Anne Frank's Diary written in Dutch?
Why is "The Diary of a Young Girl" aka "Anne Frank's Diary" originally written in Dutch?
Anne Frank was born in Germany to Jewish German parents. Although she moved to the Netherlands, I don't think she went to school in the Netherlands. (Did she?)
I believe Anne's first language was German and her family spoke German at home. Shouldn't the diary have written in German instead of Dutch?
German was the language of Nazis. She prefered to speak Dutch, because it may be ugly, but not as nazi as German.
Anne Franks parents, like many Jews in Germany, spoke "Yiddish".
Anne Frank however, moved to the Netherlands at the age of 4, (1933) and since in the Netherlands Jews were not oppressed or discriminated against, Anne could go to school until 1942, when she had to go in hiding because of continuing German oppression and threats.
Anne Franks parents did not speak German/Yiddish at home, they believed it would interfere with Dutch, or give her an accent. A German accent would not have been ideal given the status of German people among the Dutch.
Anne Frank writes in her diary that she wants to learn it, as she's afraid that when she'll be reunited with her family after the war, she won't be able to talk to them.
Anne Franks entire original diary is in Dutch.
Important and touching, yes, but beautiful, no. She was a 15 year old girl and her writing skills were abysmal.
>> her writing skills were abysmal. <<
Ridiculous. Her writing was awesome for a girl of her age, she wrote things you wouldn't even have thought of at that age!