Diary of Anita Meyer
Gift of Anita Budding
Id no. 501.91, Diary, Dutch
Anita Meyer (later, Budding), born in the Hague, Holland in 1929, wrote in this diary while in hiding during the war. With the German invasion of Holland in 1940, the Meyer home was confiscated and the family was forced to relocate to Amsterdam. There, her parents decided to put the family into hiding. With the help of Anna Gisela Soehnlein, Anita?s non-Jewish camp counselor and a law student, Anita was sent to the southern region of the Netherlands, to a town called Eindoven. There, she spent over two years hiding with a non-Jewish family, the Arjens, beginning in May 1943. She wrote in her diary about her daily life, including the struggle to find food, the cold weather, and the fear of bombings. Meanwhile, her sister, Carla, and parents were in hiding in other locations. In January 1945, Anita?s parents were caught and deported to the Westerbork transit camp, but they survived through the liberation. Anita?s sister also survived the war. Upon liberation, Anita was reunited with her sister and parents, in May 1945. A few months after helping Anita, Anna Gisela Soehnlein was arrested for her underground rescue efforts, and sent to forced labor.
