New pages in Anne Frank’s diary discovered

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Hunter Merkley, Staff Writer

For years, Anne Frank kept a diary in a secret annex above her father’s office while hiding from German soldiers.  She had countless hours to spend editing and writing during the Holocaust. Her writings are arguably the most famous pieces to come out of the Holocaust. The diary includes her experiences and everyday life in the annex. Most experts thought that they knew everything there was to know about the diary, but in the past week, two new hidden pages were discovered.

The pages were discovered during a inspection of the diary, which only happens every ten years. A light was shone at the back of the page and words could be seen on the other side. The pages included jokes of all sorts and a description of her love life with another boy that also lived in the annex. So, why did Frank want to keep these pages hidden? Most Holocaust experts think it was to keep the pages a secret from her father.

Towards the end of the passages, Frank writes about what could possibly be a sexual encounter with the other boy in the annex. For Frank and her Jewish religion, a sexual encounter would have been unacceptable. The fear of someone else in the annex reading her diary would explain why Frank did her best to keep anyone from finding the pages. Little did she know that her diary would soon be one of the most read books in the world.

“That Anne Frank had risqué jokes in her diary speaks to her humanity,” said Sara Bloomfield, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, according to NPR. “Anne is the Holocaust’s most well-known victim because her diary ​describes her inner life ​and her hopes​ for the future in the midst of the Nazi onslaught.”