The discovery of the diary
The day after the arrest of the people in hiding, Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl walked through the rooms in the Secret Annex. They saw Anne's diaries lying around and took them to keep for her.
Vloer in de kamer van Anne Frank
Vervaardiger Maria Austria. Collectie Maria Austria Instituut Amsterdam. Copyright: In Copyright (rechten Derden)
After the eight people in hiding were arrested on 4 August 1944, helpers Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl entered the Secret Annex a day later. In an interview with the television programme Meridiaan on 30 June 1958, Miep Gies described what she found there:
'And when we got in there, the chaos was indescribable. The plates were still on the table, there were magazines scattered on the floor, books, newspapers, and then we started looking. I didn't know for what, but we were looking for something, and at one point then I saw the tip of a red checked diary. I said, look Elly [Bep], there's Anne's diary. I'll take that with me. We took it and went downstairs. (...).'[1]
Miep Gies kept the diary in her desk drawer. When the warehouse staff went to clear out the Secret Annex, Miep asked them if they came across any loose papers to bring them to her. This is how more pages of Anne's diary were eventually found and kept by Miep to gikve to Anne for when she might return.
On 18 July 1945, Otto Frank discovered that his daughters had died. Not long after, Miep gave Otto his daughter's diary.[2]
The first edition of Het Achterhuis appeared on 25 June 1947.