The Diary Keepers

A riveting look at the story of World War II and the Holocaust through the diaries of Dutch citizens,firsthand accounts of ordinary people living through extraordinary times Based on select writings from a collection of more than two thousand Dutch diaries written during World War II in order to record this unparalleled timeand maintained by devoted archivistsThe Diary Keepers illuminates a part of history we haven’t seen in quite this way beforefrom the stories of a Nazi sympathizing police officer to a Jewish journalist who documented daily activities at a transport camp. Journalist Nina Siegalwho grew up in a family that had survived the Holocaust in Europehad always wondered about the experience of regular people during World War II. She had heard stories of the war as a child and Anne Frank’s diarybut the tales were either crafted as moral lessons — to never waste foodto be grateful for all you receiveto hide your silver — or told with a punch line. The details of the past went untold in an effort to make it easier assimilate into American life. When Siegal moved to Amsterdam as an adultthose questions came up againas did another horrifying one: Why did seventy five percent of the Dutch Jewish community perish in the warwhile in other Western European countries the proportions were significantly lower? How did this square with the narratives of Dutch resistance she had heard so much about and in what way did it relate to the famed tolerance people in the Netherlands were always talking about? Perhaps more importantlyhow could she raise a Jewish child in this country without knowing these answers? Searching and singularThe Diary Keepers mines the diaries of ordinary citizens to understand the nature of resistancethe workings of memoryand the ways we reflect oncommemorateand re-envision the past.