Questions & Answers (from 01 to 24) on The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Questions & Answers on 'The Diary of a Young Girl' by Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

(Prescribed by C.B.S.E. for Class X )

Q1. What presents did Anne receive on Friday, June 12, on her thirteenth birthday? How did she feel surprised?

Ans.   On Friday, June 12, Anne was awake at six o'clock, since it was her birthday. But she was not allowed to get up at that hour, so she had to control her curiosity (deep interest) until quarter to seven.   When she was unable to control herself any longer, she went to the dining room, where Moortje (the cat) welcomed her by rubbing against her legs.           

After some time, she entered her parents’ room and then to the living room. She saw beautiful presents there. She had a bouquet of roses, some peonies (flowering plants) and a potted plant. From her parents, she got a blue blouse, a game, a bottle of grape juice, a puzzle, a jar of cold cream, 2.50 guilders (a gold or silver coin formerly used in the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria) and a gift certificate for two books.

She got another book as well, Camera Obscura (but Margot already has it, so She exchanged mine for something else), a platter of homemade cookies (which she made myself, of course, lots of candy and a strawberry tart (pie/pastry) from Mother.

Q2. Explain the line: "Paper has more patience than people." In context what does Anne Frank utter this line in her novel ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’.

Ans. Anne was a very sensitive girl with deep insight into human nature from her early age. She felt alone in spite of all she had. She had a plenty of thoughts and feelings to express, but she did not like to share them with her parents, sister and even with her friends. One day when she was feeling a little depressed (sad), she gave a deep thought to the saying ‘Paper has more patience than people’. She was sitting at home with her chin in her hands, feeling bored and listless (without energy and enthusiasm), wondering about staying or going out. She kept on thinking and found that she did not have any friend and, so, she decided to keep a diary. After that, she started pouring out her thoughts and feelings on to the pages of her diary. She knew this that the paper did not get bored and irritated at all. But human beings have no patience and they cannot listen to you more than a limited span of time.

Q3. Do you think Anne was alone in the world? Explain as to why she started writing a diary? Why did she give a human trait to the diary?

Ans. Anne was not alone as she had loving parents and a sixteen year old sister and thirty class mates at school. She had a crowd of admires, whose eyes wee not off her face and always tried to have a glimpse of her in the classroom. She had a family, loving aunts and a good home. Outwardly, she seemed to have everything, but not a true friend, except her diary. She was not able to share her personal thoughts with her friends and she blamed herself for that.

That wass why she started writing a diary. She decided to name it Kitty, her friend. In this way, she gave a human trait to it so that she might feel that she was sharing her thoughts and emotions with a human being.

Q4. What did Anne write about her and family when she began to write in her diary, Kitty?

Ans. She started telling about her parents. She wrote that her father was thirty-six and her mother twenty-five, when they got married.

Her sister, Margot was born in 1926 and she was born on June 12, 1929. She lived in Frankfurt until she was four. The Jews were being treated very badly in Germany at that time. Since they were Jewish, her father migrated to Holland in 1933.

  He became the Managing Director of the Dutch Opekta Company, which manufactured products used in making jam. Her mother, Edith Hollander Frank, went with him to Holland in September, while Margot and she were sent to Aachen to stay with their grandmother. Margot went to Holland in December and Anne went there in February. She studied at the Montessori nursery school and stayed there until she was six.

 In sixth grade, her teacher was Mrs. Kuperus, the principal. Both of them were in tears at the time of her farewell as she took admission in Jewish Lyceum.  She wrote that their relatives were suffering in Germany as Hitler’s anti Jews-laws were implemented in Germany.  Her two uncles (her mother’s brothers) fled (left) Germany and found safe refuge in North America. Her elderly grandmother came to live with them. She was seventy-three years old at the time.

After 1940, their good days were almost over. First there was war, then the capitulation (surrender) and after that the arrival of the Germans.

Q5. How was the freedom of the Jews curtailed by passing anti-Jews decree by German Government? Describe in detail.

