In a scene from the 1959 movie version of The Diary of Anne Frank, the Franks, the Van Daans and Mr. Dussel are celebrating Chanukah in the Secret Annex in which they’ve been hiding from the Nazis. The celebration, though, is interrupted by a sound from below.
The thief that had robbed the factory before has returned. Instantly, Peter extinguishes the lights while all the rest sit in silence, unmoving. They know that the slightest noise will give them away.
As the thief works on the safe in the room below them, the families are still, except for one.
The cat, Mouschi, begins pawing across the floor. And in an effort to save them from discovery, Peter reaches for the cat, only to frighten it into screeching as he knocks over a bucket.
The thief flees from the noise and so begins the most suspenseful moment in the movie. Mr. Frank decides to leave their hiding place, to investigate whether or not the thief is gone and whether or not he has alerted the green police. He walks downstairs and Peter follows and then Anne.
On his way out of the factory, the thief leaves the door to the factory open arousing the suspicions of a man walking by. While Mr. Frank hides behind the door—a hammer in hand (his only weapon)—the man approaches two soldiers in the street and points to the open door.
In a second, several things happen all at once. Anne faints from fear. Peter grabs her, pulling her out of the line of sight while Mr. Frank flees up the stairs. All three reenter the Secret Annex.
And then both families sit on the other side of the wooden bookshelves that guard the entrance to their hiding place and wait to see if the soldiers will find them.
Through the whole ordeal, Mrs. Frank, alone, is praying.
I’ve seen the movie fifty times, but only just now have recognized the words.
She’s reciting Psalm 121.
These are the verses that I wish to send to the people of Japan, to the people who search for missing loved ones, to all those who cannot sleep at night, who cannot rest, because they have lost everything that is most precious to them.
These are the words that gave comfort to Mrs. Frank. These are the words that bring comfort to me.
From Psalm 121, verses 1-2 and 5-7. “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.”
Do not lose hope.
God has not nor will He ever abandon you.
