“A Polish teenager in southeastern Poland began keeping a diary months before the advent of WWII,” Joanna Berendt wrote in the New York Times. Berendt explained how the girl, Renia Spiegel, chronicled life under two totalitarian regimes: the Soviets who advanced from the east, and the Nazis who came from the west.

The diary, kept in a safe deposit box in New York City for decades by Renia’s sister, Elizabeth Bellak, has been described as a counterpart to Anne Frank’s diary, a valuable historical document and a poignant coming-of-age story. The sister said she couldn’t bear to read it, knowing that Renia had been shot dead by the Nazis when she and her parents were discovered in hiding. But Elizabeth’s daughter, Alexandra, recognized the historical value of the diary, and sought a publisher.

Now, the 700-page journal, titled Renia’s Diary,  has been published in English and released to bookstores in 13 countries, including Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States.