Ans. The Jews’ freedom in Germany and in the occupied countries was severely (strictly) restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees (legal orders): Jews were required to wear a yellow star and they were required to use only bicycles as a means of transportation. The Jews were also forbidden to use street-cars and to ride in cars, even their own. They were required to do their shopping between 3 and 5 p.m.

 Jews were allowed only to go in Jewish-owned barbershops and beauty parlors. They were forbidden to be out on the streets between 8 p.m. and 6 p.m.

 They were forbidden to attend theaters, movies or any other forms of entertainment They were not allowed to use swimming pools, tennis courts, hockey fields or any other athletic fields, to go rowing, to take part in any athletic activity in public, to sit in their gardens or those of their friends after 8 p.m..

They were forbidden to visit Christians in their homes and allowed only to attend Jewish schools, etc. In this way, the Jews were given inhuman treatment in Germany and gradually it spread in the German-occupied countries like Holland also.

Q6. Who was Mr. Keesing? Why was Anne was punished by him? How did she convinced Mr. Keesing of her ‘point of view’?        

Ans. Mr. Keesing was Anne’s Math teacher. He was always crossed at her because she talked too much. After several warnings, he assigned her extra homework i.e. to write an essay on the subject "A Chatterbox."   It was very difficult for her to write on such a topic. Her friend Sanne was good at poetry, so she offered her to write whole topic in poetry.

Then Anne jumped with joy.  She understood that Mr. Keesing was trying to play a practical joke on her with that ridiculous topic and she was to make it sure that the joke was on him. So she finished the poem. “…It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings that were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much. Luckily, Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. ..”

Since then she had been allowed to talk and had not been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Keesing was always making jokes these days.

Q7. Who was Hello Silberberg and how did Anne come to know

about him ? Tell something more about their friendship.

Ans.    The boy Hello and Anne came to know about each other during the past week. He told her about his life. He comes from Gelsenkirchen and is living with his grandparents. His parents are in Belgium. Hello used to have a girlfriend named Ursula. Anne knew her too. She was perfectly sweet and quite boring. The boy also tells Anne that his grandmother did not like that he should meet Anne, who also advised him not to meet her in that case.

But he says, "All's fair in love and war." They continue meeting each other. One night, when both of them came late at night, her father was very angry and told her be present at home not so late. Anne did not love Hello, rather she loved Peter and wanted to marry her.

Q8. What was a ‘call up notice’? What happened if it was not respected?

Ans.   ‘A call-up notice’ was a government order to report to the military or the police. Usually, the Jews were called to the Jewish Church and then they were to be sent to the concentration camps. If anyone resisted (opposed), he would be forcibly takes from his home. ‘Concentration Camps’ were established by the Nazis to persecute (maltreat) the Jews. Those places were guided prison camps for civilians, prisoners and minorities, etc.

Q9. Why did the Frank family expedite (speed up) their going to a hiding place?

Ans. One day, the Frank family received a ‘call up notice’. Anne’s father was not home. So her mother at once went to meet Mr.van Daan, her father’s business partner, to discuss the matter. Initially they thought that the notice was meant for M. Frank. But later on, they came to know that it was for Margot, the eldest daughter of the Frank family. Margot was sixteen at that time.  They wanted the girls of her age to shift them to their own places. It affected the Frank family very much.  Visions of lonely cells and concentration camps emerged (appeared) in her mind. Anne & Margot waited for their mother in the living room. She had gone to ask Mr. van Daan if they could move to their hiding place the next day.

So the ‘call up notice’ that came for Margot expedited (sped up) their decision to go to a secret place for hiding .

Q10. Describe how Anne and Margot packed their important luggage before leaving their house for the hiding place. How did they take their luggage while going to the secret Annex?

Ans.Then Margot and Anne started packing their important things in satchels. Anne packed up her diary first and then ‘curlers’ handkerchiefs, schoolbooks, a comb and some old letters. The thought of going into hiding was dominating (overpowering) her mind. She didn’t care to pack clothes and memories were more important to her.

  While leaving their house, they wrapped (covered) themselves in more clothes. They would not dare to leave their house with suitcase full of clothes.

