The Diary of a Young Girl

author:	Anne Frank (1947)
date read:	2003-04-01
pages:	283
lists:	german, nonfiction
rating:	★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Cover of The Diary of a Young Girl.

Anne’s diary was mandatory reading in school. Our edition included photos of Anne and her family. Contrasting Anne’s story with the fact that there are six million of these stories – an unthinkable number to me, even now – made me despair of humanity when I was eight. I still find it hard to deal with it.

Cover of Das Dritte Reich: Geschichte einer Diktatur.

Das Dritte Reich: Geschichte einer Diktatur

by Ulrich Herbert · read 2018-02-10

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Short nonfiction about the Third Reich. Contains further links.

Cover of If This Is a Man.

If This Is a Man

by Primo Levi · published 1947 · read 2020-04-15

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

For more necessary bleakness, Primo Levi's first-hand account of life in the KZ.

Cover of The Book Thief.

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak · published 2005 · read 2010-06-01

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A fictional account of a German child in the same time.

Cover of Der erste Frühling.

Der erste Frühling

by Klaus Kordon · published 1995 · read 2004-12-01

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I read both books at roughly the same time, and the harsh reality of Anne's diary was a good contrast to make sure the literary version was suitably serious.