the diary of a young girl is a diary written in dutch by anne frank. she began it in 1942, writing secretly to an imaginary friend. she wrote it while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the nazi occupation of the netherlands. the family was caught in 1944 and anne frank died of typhus in the bergen-belsen concentration camp. after the war, the diary was found by anne's father, otto frank. he was the only known survivor of the family. the diary has now been published in more than 60 different languages. it is now considered a classic of war literature. the diary was rescued from a reject pile by cookbook publisher judith jones.