Anne was wearing two undershirts, three pairs of underpants, a dress and over that a shirt, a jacket, a raincoat, two pairs of stockings, heavy shoes, a cap, a scarf and lots more.

She was suffocating in a way. Margot also stuffed her school bag with books. They closed the door at seven thirty. Anne said good bye to her cat, Moortje.

 They were Anne, her father and mother. Each of them was having a satchel (a kind of bag) and a shopping bag and those were filled to the brim with different items.

Q11. Describe the warehouse building in short. 

Ans. It was a large warehouse at the ground floor. It was divided in several sections to be used workrooms and store-rooms. The office had a separate entrance. After describing different room-doors, windows and stairs going up and down, Anne tells us about the ‘Secret Annex’ (the hiding place). There was a flight of stairs. To the left, was a narrow hallway (a corridor/entrance hall) which opened onto a room that served for them as a living & bedroom.

Next door was a smaller room, the bedroom and study for Anne and Margot. There was a windowless washroom with just a sink to the right of the stairs. The door in the corner lead to the toilet and another one to Margot’s and Anne’s room. If you go upstairs, you will find a large & spacious room used for Kugler’s laboratory. There was a store and a sink in it and that room would be their kitchen and bed room for Mr. and Mrs. van Daan.

It would also be used as a general living room, dining room and study for them all. There was another small room for Peter van Daan’s bedroom.

Q12. Describe at least two incidents which made Anne feel that her parents treated her differently as compared to Margot, her elder sister.

Ans. Anne describes as to how her parents dealt differently with Margot and her. For example, Margot broke vacuum cleaner and Anne had to be without light because of it. But Mother just defended (favoured) Margot by saying that she was not used to handle that type of appliances and, so she could not unplug the switch properly. Anne tells us more to clarify her point by adding that that afternoon she wanted to rewrite something on Mother’s shopping list because Margot’s handwriting was very bad.

   She not only scolded her but also disallowed her do that. Anne also says that she does not fit in her family.

Q13. How did Mr. van Daan misguide Mr. Goldschmidt, the tenant who lived in Mr. Frank’s upper flat, about the note written by Mrs. Frank about the address that he found there in the flat?

                                                      Or

What did Mr. van Daan tell the inmates of the Secret Annex about their flat and tenant, Mr. Goldschmidt?

Ans. Mr. van Daan told them that Mr. Goldschmidt called him on Monday morning at nine. On reaching there, Mr. van Daan found him very distraught (upset & worried). He showed Mr. van Daan a note that Frank family had left behind. He was afraid that the house was going to be searched. So both of them made the things in normal position and cleared the breakfast things off the table.   All of a sudden, Mr. van Daan’s eyes fell on a notepad on Mrs. Frank’s desk. The address ‘Maastricht’ was written on it.

Mr. Daan pretended to show his surprise and shock at it. He also requested Mr. Goldschmidt to burn that incriminating (illegal) piece of paper.  He assured him that he knew nothing about the disappearance of Frank Family. But, the note had given the idea to misguide Mr. Goldschmidt about them.

   Mr. van Daan told him that a high ranking officer, who was Mr. Frank’s friend, was stationed at Maastricht and he must have helped him cross over to Belgium and then Switzerland. He also told Goldschmidt that he could tell all who desired to know about the Frank family. After that, Mr.  van Daan left.

Q14. What stories made by the people about the disappearance of Frank family did Mr. van Daan narrate to the inmates of the secret Annex?

Ans. Most of Frank’s friends believed in the story which Mr. vaan Daan told   Mr. Goldschmidt, but some people gave their on version to that story. When Mr. Van Daan told them to the Frank family, they could not help laughing. For example, one family claimed that they had seen all the four riding on their bikes early in the morning.

Another woman was sure enough to tell others that all the four members of the Frank family were loaded into “some kind of military vehicle in the middle of the night.”

Q15. Why does Anne call Peter “hypochondriac”? Give examples which she quotes in the text to prove her point.

