The three versions

Anne Frank leaves behind two diary versions. As a Dutch minister announced on the radio on Tuesday, March 28, 1944, that a collection of diaries would be published after the war, Anne toyed with the possibility of publishing her stories about the secret annex as a novel . Once she decides that she will publish her writings after the war, Anne starts editing her diary herself, rewriting, adding, or deleting some passages.

In Anne's revised version The Secret Annex we notice that she no longer describes her love for Peter van Daan quite so enthusiastically. She no longer gives her description as much space and omits several accounts of their meetings altogether. This can be explained by the fact that Anne slowly loses interest in Peter in the late spring of 1944 and is increasingly disappointed by his behavior and indecisiveness.

Anne's growing maturity allows her to evaluate many situations of the previous years differently. In her revised version, Anne is less harsh about her mother's character weaknesses and treats her with more understanding. Moreover, she omits entirely the sections in which she had criticized her mother with childish bitterness. 

Another point that stands out in Anne's own revision is that she is less explicit about sexuality. She deletes i...