THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1944
Dearest Kitty,
Invasion fever is mounting daily throughout the try. If you were here, Im sure youd be as impressed as I am at the many preparations, though youd no doubt laugh at all the fuss were making. Who knows, it may all be for nothing!
The papers are full of invasion news and are driving everyone ih such statements as: "In the event of a British landing in Holland, the Germans will do what they to defend the try, even flooding it, if necessary." Theyve published maps of Holland with the potential flood areas marked. Since large portions of Amsterdam were shaded in, our first question was what we should do if the water ireets rose to above our waists. This tricky question elicited a variety of responses:
"Itll be impossible to walk or ride a bike, so well have to wade through the water.」
"Dont be silly. Well have to try and swim. Well all put on our bathing suits and caps and swim uer as much as we , so nobody see were Jews.」
"Oh, baloney! I just imagihe ladies swimming with the rats biting their legs!」
(That was a man, of course; well see who screams loudest!)
"We wont even be able to leave the house. The warehouse is so unstable itll collapse if theres a flood.」
"Listen, everyone, all joking aside, we really ought to try a a boat.」
"Why bother? I have a better idea. We each take a pag crate from the attid row with a wooden spoon.」
"Im going to walk on stilts. I used to be a whiz at it when I was young."
"Jan Gies woo. Hell let his wife ride piggyback, and then Miep will be on stilts.」
So now you have a rough idea of whats going on, dont you, Kit? This lighthearted banter is all very amusing, but reality will prove otherwise. The sed question about the invasion was bound to arise: what should we do if the Germans evacuate Amsterdam?
"Leave the city along with the others. Disguise ourselves as well as we .」
"Whatever happens, dont go outside! The best thing to do is to stay put! The Germans are capable of herding the entire population of Holland into Germany, where theyll all die.」
"Of course well stay here. This is the safest place.
Well try to talk Kleiman and his family into io live with us. Well somehow get hold of a bag of wood shavings, so we sleep on the floor. Lets ask Miep and Kleiman t some blas, just in case. And well order some extra cereal grains to supplement the sixty-five pounds we already have. Jan try to find some more beans. At the moment weve got about sixty-five pounds of beans and ten pounds of split peas. And dont fet the fifty s of vegetables.」
"What about the rest, Mive us the latest figures. , "Ten s of fish, forty s of milk, twenty pounds of powdered milk, three bottles of oil, four crocks of butter, four jars of meat, two big jars of strawberries, two jars of raspberries, twenty jars of tomatoes, ten pounds of oatmeal, nine pounds of rice.
Thats it.」
Our provisions are holding out fairly well. All the same, we have to feed the office staff, which means dipping into our stock every week, so its not as much as it seems.
We have enough coal and firewood, dles too.
"Lets all make little moneybags to hide in our clothes so we take our money with us if we o leave here.」
"We make lists of what to take first in case we have to run for it, and pack our knapsacks in advance."
"Wheime es, well put two people on the lookout, one in the