saturday, february 27, 1943

dearest kitty,

pim is expecting the invasion any day now. churchill has had pneumonia, but is gradually getting better. gandhi, the champion of indian freedom, is on one of his umpteenth hunger strikes.

mrs. van d. claims she's fatalistic. but who's the most afraid when the guns go off?

none other than petronella van daan.

jan brought along the episcopal letter that the bishops addressed to their parishioners. it was beautiful and inspiring. "people of the netherlands, stand up and take action. each of us must choose our own weapons to fight for the freedom of our country, our people and our reli gion! give your help and support. act now!" this is what they're preaching from the pulpit. will it do any good? it's definitely too late to help our fellow jews.

guess what's happened to us now? the owner of the building sold it without informing mr. kugler and mr. kleiman. one morning the new landlord arrived with an architect to look the place over. thank goodness mr. kleiman was in the office. he showed the gentlemen all there was to see, with the exception of the secret annex. he claimed he'd left the key at home and the new owner asked no further questions. if only he doesn't come back demanding to see the annex. in that case, we'll be in big trouble!

father emptied a card file for margot and me and filled it with index cards that are blank on one side. this is to become our reading file, in which margot and i are supposed to note down the books we've read, the author and the date. i've learned two new words: "brothel" and "coquette." i've bought a separate notebook for new words.

there's a new division of butter and margarine. each person is to get their portion on their own plate. the distribution is very unfair. the van daans, who always make breakfast for everyone, give themselves one and a half times more than they do us. my parents are much too afraid of an argument to say anything, which is a shame, because i think people like that should always be given a taste of their own medicine.

yours, anne