Anne Frank's Diary a fraud?

[Akuma]

While there are obviously some hateful individuals who claim it's a fraud to justify their anti-semetic thoughts, I have also seem some legitimate looking claims about the diary being a fraud.

While I believe that it might have been edited a bit, to sell better, I don't think the core content was made up.

I honestly don't recall too much of what I learned about it as that was a long time ago and later on in High School we just touched American History for the most part.

So with that said, anyone care to share their perspective on this issue?

 

[The Parakeet]

I'll go ahead and throw out what I remember from reading about it before.

First, you're right. Most of the claims comes from the Holocaust Denial movement. Once they get their teeth into something that can't be easily refuted, then they hold onto it forever.

What I remember is that it was edited a good bit. It really was a teenage girl's diary, so she apparently talked a lot of trash about her mother and rambled a bit. It looks like she heard that they'd want to collect diaries to form a historical time frame.

The theory is that Anne Frank went back and corrected a lot of her spelling mistakes and removed some curses to make herself look a little more mature and professional. I also thought that her father scratched out some things she'd said about her mother. Just a few things I remember.

 

[Sited]

I agree with what you said about it being edited a bit for it to sell better and all that, but the main idea probably was left alone as it was, I mean just editing the whole diary and making a new book is cold. I read the book probably during my elementary school years, and I don't remember anything that sounded too fishy, the book seemed realistic. I'd have to say it's not a fraud, I mean there's always going to be a conspiracy theory on something, ALWAYS, and 90% of the time they aren't true.

 

[RicePudding9]

I'm sure that they edited some of it, but the core of the story is probably all not made up, and was actually written by her, but I understand that to sell the book better, that you have to make some sacrifices and delete some parts that you don't want the general audience to read.

 

[kingdogol]

The diary was definatly edited. You just have to look at how many copies have sold to understand that. If something is truthful and unedited many peopl just aren't interested in reading it, probably because it hasn't been glorified up by the editing companies. Kind of ironic poeople think they're reading a true story and yet all the real true stories just sit there on the shelf collecting dust.

 

[The Parakeet]

Your point doesn't really stand. Her Dad edited it because she said a bunch of mean things about her mother (unfounded things from what other survivors said). It didn't exactly have to do with ratings.

In fact, I thought that was what made it a big success. It was a real story. It wasn't a big long book pondering mankind's evil...it was a teenage girl's diary. Supposed to be what made it haunting.

 

[websuperstar]

I don't really know a lot about Anne Frank other than what I've heard. I'm guessing she is a WWII survivor who wrote a diary of th events that happened. If there is a puiblishing of this diary then there's a great chance there's also another version and an original translation version. I bet all three versions, maybe more all aren't exactly the same. Does anyone know if there is this many versions?

 

[RicePudding9]

I don't really know a lot about Anne Frank other than what I've heard. I'm guessing she is a WWII survivor who wrote a diary of th events that happened. If there is a puiblishing of this diary then there's a great chance there's also another version and an original translation version. I bet all three versions, maybe more all aren't exactly the same. Does anyone know if there is this many versions?

Whoa...

Well she died in WW2, she wrote a diary about what it was like living during the war, as her family was hiding in a building from the Nazis as they were Jews, and if the Nazis found them, they would be taken to the concentration camps. Well eventually they got found (someone from the factory must have leaked something out, that part I don't know) and they all got sent to a concentration camp,and sadly Anne passed away, but I believe someone in the family survived, I believe the dad, and he still had the diary with him (again not sure).

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Akuma]

If I remember correctly, it was indeed the father who survived. He then obtained her diary somehow and decided to publish it.

However, as mentioned before, he apparently edited it a bit and then due to the book's success, it was translated into several other languages. I also think it's possible to obtain the "uncensored" version of her diary, but I'm not sure how accurate that version really is.

 

[The Parakeet]

If wikipedia is to be believed he was one of the only survivors from the group that hid. He went back and found the diary in the place she had hid it before. He was a bit surprised.

Then he edited it out of respect for the dead and then a publisher decided to share the story.

 

[Glee]

Hello.

When I was in Highschool I ran into an article that got my attention. When I was researching Anne Frank for a book report who would have guess that I ran into this article that talked about how her diary was censored. But the missing passages exist, and they are still in Amsterdam. Below is an actual entry that Anne wrote before she was in hiding.

"Wednesday, January 5,1944... Once when I was spending the night at Jacque's, I could no longer restrain my curiosity about her body, which she'd always hidden from me and which I'd never seen. I asked her whether, as proof of our friendship, we could touch each other's breasts. Jacque refused. I also had a terrible desire to kiss her, which I did. Every time I see a female nude, such as the Venus in my art history book, I go into ecstasy. Sometimes I find them so exquisite I have to struggle to hold back my tears. If only I had a girlfriend! "

Why was this edited out? In 1986 when the full diary was restored, people first thought it was Otto Frank (Anne's father) who edited the dairy. But the truth of the matter is that Anne took it out herself. According to Dineke Stam, "'While she was in hiding, Anne heard a 1944 radio broadcast by the exiled Dutch prime minister, who asked that people keep all their personal diaries and letters so that the world could get an impression of what life was really like for them during the war….Anne had already been writing in her red-and-gray diary since getting it as a gift on her 13th birthday,' Stam says. 'After the broadcast she got the idea to rewrite her diary with an eye toward publication one day.'"

