always ready to help and do all they can. That is something we must never forget; although others may show heroism in the war or against the Germans, our helpers display heroism in their cheerfulness and affection.
The wildest tales are going around, but still they are usually founded on fact. For instance, Kleiman told us this week that in Gelderland, two football elevens met, and one side consisted solely of members of the 'underground' and the other was mads up of members of the police. New ration books are being handed out in Hilversum. In order that the many people in hiding may also draw rations, the officials have given instructions to those of them in the district to come at a certain time, so that they can collect their documents from a separate little table. Still, they’ll have to be careful that such impudent tricks do not reach the ears of the Germans.
Yours, Anne
Thursday, 3 February, 1944
Dear Kitty, Invasion fever in the country is mounting daily. If you were here, on the one hand, you would probably feel the effect of all these preparations just as I do and, on the other, you would laugh at us for making such a fuss—who knows— perhaps for nothing.
All the newspapers are full of the invasion and are driving people mad by saying that In the event of the English landing in Holland, the Germans will do all they can to defend the country; if necessary they will resort to flooding.' With this, maps have been published, on which the parts of Holland that will be under water are marked. As this applies to large parts of Amsterdam, the first question was, what shall we do if the water in the streets rises to one metre? The answers given by different people vary considerably.
“As walking or cycling is out of the question, we shall have to wade through the stagnant water.”
“Of course not, one will have to try and swim. We shall all put on our bathing suits and caps and swim under water as much as possible, then no one will see that we are Jews.”
“Oh, what nonsense! I’d like to see the ladies swimming, if the rats started biting their legs!” (That was naturally a man: just see who screams the loudest!) “We shan’t be able to get out of the house anyway; the warehouse will definitely collapse if there is a flood, it is so wobbly already.”
“Listen folks, all joking apart, we shall try and get a boat.”
“Why bother? I know something much better. We each get hold of a wooden packing case from the attic and row with a soup ladle!”
“I shall walk on stilts: I used to be an expert at it in my youth.”
“Jan Gies won’t need to, he’s sure to take his wife on his back, then she’ll be on stilts.”
This gives you a rough idea, doesn’t it, Kit?
This chatter is all very amusing, but the truth may be otherwise. A second question about the invasion was bound to arise: what do we do if the Germans evacuate Amsterdam?
“Leave the city too, and disguise ourselves as best we can.”
“Don’t go, whatever happens, stay put! The only thing to do is remain here! The Germans are quite capable of driving the whole population right into Germany, where they will all die.”
“Yes, naturally, we shall stay here, since this is the safest place. We’ll try and fetch Kleiman and his family over here to come and live with us.
We’ll try and get hold of a sack of wood wool, then we can sleep on the floor. Let’s ask Miep and Kleiman to start bringing blankets here.”
“We’ll order some extra com in addition to our sixty pounds. Let’s get Jan to try and obtain more peas and beans; we have about sixty pounds of beans and ten pounds of peas in the house at present. Don’t forget that we’ve got fifty tins of vegetables.”
“Mummy, just count up how much we’ve got of other food, will you?”
“Ten tins of fish, forty tins of milk, ten kilos of milk powder, three bottles of salad oil, four preserving jars of butter, four ditto of meat, two huge bottles of strawberries, two bottles of raspberries, twenty bottles of tomatoes, ten pounds of boiled oats, eight pounds of rice and that’s all.
“Our stocks not too bad, but if you think we may be have visitors as well drawing from reserves each week, then it seems more than it actually is. We have sufficient coal and firewood in the house, also candles. Let’s all make little moneybags which could easily be hidden in our clothing, in case we want to take money with us.
“We’ll make lists of the most important things to take, should we have to run for it, and pack rucksacks now in readiness. If it gets that far, we’ll put two people on watch, one in the front and one in the back loft. I say, what’s the use of collecting such stocks of food, if we haven’t any water, gas, or electricity?”
“Then we must cook on the stove. Filter and boil our water. We’ll clean out some large bottles and store water in them.”
I hear nothing but this sort of talk the whole day long, invasion and nothing but invasion, arguments about suffering from hunger, dying, bombs, fire-extinguishers, sleeping bags, Jewish vouchers, poisonous gases, etc. None of it is exactly cheering. The gentlemen in the “Secret Annexe” give pretty straightforward warnings, an example is the following conversation with Jan: ‘Secret Annexe’: “We are afraid that if the Germans withdraw, they will take the whole population with them.”
Jan: “That is impossible, they haven’t the trains at their disposal.”
S.A.: “Trains? Do you really think they’d put civilians in carriages? Out of the question. They could use ‘shank’s mare’ (Per pedes apostolorum, Dussel always says.) Jan: “I don’t believe a word of it, you look on the negative side of everything. What would be their object in driving all the civilians along with them?”
“S.A.”: “Didn’t you know that Goebbels said, if the Germans have to withdraw, they shall slam the doors of all the occupied countries behind
