Tuesday, 30 June, 1942 - ANNE FRANK, HARRY AND PETER WESSEL | ANNEFRANKSTORY PAGE 7

Dear Kitty,

I've not had a moment to write to you until today. I was with friends all day on Thursday. On Friday we had visitors, and so it went on until today. Harry and I have got to know each other well in a week and he has told me a lot about his life; He came to Holland alone and is living with his grandparents. His parents are in Belgium.


Harry had a girlfriend called Fanny. I know her too, a very soft, dull creature. Now that he has met me, he realizes that he was just daydreaming in Fanny’s presence. I seem to act as a stimulant to keep him awake. You see we all have our uses and queer ones too at times!

Jopie slept here on Saturday night but she went to Lies on Sunday and I was bored stiff. Harry was to have come in the evening, but he rang up at 6 P.M. I went to the telephone, he said

“Harry Goldberg here, please may I speak to Anne?” “Yes Harry, Anne speaking.”

“Hullo, Anne, how are you?”

“Very well, thank you.”

“I’m terribly sorry I can’t come this evening, but I would like to just speak to you, is it all right if I come in ten minutes?”


“Yes, that’s fine, good-by!”

“Good-by, I’ll be with you soon.”

Receiver down.
I quickly changed into another frock and smartened up my hair a bit. Then I stood nervously at the window watching for him. At last I saw him coming. It was a wonder I didn’t dash down at once, instead I waited patiently until he rang. Then I went down and he positively burst in when I opened the door.


“Anne, my grandmother thinks you are too young to go out regularly with me and that I should go to the Leurs, but perhaps you know that I am not going out with Fanny anymore!”

“No, why is that, have you quarreled?”

“No, not at all. I told Fanny that we didn’t get on well together, so it was better for us not to go out together any more, but she was always welcome in our home, and I hope I should be in hers. You see, I thought Fanny had been going out with another boy and treated her accordingly. But that was quite untrue. And now my uncle says I should apologize to Fanny, but of course I didn’t want to do that so I finished the whole affair. That was just one of the many reasons, my grandmother would rather I went with Fanny than you, but I shan’t, old people have such terribly old-fashioned ideas at times, but I just can’t fall into line. I need my grandparents, but in a sense they need me too. From now on I shall be free on Wednesday evenings. Officially I go to wood-carving lessons to please my grandparents, in actual fact I go to a meeting of the Zionist Movement. I’m not supposed to, because my grandparents are very much against the Zionists. I’m by no means a fanatic, but I have a leaning that way and find it interesting.  But lately it has become such a mess there that I’m going to quit, so next Wednesday will be my last time. Then I shall be able to see you on Wednesday evening, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon and perhaps more.”


“But your grandparents are against it, you can’t do it behind their backs!”


“Love finds a way.”


Then we passed the bookshop on the corner, and there stood Peter Wessel with two other boys, he said “Hello”- It’s the first time he has spoken to me for ages, I was really pleased.


Harry and I walked on and on and the end of it all was that I should meet him at five minutes to seven in the front of his house next evening.

Yours, Anne

<<Prev.Story                                                                                                      Next Story>>