Tuesday, June 23, 2009

What does Anne Frank mean when she says they have "freedom after five"?

The Diary of Anne Frank chronicles the experience of teenage girl, her family and a number of their acquaintances who spent months in hiding from the Nazis in a small apartment above a warehouse. The family had been living in Germany but were forced to flee to Amsterdam, and then were forced into hiding when the Nazis invaded Holland.


Hiding Jews was a crime and so the owners of the warehouse risked arrest as well. The family and the other people living with them in their hiding place had to be quiet during daytime working hours, so that they would not be discovered and turned over to the military police. Anne's comment that they had "freedom after five" means that once the warehouse workers were done working for that day (after five o'clock), the family in hiding could move about and even speak softly, because the risk of discovery was lessened greatly in the evening and overnight. They still could not use lights or make noise to attract attention to themselves, but unlike their daytime hours, they did not have to remain still and silent.

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