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October 1, 2018

A Father’s Love: The Publication of the Diary of Anne Frank

Winner of the Fall 2018 StMU History Media Award for

Best Article in the Category of “World History”

Parents’ love for their children is unlike any other. It is something I think most of us often take for granted due to the fact that it is something we just cannot understand until we experience it ourselves. Our parents go to great lengths to ensure not only that we have everything we need, but that we are happy, safe, comfortable, and accomplished. The relationship between a father and his daughter, specifically, is one that in most cases is extremely strong and unlike any other. A father is the first boy in a girl’s life and he is there every step of the way. Fathers usually embody warmth and safety, and many even say that girls subconsciously look for significant others that remind them of their father. This case was no different for Otto Frank and his daughter Anne. She was always “daddy’s little girl.” Otto loved her, as well as the rest of his family, as deeply as anyone could ever ask of a father. He worked hard, always providing for them, and made every sacrifice necessary to keep his family from harm in such a terrifying time. Sometimes though, bad things happen to good people. When his family slipped through his fingers and his world shattered, Otto’s love never wavered. He took his grieving and turned it in to something beautiful. He was an outstanding father until the day he died, even if his fatherhood was slightly untraditional.

Cover of the Diary of Anne Frank. | Photograph by Anonymous. | 1942 | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Anne Frank always wanted to be a writer, and her father was, of course, her biggest supporter. So, it was no surprise that for her thirteenth birthday, he gifted Anne a brand new, red-checkered journal that she would name “Kitty.”1 Anne grew up during a difficult time in our world: Nazi Germany. In 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, the family, being Jewish, decided to relocate to Holland.2 For a while, life in Holland carried on as normal. But, in 1940, Anne’s sister Margot got a call from a Nazi soldier that scared the entire family.3 Since the Frank family was Jewish, they had to live out the war with great caution as well as in great fear. Almost immediately after the phone call from the soldier, Otto Frank, being the caretaker that he was, found an annex in his office building for his family to hide in, in attempts to avoid Nazi capture. Even in hiding, Anne continued to use her journal. In fact, in hiding is where she got the most use out of it. She wrote about everything that happened in the annex, from random events that occurred throughout the day to her own very personal thoughts. That diary displayed Anne in her truest form. Sadly, the life in the annex that they had become accustomed to came to a screeching halt. On August 4, 1944, Otto’s worst nightmare had come true; after over two years in the annex, the entire Frank family was captured by the Nazis, split up, and sent to various concentration camps.4 Otto Frank was left feeling like he had failed. They did not know if they would ever see each other again, or even if they would make it out alive.

When the war ended, the Frank family was devastatingly reduced to one member: Otto Frank. When he heard the news that he would never see the rest of his family again, Otto was devastated. As time passed, the broken-hearted father finally found it in him to return to the annex, where he met with Miep Gies. Miep was one of the family friends who had helped ensure the Franks were well fed and surviving as best they could while in the annex. She presented Otto with his daughter’s diary, which she had carefully saved in the bottom drawer of her desk in hopes of the girl’s return.5 Before they had been captured, every night Anne had left her diary under the protection of her father and placed it by his bed in a briefcase. She asked him never to look into it, and Otto never dared go against his beloved daughter’s wishes. When the diary had come back into his possession, he was torn. Knowing Anne wanted nothing more than to be a published writer, Otto was faced with a difficult decision. Reading the diary meant going against her wishes. Leaving it untouched not only meant the loss of her legacy, but also the loss of any chance at making Anne’s dreams of becoming a writer come true.

“Otto Frank and Miep Gies in the Secret Annex in conversation with Miep, 9 May 1958.” | Photograph by Ben van Meerencok. | May 9, 1958 | Courtesy of Flickr

Otto decided to read the diary. The notion of being able to fulfill his daughter’s dreams and ensure her legacy was enough to get him to break out of his comfort zone. He believed in his daughter and her writing skills and just knew he could make something of the diary. However, it seemed that reading the diary almost put him in more of a debacle. “It took me a very long time to read it,” Otto said, “and I must say I was very much surprised of what deep thoughts Anne had.”6 Not only was he not sure what he should do next with the book, but he was now unsure if he really knew who his daughter was. “Her seriousness, especially her self-criticism; it was quite a different Anne than I had known as my daughter.”7 The diary was personal, and at times even taboo. She wrote about going through puberty, her shortcomings as a person as well as her sins. She, however, tried to keep a light within her bleak words as she insisted on wanting to be happy despite what was going on in her life.8 The Franks shared the bunker with the Van Pels family. The Van Pels had a son, Peter, who was not too far from Anne’s age. Understandably, considering her age as well as enclosed living space, Anne developed feelings for Peter, which she, of course, documented in detail within her diary.9 Otto was still at war with himself. He was worried about what people might think of his family if they read the truths Anne spoke. Could he let the world see his daughter so vulnerably? Could he withstand the responses that would surely come out in publishing the diary? Was he making the decision about him, rather than Anne?

