Marley S.

A diary of the survivor

Dear Diary,

My name is Annemarie Johansen. I just turned 11 and it has been a long and crazy year for me. My best friend Ellen Rosen is staying with our family because the Nazis are coming to get her. I have a younger sister Kirsti . Also, I have a friend Peter that was engaged to my sister, Lise. She died at the age of 21 in a public shooting. From the Nazis invading our beloved home Denmark to hiding out with our uncle Hendrik, it has been a long journey.

The Nazis were everywhere, and our guards were on every street corner. When the Nazis found out that Ellen was Jewish, they went to look for her. Since she was staying with us, they did not find her at her apartment. Then, the Nazis knew that we were good friends with the Rosens, so they came into our home. We were sleeping when it happened. Ellen was wearing a locket with her name on it. Because I didn’t want the Nazis to find her, I yanked it off of Ellen and hid it under the bed. Our family hid her true identity and said that she was Lise. Due to the fact that Lise was dead, we decided to disguise Ellen as Lise so she would not get caught. Before Ellen came to stay with us, her parents said that they were staying with a few relatives, but they were probably trying to protect her. She has not seen her mom or dad since she started to live with us. Due to the fact that all of the Nazis were on the trains, buses, and even in our own hometown, we decided to stay with our Uncle Hendrik. Before I knew it, I had to go on a journey to give Peter back the handkerchief he dropped. It was extremely important because it has a scent that made the security dogs not smell any traces of him. It fell out of his pocket.  Without it, he wouldn’t be able to sneak past guards without being killed. The trees were fighting me in a war as I ran through them to get to Peter. It was a long journey, but I finally made it. It was a long ride

Sincerely,

   Annemarie Johansen