MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1942
Dearest Kitty,
Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day nearly cided this year; they were only one day apart. We didnt make much of a fuss with Hanukkah, merely exging a few small gifts and lighting the dles. Since dles are in short supply, we lit them for only ten minutes, but as long as we sing the song, that doesnt matter. Mr. van Daan made a menorah out of wood, so that was taken care of too.
St. Nicholas Day on Saturday was much more fun. During dinner Bep and Miep were so busy whispering to Father that our curiosity was aroused and we suspected they were up to something. Sure enough, at eight oclock we all trooped downstairs through the hall in pitch darkness (it gave me the shivers, and I wished I was safely back upstairs!) to the alcove. We could swit the light, sihis room doesnt have any windows. When that was done, Father opehe big et.
"Oh, how wonderful!" we all cried.
In the er was a large basket decorated with colorful paper and a mask of Black Peter.
We quickly took the basket upstairs with us. Inside was a little gift for everyone, including an appropriate verse. Since youre famthar with the kinds of poems peo ple write each other on St. Nicholas Day, I wont copy them down for you.
I received a Kewpie doll, Father got bookends, and so on. Well anyway, it was a nice idea, and sihe eight of us had never celebrated St. Nicholas Day before, this was a good time to begin.
Yours, Anne
PS. We also had presents for everyone downstairs, a few things .left over from the Good Old Days; plus Miep and Bep are always grateful for money.
Today we heard that Mr. van Daan s ashtray, Mr. Dussels picture frame and Fathers bookends were made by her than Mr. Voskuijl. How anyone be so clever with his hands is a mystery to me!
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1942
Dearest Kitty,
Mr. van Daao be in the meat, sausage and spice business. He was hired for his knowledge of spices, areat delight, its his sausage talents that have e in handy now.
We ordered a large amount of meat (uhe ter, of course) that we were planning to preserve in case there were hard times ahead. Mr. van Daan decided to make bratwurst, sausages awurst. I had fun watg him put the meat through the grinder: owice, three times. Then he added the remaining ingredi ents to the grou and used a long pipe to force the mixture into the gs.
We ate the bratwurst with sauerkraut for lunch, but the sausages, which were going to be ed, had to dry first, so we hung them over a pole suspended from the g. Everyone who came into the room burst into laughter when they saw the dangling sausages.It was such a ical sight.
The kit was a shambles. Mr. van Daan, clad in his wifes apron and looking fatter than ever, was w away at the meat. What with his bloody hands, red fad spotted apron, he looked like a real butcher. Mrs. D. was trying to do everything at once: learning Dutch out of a book, stirring the soup, watg the meat, sighing and moaning about her broken rib. Thats what happens when old (!) ladies do such stupid exercises to get rid of their fat behinds! Dussel had an eye iion and was sittio the stove dabbing his eye with ile tea. Pim, seated in the one ray of sunshine ing through the window, kept having to move his chair this way and that to stay out of the way. His rheumatism must have been b him because he was slightly hunched over and was keeping an eye on Mr. van Daan with an agonized e