DBQ 2

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July 8th 1942: At three oclock (Hello had left but was supposed to
come back later), the doorbell rang. I didnt hear it, since I was out
on the balcony, lazily reading in the sun. A little while later
Margot appeared in the kitchen doorway looking very agitated.
Father has received a call-up notice from the SS, she whispered.
Mother has gone to see Mr. van Daan (Mr. van Daan is Fathers
business partner and a good friend.) I was stunned. A call-up:
everyone knows what that means. Visions of concentration camps
and lonely cells raced through my head. How could we let Father
go to such a fate? Of course hes not going, declared Margot as
we waited for Mother in the living room. Mothers gone to Mr.
van Daan to ask whether we can move to our hiding place
tomorrow. The van Daans are going with us. There will be seven
of us altogether. Silence. We couldnt speak. The thought of
Father off visiting someone in the Jewish Hospital and completely
unaware of what was happening, the long wait for Mother, the
heat, the suspense all this reduced us to silence.

October 9th 1942: Today I have nothing but dismal and


depressing news to report. Our many Jewish friends and
acquaintances are being taken away in droves. The Gestapo is
treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars
to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which theyre sending
all the Jews. Miep told us about someone whod managed to
escape from there. It must be terrible in Westerbork. The people
get almost nothing to eat, much less to drink, as water is available
only one hour a day, and theres only one toilet and sink for
several thousand people. Men and women sleep in the same room,
and women and children often have their heads shaved. Escape is
almost impossible; many people look Jewish, and theyre branded
by their shorn heads. If its that bad in Holland, what must it be
like in those faraway and uncivilized places where the Germans
are sending them? We assume that most of them are
beingurdered. The English radio says theyre being gassed.
Perhaps thats the quickest way to die. I feel terrible. Mieps
accounts of these horrors are so heartrending Fine specimens of
humanity, those Germans, and to think Im actually one of them!
No, thats not true, Hitler took away our nationality long ago. And
besides, there are no greater enemies on earth than the Germans
and Jews.

July 15th 1944: Its utterly impossible for me to build my life on


foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being
slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching
thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of
millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that
everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end,
that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime,
I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when Ill be
able to realize them.

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