The Secret Confidante
When Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday, she had her doubts. In her first entry on June 21, 1942, she confessed that it was an “odd idea” for someone like her to keep a diary. She even questioned whether anyone, including herself, would be interested in the “unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.”
But a deeper, more powerful motivation lay beneath her initial hesitation. “What does that matter?” she wrote, brushing aside her doubts. Her reason for writing was far more profound than simply chronicling her day-to-day life. She wanted to “bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.”
This is a beautiful, if heartbreaking, statement. Anne’s words reveal a deep sense of loneliness, a feeling that she had so many thoughts and feelings that had no outlet. Her diary was not just a book; it was a friend, a confidante she could trust with her deepest secrets. It was a silent witness to her dreams, fears, and hopes.
This entry is a powerful introduction to the inner life of a girl who, in a world that would soon become completely silent, found a way to make her voice heard. It shows us that even before her life was defined by the war, Anne was a writer, a thinker, and a girl who had so much to say.