Anne Frank Diary Reference :
Anne Frank Blog
5 March 2006
Downstairs Cat Was Named Moffie
It's settled. The name of the downstairs cat was Moffie,
as Miep Gies
described in her book, not "Boche" as English translations (and probably
French translations, too) of Anne's diary named it. Two Dutch people with
books of the diary told me that it was "Moffie."
(Anne wrote in Dutch so they have the original Dutch.
Also, you cannot pronounce
the word boche in Dutch or German, the two languages Anne spoke
fluently.) Anne and everyone else called the cat "Moffie" or "Mof."
"Boche" in English translations is probably a throwback to the first
translations of the diary a few years after WWII. The English translators
were probably British, who knew the old WWI French derogatory term for
the Germans: boche. So when they translated the name Mof/Moffie to
British English, they used this term to convey the meaning because
they were famililar with it. (Americans probably have never been
familiar with this term.)
Anne explained the origin of Moffie's name in her diary on 12
March 1943. (Moffie once had an arch-rival, Tommy, who had lived in
the attic. Tommy was named for the good stalwarts, the British.)
Miep's book and a researcher gave further
explanation.