‘I once told you that, after years of being adored, it was hard for me to adjust to the harsh reality of grown-ups and rebukes’. Anne Frank kept a diary from 12 June 1942 to 1 August 1944, using her newly-acquired diary which she received as a birthday present when she was thirteen.

By fifteen, she is forced to stop, by which time she acknowledges her one outstanding character trait, ‘I have a great deal of self-knowledge’.

Her family were forced into hiding in The Annexe during World War II in a building in Amsterdam; there she finds her independence of mind and freely expresses her likes and dislikes as she describes their incarcerated life together where hunger is nothing compared to getting caught: ‘Last night we had another little scare! We were in the middle of dinner when suddenly someone knocked on the wall next door. For the rest of the evening we were nervous and gloomy.’

They survive on rations and news reports of the war, huddled around a big radio. They also study and have domestic jobs to do. Cooking is one of the most depressing, as food items are often in short supply. ‘A food cycle is a period in which we have only one particular dish or type of vegetable to eat. There are brown beans in everything including the bread.’

A lot happens in a day. She uses beautiful, clear language. There is Mouschi the cat for company. There is a message here for young people. It is a masterpiece of great historical significance due to its context.

On 4 August 1944, the eight people hiding in the Secret Annexe were arrested. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March of 1945.

The Diary of Anne Frank is available at Books on the Green, Sandymount and all good book shops.