Peter van Daan

The boring housemate

Anne changed Peter's last name in her diary in view of its future publication. His real last name is Peter van Pels. One week after Anne moved into the secret annex with her parents, Peter and his two parents go into hiding there on July 13, 1942. Peter is “going on sixteen” (9%) at this time. His father worked as an employee in Otto Frank`s company in Amsterdam.

When the van Daans move in with Anne's family in the secret annex, Anne's opinion of Peter is negative: “Peter’s (…) a shy, awkward boy whose company won’t amount to much” (9%). She finds him unlikable, lazy, and stupid: “I don’t think Peter’s gotten any nicer. He’s an obnoxious boy who lies around on his bed all day, only rousing himself to do a little carpentry work before returning to his nap. What a dope!” (9%)”. 

Despite noting that Peter can be “very amusing” (14%) from time to time, for example when they dress up for fun, Anne's general opinion of him rema...