Selflessly, Otto put any personal feelings he had aside. He loved his daughter and missed her dearly. He wanted her dreams to come true even if she would not be there to see it. Out of love, he decided to go forth and publish the diary. Otto spent long hours typing up the diary and sent the first copy to his mother, and the next few to close family friends. As word of the diary got out, publishers got hungry and offered Otto many opportunities to make it into a professionally done book. When he finally took up the offers of one publisher, the first version of the diary was published. It was titled “Het Achterhuis,” or “Secret Annex,” and excluded almost 30% of her the writings from her diary.10 This decision was meant to keep some of her privacy, as well as the family’s privacy, protected. The director of the publishing company felt that Anne spoke “too freely” about her sexuality and pushed to get rid of several passages.11 Either way, it was out in the world to be read by the masses and Anne’s dream of becoming published had finally been fulfilled. It was bittersweet for Otto, seeing the amazing success his daughter had become, but not being able to see her.

Photograph of Anne Frank in 1940, while at 6. | Unknown photographer. | 1940 | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As years went on, the diary was published in many different versions in many different languages all over the world. It has had one of the most profound and lasting impacts of any book in our culture. In seventy years, the book has been translated into over seventy languages, making it one of the most translated books in the world.12 Otto didn’t stop there. For him, Anne’s legacy reaching to the world meant everything to him. He worked tirelessly on new versions of the book. After its publication, it became critically acclaimed by many influential people, such as Nelson Mandela. On top of that, there have been numerous film adaptions of the book since. In 1963, Otto founded the Anne Frank Fond (a foundation) in memory of his beloved daughter. The foundation’s one job is to spread Anne Frank’s word. It holds all copyrights and works to keep her life on paper safe.13 He took the great devotion he had for Anne and fathered her legacy from the ground up. He found a way to be a father to Anne in the physical world despite the fact she had left it.

Otto Frank was a man overflowing with love and support for his family. He went above and beyond to provide for them and keep them under his protection for as long as he could. No words can even begin to explain the pain of losing a child, much less two, along with a wife, and all due to the same reason at the same time. Yet, Otto pushed through all that hurt and turned it in to something beautiful. He gave back to the world even when it had taken everything from him. He constantly relived the life of his daughter, despite how undoubtedly hard it was, in assurance that she would become everything she was meant to be and more. A father’s love is indescribable, and Otto Frank was the perfect embodiment of the great lengths it will go to please its children.

  1. Anne Frank Stichting, “The History of the Diary,” Anne Frank House, April 19, 2010, http://diary.annefrank.org/the-history-of-the-diary/.
  2.  Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2013, s.v., “Anne Frank,” by Nancy D. Kersell.
  3.  Encyclopedia of Women’s Autobiography, 2005, s.v. “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Gary Kerley.
  4. Francine Prose, Anne Frank: the book, the life, the afterlife (New York: Harper Perennial, 2010), 63.
  5. Francine Prose, Anne Frank: the book, the life, the afterlife (New York: Harper Perennial, 2010), 71.
  6. The Legacy of Anne Frank, The Eternal Light (1967, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and NBC), television program.
  7. The Legacy of Anne Frank, The Eternal Light (1967, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and NBC), television program.
  8. Encyclopedia of Women’s Autobiography, 2005, s.v., “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Gary Kerley.
  9.  Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2017, s.v. “Frank, Anne.”
  10. Encyclopedia of Women’s Autobiography, 2005, s.v., “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Gary Kerley.
  11. Anne Frank Stichting, “The Story of Anne Frank: Anne Frank’s Diary Is Published,” Anne Frank House, April 19, 2010, http://web.annefrank.org/en/Anne-Frank/Publication-of-the-diary/Anne-Franks-diary-is-published/.
  12. Anne Frank Stichting, “The History of the diary,” Anne Frank House, April 19, 2010, http://diary.annefrank.org/the-history-of-the-diary/.
  13.  “Work of the Anne Frank Fonds,” Anne Frank Fonds, http://www.annefrank.ch/work-and-purpose.html.

