of us hungry! I see the children getting thinner and thinner. Your own son Peter ... I've heard him moan in his sleep, he's so hungry. And you come in the night and steal food that should go to them ... to the children! Mrs. Van Daan. (going to MR. VAN DAAN protectively). He needs more food than the rest of us. He's used to more. He's a big man. [MR. VAN DAAN breaks away, going over and sitting on the couch.] Mrs. Frank (turning on MRS. VAN DAAN). and 6. La Belle Nivernaise: children's story by the French writer Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897). 7. Komme schnell!: German for "Come quickly!" 8. Was ... passiert?: "What's going on? What happened?" 9. Er ... Essen!: "He is stealing the food!" 400
you . . . you're worse than he is! You're a mother, and yet you sacrifice your child to this man . . . this . . . this . . . Mr. Frank. Edith! Edith! [MARGOT picks up the pink woolen stole, putting it over her mother's shoulders.] Mrs. Frank (paying no attention, going on to MRS. VAN DAAN). Don't think I haven't seen you! Always saving the choicest bits for him! I've watched you day after day and I've held my tongue. But not any longer! Not after this! Now I want him to go! I want him to get out of here! Mr. Frank. Edith! Mr. Van Daan. Get out of here? Mrs. Van Daan. What do you mean? Mrs. Frank. Just that! Take your things and get out! Mr. Frank (to MRS. FRANK). You're speaking in anger. You cannot mean what you are saying. Mrs. Frank. I mean exactly that! [MRS. VAN DAAN takes a cover from the FRANKs' bed, pulling it about her] Mr. Frank. For two long years we have lived here, side by side. We have respected each other's rights . . . we have managed to live in peace. Are we now going to throw it all away? I know this will never happen again, will it, Mr. Van Daan? Mr. Van Daan. No. No. Mrs. Frank. He steals once! He'll steal again! [MR. VAN DAAN, holding his stomach, starts for the bathroom. ANNE puts her arms around him, helping him up the step.] Mr. Frank. Edith, please. Let us be calm. We'll all go to our rooms . . . and afterwards we'll sit down quietly and talk this out . . . we'll find some way . . . Mrs. Frank. No! No! No more talk! I want them to leave! Mrs. Van Daan. You'd put us out, on the streets? Mrs. Frank. There are other hiding places. Mrs. Van Daan. A cellar ... a closet. I know. And we have no money left even to pay for that. Mrs. Frank. I'll give you money. Out of my own pocket I'll give it gladly. (She gets her purse from a shelf and comes back with it.) Mrs. Van Daan. Mr. Frank, you told Putti you'd never forget what he'd done for you when you came to Amsterdam. You said you could never repay him, that you . . . Mrs. Frank (counting out money). If my husband had any obligation to you, he's paid it, over and over. Mr. Frank. Edith, I've never seen you like this before. I don't know you. Mrs. Frank. I should have spoken out long ago. Dussel. You can't be nice to some people. Mrs. Van Daan (turning on DUSSEL). There would have been plenty for all of us, if you hadn't come in here! Mr. Frank. We don't need the Nazis to destroy us. We're destroying ourselves. [He sits down, with his head in his hands. MRS. FRANK goes to MRS. VAN DAAN.] Mrs. Frank (giving MRS. VAN DAAN some money). Give this to Miep. She'll find you a place. Anne. Mother, you're not putting Peter out. Peter hasn't done anything. Mrs. Frank. He'll stay, of course. When I say I must protect the children, I mean Peter too. [PETER rises from the steps where he has been sitting.] Peter. I'd have to go if Father goes. [MR. VAN DAAN comes from the bathroom. MRS. VAN DAAN hurries to him and takes him to the couch. Then she gets water from the sink to bathe his face.] 401
Mrs. Frank (while this is going on). He's no father to you . . . that man! He doesn't know what it is to be a father! Peter (starting for his room). I wouldn't feel right. I couldn't stay. Mrs. Frank. Very well, then. I'm sorry. Anne (rushing over to PETER). No, Peter! No! (PETER goes into his room, closing the door after him. ANNE turns back to her mother, crying.) I don't care about the food. They can have mine! I don't want it! Only don't send them away. It'll be daylight soon. They'll be caught . . . Margot (putting her arms comfortingly around ANNE). Please, Mother! Mrs. Frank. They're not going now. They'll stay here until Miep finds them a place. (To MRS. VAN DAAN) But one thing I insist on! He must never come down here again! He must never come to this room where the food is stored! We'll divide what we have . . . an equal share for each! (DUSSEL hurries over to get a sack of potatoes from the food safe. MRS. FRANK goes on, to MRS. VAN DAAN) You can cook it here and take it up to him. [DUSSEL brings the sack of potatoes back to the center table.] Margot. Oh, no. No. We haven't sunk so far that we're going to fight over a handful of rotten potatoes. Dussel (dividing