Ans. Anne uses the word “hypochondriac” (the person who always thinks that he is ill while there is nothing wrong with him or her).   She quotes several instances to prove it. She says that he remained much worried the previous day because his tongue was blue instead of pink and it became pink after some time. Today he is walking with a heavy scarf wrapped around his head as he has got a stiff neck. He has been complaining of lumbago (a pain in the lower part of the back). Aches and pains are very common in his kidney, heart and lungs.

Q16. Describe the incident of Peter’s reading a book that was not meant for him and his father’s reaction on it.

Ans. Anne narrates that one day Peter took a book that was meant for adults and went upstairs in the attic to read it. After two days, Mr. van Daan noticed it and snatched the book from Peter in a fit. One evening, it was seven thirty when the entire family went downstairs in Anne’s father’s private office to listen to the radio. But Peter was lost in the book and forgot about the time also. He was coming down when his father entered the room. There was a scene after that and then a tug-of-war between the two. The book lay on the floor. It was the time for dinner for all, but Peter went upstairs. No one gave a thought to him. He was to pass night without eating.

   Q17 On reaching the hiding place, what arrangements did they make so that the secret Annex might look comfortable and somewhat pleasant place to live?

Ans. On entering the hiding place hiding place, they found everything in a mess. The rooms were filled with material such as cardboard boxes, which piled on the floor and the bed.   The small living room was filled from floor to the ceiling with linen. Margot and their mother could not move a muscle .

Anne and her father had to toil hard to clear the mess to make the beds clean at  night. Margot and the mother were too tired and nervous to eat anything.

They again started working together to clean the mess on Thursday morning also. Bep and Miep had gone to the grocery shopping to make arrangement for food.

  They scrubbed (rubbed with something hard) the kitchen floor and got busy for morning to evening. Anne’s mother sewed curtains with their unskilled fingers. Actually those couldn’t be called curtains as they were just scraps (small pieces) of fabric of different shapes, size, quality and pattern.

Q18. What precautions did the inmates of the Secret Annex have to take for their safety?

Ans. The inmates of the Secret Annex were seven in the beginning. They had to follow certain rules while living in the hiding place so that they could not be noticed by anyone working below in the office or by anyone in the neighbourhood. During the day, they had to observe extreme discipline in their movement and creating any sound. So they had to live with their lips tight. They were not to flush or run the taps also. They were not allowed to peep out of the windows and light the lamps at night. For that the black-out screens were to be put on the windows. It was very difficult for Anne to remain silent during the day.

Q19. What made Anne alienate from her mother. How far was her mother responsible for spoiling the relationship between a mother and a daughter?

Ans. Anne acknowledges herself that she was different from others. Therefore her responses to others are also different. She is often criticized, scolded and humiliated by not only her mother, but also by others living with them in the Secret Annex. Anne’s mother compares her with her elder sister Margot and hopes that she should act and react like her. This is not desirable for Anne. She does not like their behavior and their ideas. She says that she cannot become hypocrite like them. Anne’s mother does partiality towards her. If Margot does anything wrong, she says nothing to her. If the same thing is done by Anne, she hurls all harsh scolding at her.

Note: You can add more from the following:

“…they criticize everything,…about me: my behavior, my personality, my manners, every inch of me, from head to toe, and back again, in the subject of gossip and debate. Harsh words and shouts are constantly being flung at my head….but I can’t! I have no intention of taking their insults lying down (without protest). …… I make them see they ought to attend to their own manners instead of mine. How dare they act that way! It’s simply barbaric (uncivilized)…. I will give them the taste of their medicine, and then they’ll change their tune. Am I really so bad mannered, headstrong (obstinate), ……stubborn (headstrong), pushy (aggressive and forceful); stupid, lazy, etc., etc…. as the van Daans say I  am? No, of course not, I know I have many faults and shortcomings, but they blew them all out of proportion (exaggerated). If you only know! Kitty, how I seethe (boil in anger) when they scold and mock…”

Q20. Describe van Daans’ arrival in the Secret Annex? How was Anne affected by them, particularly by Mrs. van Daan?

Ans. Peter van Daan arrived there at the hiding place in the morning and the Frank family was still at the breakfast table.  Anne narrates that Peter was going to be sixteen and was shy and awkward type of a boy, whose company for her was not going to be entertaining. 

