monday, december 7, 1942

dearest kitty,

hanukkah and st. nicholas day nearly coincided this year; they were only one day apart. we didn't make much of a fuss with hanukkah, merely exchanging a few small gifts and lighting the candles. since candles are in short supply, we lit them for only ten minutes, but as long as we sing the song, that doesn't matter. mr. van daan made a menorah out of wood, so that was taken care of too.

st. nicholas day on saturday was much more fun. during dinner bep and miep were so busy whispering to father that our curiosity was aroused and we suspected they were up to something. sure enough, at eight o'clock we all trooped downstairs through the hall in pitch darkness (it gave me the shivers, and i wished i was safely back upstairs!) to the alcove. we could switch on the light, since this room doesn't have any windows. when that was done, father opened the big cabinet.

"oh, how wonderful!" we all cried.

in the corner was a large basket decorated with colorful paper and a mask of black peter.

we quickly took the basket upstairs with us. inside was a little gift for everyone, including an appropriate verse. since you're famthar with the kinds of poems peo ple write each other on st. nicholas day, i won't copy them down for you.

i received a kewpie doll, father got bookends, and so on. well anyway, it was a nice idea, and since the eight of us had never celebrated st. nicholas day before, this was a good time to begin.

yours, anne

ps. we also had presents for everyone downstairs, a few things .left over from the good old days; plus miep and bep are always grateful for money.

today we heard that mr. van daan' s ashtray, mr. dussel's picture frame and father's bookends were made by none other than mr. voskuijl. how anyone can be so clever with his hands is a mystery to me!