WWII leather five year diary

This one is too beautiful for words. The Etsy seller only ships to the US, so a few weeks went by before I realised I just couldn’t stop thinking about this one, and how badly I wanted it for my collection. I contacted Karen from On The Rebound who happily and immediately agreed to ship to Sweden for me. I am not sure if it is my good feedback, the way I approach people, or the fact that I am a longtime member of both Etsy and eBay, but normally people are kind and willing to send to places they do not usually send to if you ask them nicely. Karen was really wonderful about it – she didn’t make me feel like I was being a giant pain and was so lovely to deal with.

This took about a week to arrive and it is lovely. It must have been printed in 1939 because it lasts from 1940 to 1945. The same time Anne Frank was writing her diary. How poignant. I have one five year diary from 1899 and one from 1929 but this one is the only one that comes from WWII.

Interestingly, as can be seen from the photos at the bottom of the post, it matches my rare vintage sharkskin Filofax – perfectly!

Because it is from WWII and thinking that Anne Frank was writing her diary at the same time as this diary was bought, really makes me really want to live a life worth living and writing about – as a tribute to Anne and the life she never got to live. She died on March 12, 1945, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Germany, aged just 15. But someone else said to me  ‘I wouldn’t write in it. I think it’s touching it’s not been written, almost poignant – a testament to lives silenced by war and the Holocaust. It’s a mini memorial.’

Karen – I cannot thank you enough!