Mrs. and Mr. van Daan also arrived there half an hour later, carrying up a hatbox. Amusingly, Mrs. Van Daan was carrying with her a large chamber-pot (a portable container/vessel for urine and defecation used in bedrooms). “I just don’t feel comfortable without my chamber-pot”, she exclaimed. That item was placed permanently under a divan. Mr. van Daan was lugging (carrying with difficulty) under his arm a collapsible (that can be folded) tea table. Firstly, they ate breakfast together.

Q21. Why does Anne use the word “hypochondriac” (the person who always thinks that he is ill while there is nothing wrong with him or her). For Peter van Daan?

Ans. She uses the word “hypochondriac” for Peter.  She quotes several instances to prove it. She says that he remained much worried the previous day because his tongue was blue instead of pink and it became pink after some time.   Today he is walking with a heavy scarf wrapped around his head as he has got a stiff neck. He has been complaining of lumbago (a pain in the lower part of the back). Aches and pains are very common in his kidney, heart and lungs. The relation between Mother and vaan Daan are not cordial.

 Q22. What does Anne writes about the book  ‘Eva’s Youth’?

Ans. Eva believes that children grow on trees like apples. When they are ripe, they are plucked by the stork (a kind of bird with long beak) and then they are given to mothers. But her girlfriend’s cat had kittens and Eva saw them coming out of the cat. That gave Eva the idea that cats lay eggs and hatch them. She also thought that mothers also lay eggs and hatch them. That made Eva wish for a baby.

So she took a wool scarf and spread it on the ground so that the eggs might come out and fall on it. She squats down and begins to push. She also clucks (a sound like that is made by chickens) and waited, but no egg comes out.

Finally, after a long wait and pushing, something did come out, but that was not an egg.  Anne also reads in the book that some women sell their bodies for money. She also comes to know about Eva’s periods, and Anne also longs for them as she has a desire to grow up very soon.

Anne ends up the entry mentioning that her father is getting angry at her writing diary and he is in the look out to take it away from her. So, today, she is thinking of hiding it somewhere.

Q23. Anne also does imaginary shopping. Why does she do so? Explain in short.

Ans. In one of her entries, Anne writes  about her imaginary shopping to divert her attention from the limitations of the secret annex. She imagines that she has gone to Switzerland. She describes that Anne and her father sleep in one room while the boys’ (her cousins Bernhard and Stephen Elias) study is converted into a sitting room, where she receives the visitors there. Then she writes about some pieces of new furniture, brought by the boys. It includes a tea-table, a desk, armchairs and a divan. Every piece of furniture is simply wonderful. After that, Anne writes as to how her father gives her money and she uses it in buying a number of things for herself. She writes a long list of the things of her personal use.

Q24. What is Gestapo? What does Anne writes in this context?

Ans. The Gestapo is secret Nazi police-staff, infamous for its cruelty. The Jews are being taken by them in cattle trucks to Westerbork, which is a big camp in Drenthe. Anne further writes that they have been reported by Miep about all that. The situation in Westerbork is reported to be very terrible. The hostages /ˈhɒs.tɪdʒ (prisoners) are given nothing to eat and water is available to them only for one hour a day. There is one toilet and one sink for thousands of people. Men and women are forced to sleep in the same room only. The heads of women and children are shorn off to give them a special identity. Such was the situation in Holland. 

 One can well imagine the situation in faraway and uncivilized places where Jews are being sent there by the Germans. It is also assumed that the Jews are being murdered at those places.  According to a report by the English radio, they are being gassed (being exposed to poisonous gas). Anne feels horrified at the account given by Miep, who is herself very distraught (worried and upset). She also writes here about an elderly and crippled Jewish woman, who was brought on Miep’s doorstep by Gestapo, but Miep dared not let her come inside as she feared the German’s punishment for sheltering Jews. If the Gestapo are unable to find any rebel, they simply pick up five hostages, line them up against a wall and shoot. (You may shorten the answer according to the word-limit)

x