‘Polish Anne Frank’ diary headed to shelves for first time

In 1939, a Jewish teenager started documenting her experiences under Nazi rule in Poland. Now, 70 years later, her accounts will be published for the first time. Renia’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust is scheduled for release on Sept. 19.

Who wrote the diary? The nearly 700-page journal belonged to Renia Spiegel, who described the attacks on her hometown of Przemyśl and the disappearance of other Jewish families. The Nazis found her hiding in an attic and shot her in 1942. She was 18. Her sister Elizabeth and their mother both survived and moved to New York, where they kept the diary in a bank vault. Another Holocaust diary by Jewish teen Anne Frank of the Netherlands has sold 30 million copies since its publication shortly after World War II.

Dig deeper: Learn more about Renia Spiegel from the Smithsonian.