the potatoes into piles). Mrs. Frank, Mr. Frank, Margot, Anne, Peter, Mrs. Van Daan, Mr. Van Daan, myself... Mrs. Frank ... [The buzzer sounds in MIEP's signal. ] Mr. Frank. It's Miep! (He hurries over, getting his overcoat and putting it on.) Margot. At this hour? Mrs. Frank. It is trouble. Mr. Frank (as he starts down to unbolt the door). I beg you, don't let her see a thing like this! Dussel (counting without stopping). . Anne, Peter, Mrs. Van Daan, Mr. Van Daan, myself... Margot (to DUSSEL). Stop it! Stop it! Dussel. . . . Mr. Frank, Margot, Anne, Peter, Mrs. Van Daan, Mr. Van Daan, myself, Mrs. Frank . . . Mrs. Van Daan. You're keeping the big ones for yourself! All the big ones . . . Look at the size of that! . . . And that! . . . [DUSSEL continues with his dividing. PETER, with his shirt and trousers on, comes from his room.] Margot. Stop it! Stop it! [We hear MIEP's excited voice speaking to MR. FRANK below. ] Miep. Mr. Frank . . . the most wonderful news! . . . The invasion 10 has begun! 10. the invasion: On June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed in Normandy, a region of northern France, to launch a military campaign against the Germans. 402
Mr. Frank. Go on, tell them! Tell them! [MIEP comes running up the steps, ahead of MR. FRANK. She has a man's raincoat on over her nightclothes and a bunch of orange-colored flowers in her hand.] Miep. Did you hear that, everybody? Did you hear what I said? The invasion has begun! The invasion! [They all stare at MIEP, unable to grasp what she is telling them. PETER is the first to recover his wits.] Peter. Where? Mrs. Van Daan. When? When, Miep? Miep. It began early this morning . . . [As she talks on, the realization of what she has said begins to dawn on them. Everyone goes crazy. A wild demonstration takes place. MRS. FRANK hugs MR. VAN DAAN] Mrs. Frank. Oh, Mr. Van Daan, did you hear that? [DUSSEL embraces MRS. VAN DAAN. PETER grabs a frying pan and parades around the room, beating on it, singing the Dutch national anthem. ANNE and MARGOT follow him, singing, weaving in and out among the excited grown-ups. MARGOT breaks away to take the flowers from MIEP and distribute them to everyone. While this pandemonium is going on, MRS. FRANK tries to make herself heard above the excitement.] Mrs. Frank (to MIEP). How do you know? Miep. The radio ... The BBC! 11 They said they landed on the coast of Normandy! Peter. The British? Miep. British, Americans, French, Dutch, Poles, Norwegians ... all of them! More than four thousand ships! Churchill 12 spoke, and General Eisenhower! 13 D-day, they call it! Mr. Frank. Thank God, it's come! Mrs. Van Daan. At last! Miep (starting out). I'm going to tell Mr. Kraler. This'll be better than any blood transfusion. Mr. Frank (stopping her). What part of Normandy did they land, did they say? Miep. Normandy . . . that's all I know now . . . I'll be up the minute I hear some more! (She goes hurriedly out.) Mr. Frank (to MRS. FRANK). What did I tell you? What did I tell you? [MRS. FRANK indicates that he has forgotten to bolt the door after MIEP He hurries down the steps. MR. VAN DAAN, sitting on the couch, suddenly breaks into a convulsive sob. Everybody looks at him, bewildered. ] Mrs. Van Daan (hurrying to him). Putti! Putti! What is it? What happened? Mr. Van Daan. Please. I'm so ashamed. [MR. FRANK comes back up the steps.] Dussel. Oh, for God's sake! Mrs. Van Daan. Don't, Putti. Margot. It doesn't matter now! Mr. Frank (going to MR. VAN DAAN). Didn't you hear what Miep said? The invasion has come! We're going to be liberated! This is a time to celebrate! (He embraces MRS. FRANK and then hurries to the cupboard and gets the cognac and a glass.) Mr. Van Daan. To steal bread from children! Mrs. Frank. We've all done things that we're ashamed of. Anne. Look at me, the way I've treated Mother . . . so mean and horrid to her. 11. BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation. People listened to the BBC, illegally, for news of the war that was more accurate than what German-controlled broadcasters offered. 12. Churchill: Sir Winston Churchill (1874-19G5), British prime minister during World War IL 13. General Eisenhower: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), commander of the Allied forces in western Europe. He later became president of the United States (1953-1961). 403
