Anne Frank kept a diary from June 12, 1942, to August 1, 1944. Initially, she wrote it strictly for herself. Then, one day in 1944, a member of the Dutch government in exile, announced that after the war, accounts of the suffering of the Dutch people under German occupation would be made available to the public. Impressed by this speech, Anne Frank decided that when the war was over she would publish a book based on her diary. Anne's diary ended on August 4, 1944, when she and her family were