Anne Frank Remembered Page #5

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...did not see the importance|of a diary...

...for a little child.

"Him and his lies.

I'll smack his ugly mug so hard,|he'll go bouncing off the wall.

Anyone who is so petty and pedantic|at the age of 54 was born that way...

...and is never going to change. "

What Anne never knew was|that Fritz Pfeffer had a son...

...whom he had raised|as a single parent in Germany...

...until sending him to England|after Kristallnacht in 1938.

A few weeks later, Pfeffer himself|fled to Amsterdam...

...with his fiancee, Charlotte.

But his 1 1-year-old son|never saw his father again.

Peter Pepper|Fritz Pfeffer's son

We're talking about a girl|under very difficult circumstances...

...who first of all decided that|my father was not a nice man.

Therefore, she called him Dr. Dussel,|which in English is "idiot."

As far as my point of view...

...retrospectively to the age|of 1 1 and below...

...there's a very large inaccuracy.

First of all, my father,|although being a very strict man...

...was a very kind man.

What other people don't recognize...

...is his love of life,|his love of freedom.

My father was a sportsman.

He loved to row.|He loved to ride horses.

He liked to climb mountains.

So if you take a man who's always|been active all his life...

...and then in flight|he ends up here...

...it's like caging a bird.

Weekly, Mrs. Miep Gies would bring|a package containing letters...

...and other personal messages|from Charlotte Karletta.

And weekly, she would take|a letter from him to her.

What do you feel now about what|that may have meant for your father?

What it meant for my father...

...is that it is a thin lifeline.

A thin lifeline that was|the only hope of expression...

...and relationship.

Because with Charlotte's|letters to him...

...expressing her love,|her feelings...

...her news, whatever it was|in those letters...

...is the only thing where|my father would have...

...the semblance of mental health.

Because you're a prisoner|of your own mind.

For the first time, Fritz Pfeffer's|son meets his father's protector.

Mr. Pfeffer.

How do you do?

Fine.

I was a very good friend|of your father.

Do you understand German?

I came into contact|with him every day.

He was my dentist,|exceptionally good.

He asked me if I could help him...

...find a place, and so I helped him.

Unbelievable.

Nice to meet you.

He was a lovely, lovely man.

Do you speak English?

Very bad.

Shall we try German?

Yes, if that's okay,|it would be better.

What would you like to know?

I just want to say...

...two words.

Many thanks.

Two months after this meeting,|Peter Pepper died of cancer.

If Anne reserved her special venom|for Fritz Pfeffer...

...with the claustrophobia of the months|in hiding that turned into years...

...all the adults at one time or another|were subjected to the fury of her pen.

"September 27, 1942.

Some people, like the van Pelses,|take delight not only...

...in raising their own children...

...but in helping others raise theirs.

Margot doesn't need it|since she is naturally good...

...kind and clever, perfection itself.

But I seem to have enough mischief|for the two of us.

More than once, the air's been filled|with the van Pels' admonitions...

...and my saucy replies.

They tell me I should talk less, mind|my own business and be more modest.

But I seem doomed to failure. "

Otto, the ever-indulgent father,|was frequently called in...

...to act as a peacemaker|between Anne and the others.

Her adoration of him was matched|only by her increasing problems...

...with her mother.

"I cling to Father because my contempt|of Mother is growing daily.

And it is only through him|that I'm able to retain...

...the last ounce of family|feeling I have left.

I don't know how I should act.

I can't very well confront her|with her carelessness, her sarcasm...

...and her hard-heartedness.

Yet I can't continue to take the blame|for everything.

I'm the opposite of Mother,|so of course we clash.

She's not a mother to me.|I have to mother myself.

I'm charting my own course|and will see where it leads me. "

Mrs. Frank was the most depressed|of all the people.

Sometimes when I go out|of the hiding place...

...the staircase downstairs...

...she went with me till the door.

I did not understand that.

What did she want of me?

And once again, I go with her|in her sleeping room...

...and she closed the door,|and then she said to me:

"Miep...

...I am so afraid."

She told me all her troubles.

But what could I do?

I didn't say anything...

...because I was|in the same position as she.

While Anne and her mother feuded...

...in the second year, she developed|a strong passion for Peter van Pels...

...the 17-year-old boy with whom|she shared her caged existence.

They spent hours together|in the loft chatting...

...or simply staring out|the window at the chestnut tree.

"Sunday, March 19, 1944.

I have the feeling that Peter and I|share a secret.

When he looks at me with those eyes,|with that smile and with that wink...

...it's as if a light|goes on inside me.

I hope things stay like this...

...and we'll have many,|many more happy hours together.

Your grateful and happy Anne. "

Peter van Pels was a blue-eyed boy...

...with very little|intellectual capacity.

I didn't know him nearly as well|as I knew Anne.

But he once came to our house|when we were reading the classics...

...and he was so singularly|bewildered by it...

...that I remember thinking:

"My goodness, he doesn't know a thing!"

The relationship with Peter|waxed and then waned.

They cuddled and kissed,|but as she noted in her diary...

...Anne gradually|became dissatisfied...

...with his inability|to express his feelings.

The pressures of confinement|created and then crushed...

...their adolescent love affair.

In the secret annex,|the claustrophobia was stifling.

The radio, broadcasting|from England...

...was an essential lifeline|to news from the outside world.

Every Allied victory brought hope,|every defeat, gloom.

Arguments over food blew up|into major rows.

And then always the ever-present|threat of discovery.

The windows had to be covered|by blinds, even in the heat of summer.

The toilet could only be used|outside office hours.

No one could walk in shoes|on the lower floor...

...for fear that the workers in|the warehouse below would hear.

And always the question,|"Would they be betrayed...

...or would they betray themselves|by some inadvertent error?"

To add to everyone's fears...

...the warehouse and offices under their|hiding place were burgled a few times.

My father had the maintenance of|the building, the daily maintenance.

Hans Wijnberg

Later I recognized that he|must have been the carpenter...

...that's repairing the door...

...which is opened by the burglary|in the book, in Anne Frank's diary.

I think there were two burglaries,|weren't there?

Yeah. The other one was me.

What were you after?

I think it's a mixture|of adventure and spices.

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