So what you got now are three versions of the diary. The original unedited version, Anne's edit, and Otto's edit. It's thought that Anne edited her diaries not only for publishing reasons, but because she thought some entries were not written well or that they were silly. In a passage in her dairy Anne explains herself.

"I feel so much shame when I read these pages because, although I can still remember my feelings then, I would never have written them down so bluntly now."

I just thought it was interesting and I thought I'd share. Below is the link of where I found this. I don't own anything so please don't sue the <insert swear here> outta me.



Bibliography
Judy Wieder "Onstage: who censored Anne Frank? - theory that Frank rewrote her diary in preparation for publication - Brief Article". Advocate, The. Dec 23, 1997. FindArticles.com. 09 May. 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_n749/ai_20210223

 

[The Parakeet]

Thanks, I was trying to remember what Anne edited out. I forgot that she cleaned up some of her more random/embarrassing entries.

Good post too.

 

[Damocles]

When looking at the idea that it is a fraud, one must understand the motivation behind those that would attempt to "prove" such an assertion, and when verifying the authenticity you would compare the story with other stories you know to be authentic.

This one passes authenticity tests.

While the diary was a bit edited, it certainly isn't a fake.

 

[curious]

Well, Anne didn't do any editing. She died in a concentration camp. Her father edited it, though. My guess is that she became sexually active and he wanted to keep that quiet. Back then, that would have been a shocking thing.

 

[Sparks]

Well, none of us can say for sure, since we haven't actually seen the diary in its original form, but the claim it is false does have the ring of the antisemitic that wants to deny history or remake it to suit their own purposes. Joesph Goebbels must be proud of his legacy.

 

[Glee]

Well, Anne didn't do any editing. She died in a concentration camp. Her father edited it, though. My guess is that she became sexually active and he wanted to keep that quiet. Back then, that would have been a shocking thing.

Anne started editing her own Diary while in hiding. She head a broadcast on the Dutch radio saying they wanted children's diaries to have their perspective in a book. Anne thought this was a marvelous idea and started to remove the things she thought were childish. When Otto Frank found the diary after the war, he placed back in some of the "childish" moments and kept out others.

 

[deanhills]

Anne started editing her own Diary while in hiding. She head a broadcast on the Dutch radio saying they wanted children's diaries to have their perspective in a book. Anne thought this was a marvelous idea and started to remove the things she thought were childish. When Otto Frank found the diary after the war, he placed back in some of the "childish" moments and kept out others.

I guess it is almost like the Bible when people go into it in the literal interpretation sense. Why do people always have to analyze things to death? It was a nice story, and if someone edited it, it was still a nice story. Perhaps Anne Frank would have liked it that way too.

 

[Glee]

I guess it is almost like the Bible when people go into it in the literal interpretation sense. Why do people always have to analyze things to death? It was a nice story, and if someone edited it, it was still a nice story. Perhaps Anne Frank would have liked it that way too.

I think Anne would have looked to see something she wrote to be published and would have been pleased to no end that it became the second most read book of all time. But I think she would have liked to kept some of the things she had edited out previously out. Anne was always wanted to be more adult, and hated it when people viewed her as a child. When she set out to edit her own diary, she was mainly taking out the things she viewed as childish. Her father naturally wanted them back in. If the diary Anne had wanted got published, I think we would of had a more idealized view of her. But with Otto's edit we get to see her as she really was. And despite her flaws (she was rather self-righteous) she was good at heart and was a person who had tremendous strength and compassion.

 

[deanhills]

I think Anne would have looked to see something she wrote to be published and would have been pleased to no end that it became the second most read book of all time. But I think she would have liked to kept some of the things she had edited out previously out. Anne was always wanted to be more adult, and hated it when people viewed her as a child. When she set out to edit her own diary, she was mainly taking out the things she viewed as childish. Her father naturally wanted them back in. If the diary Anne had wanted got published, I think we would of had a more idealized view of her. But with Otto's edit we get to see her as she really was. And despite her flaws (she was rather self-righteous) she was good at heart and was a person who had tremendous strength and compassion.

Think you have a very good point. I kept a diary when I was in my early teens. My siblings got hold of it and typically siblings read it to everyone in the family, I was so mad, I immediately stopped writing in the diary and actually got rid of it. A diary is supposed to be for innermost personal thoughts, not for public consumption.

 

[Glee]

Think you have a very good point. I kept a diary when I was in my early teens. My siblings got hold of it and typically siblings read it to everyone in the family, I was so mad, I immediately stopped writing in the diary and actually got rid of it. A diary is supposed to be for innermost personal thoughts, not for public consumption.

I'm thankful I never decided to write my feelings in a book. Since I was always confused about myself (sexually) I bet that would have been some awkward conversations with the family. When I came out, I was sure of myself and knew what was going on my life. But if any of that confusion came out earlier when I was still confused about myself, I don't know what I would have done. I don't think it's wise to keep your feelings bottled up, BUT it's also not wise to spew them out every chance you get. Some things have to be personal, and while a diary is meant to be just that, it isn't always the case.