Anne Frank's 1943 notebook is missing

In many ways, the red-and-white striped signature book has come to represent Anne's journal. Many readers may believe that this one notebook contains all of Anne's journal entries because of this, which is possible. Although Anne started using the red-and-white striped notebook on June 12, 1942, she had finished writing in it by the time she wrote her entry on December 5, 1942.

Anne wrote a lot, therefore she needed many notebooks to keep all of her journal entries. Two other notebooks have been discovered in addition to the red and white checkered notebook. Anne's journal entries from December 22, 1943, to April 17, 1944, were found in the first of these items, an exercise book. The second was an additional workbook that covered the time period from April 17, 1944, until just before her arrest. The notebook that must have included Anne's journal entries for the most of 1943 is missing, as can be seen by paying close attention to the dates.

But don't panic and assume that you missed the one-year gap in diary entries in your copy of Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl. These were utilized to replace the missing original diary notebook since Anne's rewrites during this time period had been discovered. It's not clear when or how this second notebook disappeared. We have no proof that the notebook was lost before or after Anne's imprisonment, but one may be relatively certain that she had it with her when she wrote her rewrites in the summer of 1944.