Mr. Dussel is upset by the new precautions they must take to insure the safety of the inhabitants of the "Secret Annex". In particular, he does not like to be told that he is not allowed to use the downstairs office on Saturdays and Sundays. He does it anyway in defiance of the others wishes. He fought with Mr. Van Daan about it and finally had a showdown with Mr. Frank about it. It resulted with Mr. Dussel no longer using the office and Mr. Frank and Mr. Van Daan no longer speaking to him.

Anne has been doing a great deal of reading. Most of it is history and she loves to use the books to make up family trees of the ruling families in Europe. She is also writing a lot of short stories and has hopes of seeing them published. Anne mentions that she would like to write a book entitled Het Achterhuis after the war; this means in back of the house. She would like to use her diary as a resource for the book.

Her and Peter's relationship has progressed to such a degree that the two of them thought it best she tell her father about it. He did not react in quite the way she had hoped. Instead of being supportive, he told her he felt she should not go upstairs to visit Peter very often. Even though he knows Peter is a nice young man, he is still a teenage boy who might not have control of himself. Pim feels that it is up to Anne to control how far the relationship goes. She told this to Peter, encouraging Peter to speak to her father himself. He did and was told basically the same thing as Anne was told. Anne's father is afraid the two of them would fall in love.

Anne continues to go up to Peter's room in the evening to see him. This makes her father disappointed and a bit angry with her, because she is disobeying him. Anne decides to write her father a letter explaining that she is independent of her parents. She, therefore, feels she has the right to do whatever she thinks is best for her. She also tells her father, of how she had to cope with her feelings of misery by herself because neither of her parents wanted to help her. Of course this letter upset her father and he confronted her about its contents. He told her that she had two parents who love her and were always there for her whenever she needed them. He also expressed to her how much her letter hurt him. He said "I have received many letters in my life, but this is certainly the most unpleasant!" Anne felt ashamed of herself afterwards and realized she was so self-involved that she did not see the situation as it really was. Her father forgave her and burned the letter.

Anne reveals parts of her parents' upbringing, they both came from wealthy families who were able to give them the best of everything. Her father's family lost all their money during World War I. Her mother often told the girls stories of the balls and dinners in which hundreds of people would attend at her home. Those days, of course are gone, but live on as a fond memory for both of Anne's parents.

The people of Holland are still waiting for England to invade and save them from the Germans. Anne thinks these people should realize England is trying to save its own land and people. The group has also received word about the spread of anti-Semitic feelings throughout the country. There are groups of people who blame the Jews for giving away secrets to the Germans. These secrets reveal the names of people who are working to help the Jews. These Christians are being sent to concentration camps because of their efforts to help hide the Jews.

Anne knows these accusations are in fact true, but she wonders how many people could keep the secret under the pressure and pain of being interrogated by the Germans. She thinks most people would give up what they know in order to make the interrogation stop.

She has also heard how German Jews who emigrated to Holland and are now in concentration camps in Poland, will not be allowed back into Holland after the war. She wonders why they are fighting the war if in the end the Jews are still not allowed to live in freedom. Not being allowed to stay in Holland after the war greatly upsets Anne. She has lived in Holland so long, she no longer feels she is German but instead Dutch.

They learn about the fate of the vegetable man, who had hidden two Jews in his house. He was found out and taken away. She feels terrible about his fate and that of the Jews in his house, but she also wonders how her family and the others in the attic will receive their vegetables. The household will now have to cut back even further on the amount of food they consume. Breakfast has been eliminated and lunch will be porridge and bread. For supper they will have fried potatoes and maybe a couple times a week a vegetable or lettuce.

Because it is the start of the warm weather season, the attic is becoming unbearably hot. They are not allowed to open any windows because this might draw attention to the building. The food is going bad and tempers are increasing along with the temperature.

The individuals living in the "Secret Annex" must endure hardship including new restrictions on their activities, lack of food and increasing heat. Anne and Peter's relationship causes tension between Anne and her father. They also find out anti-Semitic feelings are increasing in Holland.