'I am grateful to God for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me...'

The Diary of a Young Girl ✍️

Book Review | Cathlin Esther

In the II MA Class today, Cathlin did her book review on Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.

Over to Cathlin -

The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the rarest glimpses one gets into the horrors of the Holocaust, written from a young girl’s perspective.

I got this book when I was 12 years old, and the book is so special to me, because my grandpa got me this book at a Book Fair. He took this book in his hand, and he said, ‘You should read this!’

That’s how I got to read this book!

Back then, I couldn’t really guess the intensity and the profoundness of the book that I had with me!

These are a series of entries in the form of letters, in which she records all her wishes, dreams, fears and experiences.

She wrote it while in hiding.

She received her very first diary on her 13th birthday, on June 12, 1942. The diary was written for the next two years – from her 13th to 15th year of age!

The Nazis were putting them in concentration camps, and many of the Jews went into hiding amongst book shelves. They couldn’t even feel daylight on them.

Such was the horror of the concentration camps.

Her father survived the camp and later published this as a book!

The Anne Frank you get to see when you start reading the book, is completely transformed into another person altogether by the time you finish reading the book!

In short, in two years, you get to see an entirely different Anne Frank!

Personally, I too maintained a diary during my school days - from my 8th standard to my 11th standard!

In her very first entry, Anne wrote to her diary, naming her Kitty - as if it was a bosom friend - thus - 

“I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

Cathlin concluded her review, by quoting a powerful line from the book –

“I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me”.

An intense book, reviewed in an equally riveting style!

Congratulations Cathlin on your lovely review!

PS: For added inputs on Kitty, you may want to read our past post HERE