--- title: Diary of Anne Frank: Read TIME's Original Review of the Book description: The diary was first published in the Netherlands on June 25, 1947. canonical: https://time.com/3912767/anne-frank-diary-review/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-25T11:02:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:09.665Z article:section: History og:title: Read TIME's Original Book Review for Anne Frank's Diary og:description: The diary was first published in the Netherlands on June 25, 1947 og:url: https://time.com/3912767/anne-frank-diary-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7f6cda2887e51fd/6988538035ba6f709ac0da07/anne-frank.jpeg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Anne Frank (1929-1945). og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read TIME's Original Book Review for Anne Frank's Diary twitter:description: The diary was first published in the Netherlands on June 25, 1947 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7f6cda2887e51fd/6988538035ba6f709ac0da07/anne-frank.jpeg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read TIME's Original Book Review for Anne Frank's Diary  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 25, 2015 11:02 AM UTC  Anne Frank (1929-1945) Anne Frank (1929-1945)Heritage Images / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 25, 2015 11:02 AM UTC When the diary of Anne Frank was first published in English, as _Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl_, a full decade had passed since a young Anne received the fateful journal for her 13th birthday. Five years had passed since the diary had been published in the Netherlands—on this day, June 25, in 1947, as _Het Achterhuis_—and more than dozen had passed since its author stopped writing down her days. And yet, despite the passage of time, her story was something new, a different way of understanding the horrors of the Holocaust. “The resulting diary is one of the most moving stories that anyone, anywhere, has managed to tell about World War II,” as TIME’s book reviewer put it, describing the diarist’s experiences: --- > “” --- Many more decades have passed by now—this year marks the 70th anniversary of Anne Frank’s death at Bergen-Belsen—and her father’s decision to [execute her wish](http://www.annefrank.org/en/Anne-Frank/The-diary-of-Anne-Frank/Anne-Franks-diary-is-published/) to have her diary published continues to prove significant. According to the [Anne Frank House](http://www.annefrank.org/en/News/News/2012/June/Diary-of-Anne-Frank-65-years-in-print/), it has since been published in 70 languages. **_Read the full review, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Lost Child](http://time.com/vault/issue/1952-06-16/page/104) ### World War II Erupts: Color Photos From the Invasion of Poland, 1939  Refugees near Warsaw during the 1939 German invasion of Poland. (Sign reads, 'Danger Zone -- Do Not Proceed.') Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Burned-out tank, Warsaw, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Adolf Hitler (right) prepares to fly to the Polish front, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Post-invasion Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unfinished Polish bombers, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Near Sochaczew during the German invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polish soldiers captured by Germans during the invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polish soldiers and a Red Cross nurse captured during the invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Captured Polish soldiers, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  German troops prepare for victory parade after the invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  German victory parade in Warsaw after the invasion of Poland, 1939\. (Hitler is on platform, arm raised in Nazi salute.) Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Adolf Hitler views victory parade in Warsaw after the German invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Right to left, front row: Adjutant Wilhelm Brueckner, Luftwaffe fighter ace Adolf Galland, Gen. Albert Kesselring and Gen. Johannes Blaskowitz view the victory parade in Warsaw after the German invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Head of the SS Heinrich Himmler (right), one of the chief architects of the Holocaust, speaks with an unidentified officer in Warsaw after German invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Warsaw citizens buried their dead in parks and streets after the invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Warsaw citizens buried their dead in parks and streets after the invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Street scene following the German invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  German nationals prepare for repatriation during the invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polish farmers and peasants flee German military during invasion of their country, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polish women clean captured Polish guns in Modlin Fortress, north of Warsaw, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jewish women and children in Gostynin, Poland, after the German invasion, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polish refugees, Warsaw, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Warsaw, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Near Modlin Fortress, Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Near Modlin Fortress, Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scene in post-invasion Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Poles stand beneath monument to Polish patriot, Jan Kiliński, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Near Sochaczew during the German invasion of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Near Danzig after the German conquest of Poland, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Flea market in post-invasion Warsaw Ghetto, 1940. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Near Warsaw, fall 1939; sign points to the battle front. 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