Mrs. Frank. No, Anneke, no. [ANNE runs to her mother, putting her arms around her.] Anne. Oh, Mother, I was. I was awful. Mr. Van Daan. Not like me. No one is as bad as me! Dussel (to MR. VAN DAAN). Stop it now! Let's be happy! Mr. Frank (giving MR. VAN DAAN a glass of cognac). Here! Here! Schnapps! 14 L'chaim!' 15 [MR. VAN DAAN takes the cognac. They all watch him. He gives them a feeble smile. ANNE puts up her fingers in a V-for-victory sign. As MR. VAN DAAN gives an answering V sign, they are startled to hear a loud sob from behind them. It is MRS. FRANK, stricken with remorse. She is sitting on the other side of the room.] Mrs. Frank (through her sobs). When I think of the terrible things I said ... [MR. FRANK, ANNE, and MARGOT hurry to her, trying to comfort her. MR. VAN DAAN brings her his glass of cognac. ] Mr. Van Daan. No! No! You were right! Mrs. Frank. That I should speak that way to you! . . . Our friends! . . . Our guests! (She starts to cry again.) Dussel. Stop it, you're spoiling the whole invasion! [As they are comforting her, the lights dim out. The curtain falls.] Anne's Voice (faintly at first and then with growing strength). We're all in much better spirits these days. There's still excellent news of the invasion. The best part about it is that I have a feeling that friends are coming. Who knows? Maybe I'll be back in school by fall. Ha, ha! The joke is on us! The warehouse man doesn't know a thing and we are paying him all that money! . . . Wednesday, the second of July, nineteen forty-four. The invasion seems temporarily to be bogged down. Mr. Kraler has to have an operation, which looks bad. The Gestapo have found the radio that was stolen. Mr. Dussel says they'll trace it back to the thief, and then, it's just a matter of time till they get to us. Everyone is low. Even poor Pim can't raise their spirits. I have often been downcast myself . . . but never in despair. I can shake off everything if I write. But . . . and that is the great question . . . will I ever b able to write well? I want to so much. I want to go on living even after my death. Another birthday has gone by, so now I am fifteen. Already I know what I want. I have a goal, an opinion. [As this is being said, the curtain rises on the scene, the lights dim on, and ANNE'S voice fades out.] SCENE 4 It is an afternoon a few weeks later. . . Everyone but Margot is in the main room. There is a sense of great tension. Both MRS. FRANK and MR. VAN DAAN are nervously pacing back and forth. DUSSEL is standing at the window, looking down fixedly a the street below. PETER is at the center table, trying to do his lessons. ANNE sits opposite him, writing in her diary. MRS. VAN DAAN is seated on the couch, her eyes on MR. FRANK as he sits reading. The sound of a telephone ringing come from the office below. They all are rigid, listening tensely. DUSSEL rushes down to MR FRANK. 14. schnapps: strong liquor. 15. L'chaim!: Hebrew toast meaning "To life!" WORDS TO OWN remorse n.: deep feeling of guilt. 404
Dussel. There it goes again, the telephone! Mr. Frank, do you hear? Mr. Frank (quietly). Yes. I hear. Dussel (pleading, insistent). But this is the third time, Mr. Frank! The third time in quick succession! It's a signal! I tell you it's Miep, trying to get us! For some reason she can't come to us and she's trying to warn us of something! Mr. Frank. Please. Please. Mr. Van Daan (to DUSSEL). You're wasting your breath. Dussel. Something has happened, Mr. Frank. For three days now Miep hasn't been to see us! And today not a man has come to work. There hasn't been a sound in the building! Mrs. Frank. Perhaps it's Sunday. We may have lost track of the days. Mr. Van Daan (to ANNE). You with the diary there. What day is it? Dussel (going to MRS. FRANK). I don't lose track of the days! I know exactly what day it is! It's Friday, the fourth of August. Friday, and not a man at work. (He rushes back to MR. FRANK, pleading with him, almost in tears.) I tell you Mr. Kraler's dead. That's the only explanation. He's dead and they've closed down the building, and Miep's trying to tell us! Mr. Frank. She'd never telephone us. Dussel (frantic). Mr. Frank, answer that! I beg you, answer it! Mr. Frank. No. Mr. Van Daan. Just pick it up and listen. You don't have to speak. Just listen and see if it's Miep. Dussel (speaking at the same time). For God's sake . . . I ask you. Mr. Frank. No. I've told you, no. I'll do nothing that might let anyone know we're in the building. Peter. Mr. Frank's right. Mr. Van Daan. There's no need to tell us what side you're on. Mr. Frank. If we wait patiently, quietly, I believe that help will come. [There is silence for a minute as they all listen to the telephone ringing.] Dussel. I'm going down. (He rushes down the steps. MR. FRANK tries ineffectually to hold him. DUSSEL runs to the lower door, unbolting it. The telephone stops ringing. DUSSEL bolts the door and comes slowly back up the steps.) Too late. [MR. FRANK goes to MARGOT in ANNE's bedroom.] Mr. Van Daan. So we just wait here until we die. Mrs. Van Daan (hysterically). I can't stand it! I'll kill myself! I'll kill myself! Mr. Van Daan. For God's sake, stop it! [In the distance, a German military band is heard playing a Viennese waltz] Mrs. Van Daan. I think you'd be glad if I did! I think you want me to die! Mr. Van Daan. Whose fault is it we're here? (MRS. VAN DAAN starts for her room. He follows, talking at