Daniela Cardona

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Recent Comments

133 comments

  • Rebecca Campos

    I love the entire story that the author had to tell. The author presented this tragic event and sad piece of history into a beautiful work about remembrance and legacy. Otto was a very brave individual for doing this for his daughter and reading her works in full no matter how bad it may have hurt him. He understood how important it was for her to achieve her dream of being published and even if she wasn’t here, he wanted to see her dream carried out. Without her father’s help, the world wouldn’t have known Anne’s story and heard her voice.

  • Megan Copeland

    I can’t even imagine how Otto Frank must have been feeling when he discovered that he was the only member left in his family. The introduction was so good. It described the bond between a father and his daughter perfectly. I think it was a very brave thing for Otto Frank to do for him to publish his daughter’s diary for the world to see. I think the diary was one of the only things he had left of his daughter and he was trying to do what would make Anne happy.

  • Richard Morales

    I really enjoyed reading this article about an often overlooked aspect in Anne Frank’s story. This article was very important and powerful, especially the introduction and how talked about parents and their devotion to their children. I felt a mixture of emotions while reading Otto’s story and how he published his daughters world famous diary after his family was captured. Overall great read, congratulations on your nomination for Best Introduction.

  • Mariah Garcia

    I remember in middle school reading the Diary of Anne Frank and I couldn’t comprehend the tragedy that occurred during her life. Now that I am older, I am able to comprehend what evil looks like and it is sad. I couldn’t imagine, as a parent, reading my child’s life through a book. How much my child suffered up until my family was captured. This article really captures the story through the father’s eyes and not so much through Anne Franks which we often read about. It was courageous of him to publish her book and still remain strong through it all.

  • Crystal Baeza

    I enjoyed reading this article the second time around. We often hear about Anne’s side of her story and not hear much of her family’s side, such as her father. I loved how in your introduction you stated how parents go great lengths for their children because that’s exactly what Otto did. He knew if he kept the diary in secret, Anne’s dreams would only be dreams and not a reality of becoming an author. This was such a sweet article and nice article to read under the circumstances. Congratulations on your nomination!

  • Rosa Castillo

    Anne Frank is a household name and is famous for her diary, she is someone I grew up hearing about because of her experience. Otto Frank was very brave in his decision to share her diary with the world. I am sure it was not easy to read about the pain Anne went through during the Holocaust. Anne Frank certainly wrote at a level of maturity well beyond her years. I have always wanted to visit the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. The museum is in the same house where her family hid during the Holocaust. It is quite a fascinating article! Great Job!

  • Christopher Hohman

    Nice article. I found this article to be even more moving the second time around. What love that Otto had for his daughter is beyond words, and it must have been terrible to lose his poor daughter Anne. Still he took that pain and turned it into something that is very beautiful. Her diary has gone on to become one of the most important works of literature about the second world war that has ever been published. In that way Anne will live on forever, she will never die because many years from now people will still be reading her diary

  • Madison Downing

    I have read the Dairy of Anne Frank many times and I wonder she could have done with her life but she went too young. This is such a terrible thing that happened to thousands of innocent families but I am proud of Otto that he decided to share his daughter’s words and now she and her family will never be forgotten. We will probably never know who told on the Frank’s but they will always be remembered and will be mourned well into the future.

  • Lyzette Flores

    Anne Frank has been someone I have heard about my entire life. Her stories are remarkable. It is crazy that she wrote about it all. It must have been really hard for her dad to publish her daughter’s diaries but I am glad he did. All Anne wanted to do was become an author as well as a writer. That was her ultimate dream and although she was not here to experience it, her dad was. Anybody would be lucky to have Otto Frank as a father.

  • Luke Lopez

    This was a very interesting article on Anne Frank and her father, Otto Frank. It is sad that even though Otto tried his best to keep his family safe from the Nazis, they were still captured and subjected to concentration camps. It was good that Otto Frank published Anne Frank’s diary, so that the world could see how great of a writer she was. Overall, this was a great article that detailed the lives of Anne Frank and her father.

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