thursday, august 5, 1943

dearest kitty,

today let's talk about the lunch break.

it's twelve-thirty. the whole gang breathes a sigh of relief: mr. van maaren, the man with the shady past, and mr. de kok have gone home for lunch.

upstairs you can hear the thud of the vacuum cleaner on mrs. van d.'s beautiful and only rug. margot tucks a few books under her arm and heads for the class for "slow learners," which is what dussel seems to be. pim goes and sits in a corner with his constant companion, dickens, in hopes of finding a bit of peace and quiet. mother hastens upstairs to help the busy little housewife, and i tidy up both the bathroom and myself at the same time.

twelve forty-five. one by one they trickle in: first mr. gies and then either mr. kleiman or mr. kugler, followed by bep and sometimes even miep.

one. clustered around the radio, they all listen raptly to the bbc. this is the only time the members of the annex family don't interrupt each other, since even mr. van daan can't argue with the speaker.

one-fifteen. food distribution. everyone from downstairs gets a cup of soup, plus dessert, if there happens to be any. a contented mr. gies sits on the divan or leans against the desk with his newspaper, cup and usually the cat at his side. if one of the three is missing, he doesn't hesitate to let his protest be heard. mr. kleiman relates the latest news from town, and he's an excellent source. mr. kugler hurries up the stairs, gives a short but solid knock on the door and comes in either wringing his hands or rubbing them in glee, depending on whether he's quiet and in a bad mood or talkative and in a good mood.

one forty-five. everyone rises from the table and goes about their business. margot and mother do the dishes, mr. and mrs. van d. head for the divan, peter for the attic, father for his divan, dussel too, and anne does her homework.

what comes next is the quietest hour of the day; when they're all asleep, there are no disturbances. to judge by his face, dussel is dreaming of food. but i don't look at him long, because the time whizzes by and before you know it, it'll be 4 p.m. and the pedantic dr. dussel will be standing with the clock in his hand because i'm one minute ,late clearing off the table.

yours, anne