her.) We could've been safe somewhere . . . in America or Switzerland. But no! No! You wouldn't leave when I wanted to. You couldn't leave your things. You couldn't leave your precious furniture. Mrs. Van Daan. Don't touch me! [She hurries up the stairs, followed by MR. VAN DAAN. PETER, unable to bear it, goes to his room. ANNE looks after him, deeply concerned. DUSSEL returns to his post at the window. MR. FRANK comes back into the main room and takes a book, trying to read. MRS. FRANK sits near the sink, starting to peel some potatoes. ANNE quietly goes to PETER's room, closing the door after her. PETER is lying face down on the cot. ANNE leans over him, holding him in her arms, trying to bring him out of his despair.] Anne. Look, Peter, the sky. (She looks up through the skylight.) What a lovely, lovely day! Aren't the clouds beautiful? You know 405
what I do when it seems as if I couldn't stand being cooped up for one more minute? I think myself out. I think myself on a walk in the park where I used to go with Pim. Where the jonquils and the crocuses and the violets grow down the slopes. You know the most wonderful part about thinking yourself out? You can have it any way you like. You can have roses and violets and chrysanthemums all blooming at the same time. . . . It's funny . . . I used to take it all for granted . . . and now I've gone crazy about everything to do with nature. Haven't you? Peter. I've just gone crazy. I think if something doesn't happen soon . . . if we don't get out of here . . . I can't stand much more of it! Anne (softly). I wish you had a religion, Peter. Peter. No, thanks! Not me! Anne. Oh, I don't mean you have to be Orthodox . . .16 or believe in Heaven and Hell and Purgatory and things . . . I just mean some religion . . . it doesn't matter what. Just to believe in something! When I think of all that's out there . . . the trees . . . and flowers . . . and sea gulls . . . When I think of the dearness of you, Peter . . . and the goodness of the people we know . . . Mr. Kraler, Miep, Dirk, the vegetable man, all risking their lives for us every day . . . When I think of these good things, I'm not afraid anymore . . . I find myself, and God, and I . . . [PETER interrupts, getting up and walking away.] Peter. That's fine! But when I begin to think, I get mad! Look at us, hiding out for two years. Not able to move! Caught here like . . . waiting for them to come and get us . . . and all for what? Anne. We're not the only people that've had to suffer. There've always been people that've had to ... sometimes one race ... sometimes another ... and yet ... Peter. That doesn't make me feel any better! Anne (going to him). I know it's terrible, trying to have any faith . . . when people are doing such horrible . . . But you know what sometimes think? I think the world may be going through a phase, the way I was with Mother. It'll pass, maybe not for hundreds of years, but someday . . . I still believe, in spit of everything, that people are really good a heart. Peter. I want to see something now . . . not thousand years from now! (He goes over, silting down again on the cot.) Anne. But, Peter, if you'd only look at it as part of a great pattern . . . that we're just a little minute in the life . . . (She breaks off.) Listen to us, going at each other like a couple of stupid grown-ups! Look at the sky now. Isn't it lovely? (She holds out her hand to him. PETER takes it and rises, standing with her at the window looking out, his arms around her. Someday, when we're outside again, I'm going to... [She breaks off as she hears the sound of car, its brakes squealing as it comes to a sudden stop. The people in the other rooms also become aware of the sound. They listen tensely. Another car roars up to a screeching stop. ANNE and PETER come from PETER's room MR. and MRS. VAN DAAN creep down the stairs DUSSEL comes out from his room. Everyone is listening, hardly breathing. A doorbell clang again and again in the building below. MR. FRANK starts quietly down the steps to the door DUSSEL and PETER follow him. The others stand rigid, waiting, terrified. In a few seconds DUSSEL comes stumbling back up the steps. He shakes off PETER's bell and goes to his room. MR. FRANK bolts the door below and comes slowly back up the steps Their eyes are all on him as he stands there 16. Orthodox: Orthodox Jews strictly observe Jewish traditions. 406
for a minute. They realize that what they feared has happened. MRS. VAN DAAN starts to whimper. MR. VAN DAAN puts her gently in a chair and then hurries off up the stairs to their room to collect their things. PETER goes to comfort his mother. There is a sound of violent pounding on a door below.] Mr. Frank (quietly). For the past two years we have lived in fear. Now we can live in hope. [The pounding below becomes more insistent. There are muffled sounds of voices, shouting commands.] |