Anne Frank

•How did WW 2 affect Jews in Europe?

Who was Anne Frank?

She was the second daughter of Otto and Edith. Her sister Margot was then three years old. The family were Jewish and German. Anne’s father worked at his family’s bank. Her mother took care of everything at home. It was a carefree time for Margot and Anne. They

had many friends in the neighbourhood where they lived.

Annelies Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Jews in Nazi Germany

However, their parents were worried. Adolf Hitler and his party blamed the Jews for all of Germany's problems.

Anti-Semitism (anti-Jewish) feelings in the country were growing in the 1930s.

At the beginning of 1933, the Nazi party came to power in Germany. Adolf Hitler, the leader of this party, became responsible for the new government.

Before very long, there was discrimination against Jews.

Anne’s parents no longer felt safe. Otto and Edith Frank decided to leave Germany. They moved to the Netherlands

A New Life in Holland?

The Franks moved to the Netherlands in the summer of 1933.

Otto set up a company in Amsterdam that sold Opekta. This was a product used by housewives to make home-made jam

The Frank Family felt free and safe, until… The German Army invaded and occupied the

Netherlands on May 10, 1940. The discrimination against the Jews began

then as well: Jews may not own their own businesses, Jewish children have to go to Jewish schools, all Jews have to wear a yellow star, and countless other restrictions.

All Jews were made to wear a big yellow star on their clothes at all times. This was intended to mark them out as different to ‘normal’ people and humiliate them.

‘Occupied’ means that the enemy have taken over the running of the country by force and have troops living there.

Anne’s Diary

The reason that Anne is famous and we know so much about her is because she recorded everything so carefully in her diary which was found after the war.

On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank celebrated her 13th birthday. She received a diary as a present. It was her favourite gift. She began writing in it immediately:

“I hope I will be able to confide everything to you…and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

She addressed her diary as ‘Kitty’ and wrote in it as if she were writing letters to a friend.

Jews arrested

In 1942 the Germans began arresting people just for being Jewish. They sent large numbers back to Germany from Europe to work in concentration camps.

Just like thousands of other Jews living in Amsterdam, Margot Frank received a ‘call-up’ on July 5, 1942. She was just 16 years old.

The entire family would have be arrested if Margot did not go.

A ‘call up’ was a dreaded letter sent by the Nazis telling you that you were being sent to a German concentration camp. You were told to report to the Nazis on a certain date with a few belongings.

The Secret Place

Otto and Edith had been expecting a ‘call up’ and they were ready. They were not willing to let their daughter be sent to a concentration camp.

They had been preparing a secret hiding place which was almost ready.

This place was not only for their own family, but also for the Van Pels family: Hermann and Auguste and their son Peter. Hermann van Pels is co-director of Otto Frank’s company.

The next day, the Frank family immediately left for the hiding place. All of them carried bags filled with their things. Naturally, Anne brought her diary.

Much later, she looked back and wrote: “My happy-go-lucky, carefree school days are gone forever.”

The hiding place was located in an empty section of the building owned by Otto Frank's company.

While business continued, as usual, in the front part of the building, there were people hiding in the annex out back.

Before too long, the entrance to the Secret Annex was concealed behind a movable bookcase.

The secret annex

The Helpers

The Franks and the Van Pels never left the annex so they needed people they could trust to help them and bring them food in secret.

They were helped by Otto Frank’s four employees: Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler and Bep Voskuijl, they were not Jews, but they were sympathetic to the families’ plight.

They arranged food supplies, clothing, books, and all sorts of other necessities. In addition, they kept the people in hiding up-to-date with the news from Amsterdam.

The reports were mainly bad, because there are razzias all over the city: Jews who did not turn up were arrested.

The people in hiding were already anxious and depressed, so the helpers did not always tell them about everything going on in the outside world.

Miep Gies

Remaining Secret

The Franks wanted everyone to believe that they had fled Holland. It was vital for Margot and the whole family that they remain hidden.

During the day when the factory downstairs was open, they had to remain very quiet as not everyone working there knew the family were hiding upstairs.

They had to speak softly, avoid flushing the toilet and tread gently when moving around.

This was very hard for Anne who was a high spirited and energetic girl.

A New Room-mate

In November 1942, an eighth person joined the people in hiding: Fritz Pfeffer. He was a dentist and a friend of both the Franks and the Van Pels.

Margot began sleeping in her parents’ room, so that Anne could share the room next door with Fritz Pfeffer. In her diary, Anne Frank jotted down her first impression of her new roommate: "...a very nice man”.

The hiding place was quite small. The Frank family lived in two rooms on the first floor, the Van Pels family in two other rooms on the second floor. The people in hiding could reach the attic via Peter’s tiny bedroom. Supplies were stored in the attic.

Fritz Pfeffer

Arguments

The people in hiding passed their time by reading and studying. There were a lot of arguments, probably due to everyone feeling ‘closed in’ and their constant fear of being discovered. They often quarrelled among themselves.

As often as she can, Anne poured out her heart to her diary:

“The nicest part is being able to write down all my thoughts and feelings, otherwise I'd absolutely suffocate.”

Bad News

In the afternoon, the helpers often went upstairs to eat lunch with the people hiding in the Secret Annex. Then warehouse workers had gone home for a short break. They told them what was happening outside. Jews who did not voluntarily turn themselves in were picked up and sent to concentration camps. Many of these people were the Franks’ friends.

The people in hiding assumed the majority of Jews would be murdered there. Anne writes in her diary: “We assume that most of them are being murdered. The English radio says they're being gassed. Perhaps that's the quickest way to die. I feel terrible.”

This Photograph shows as ‘razzia’. Jews are being herded like cattle onto trucks to be taken away. Many never returned.

Betrayal

Friday, August 4th was a day like any other day. The helpers were working in the office in the front part of the building. Upstairs, the people in hiding were quietly going about their business…

Suddenly, out front on the street, a vehicle came to a halt. Out jumped an SS-officer and three Dutch policeman. They entered the building and went directly to the office.

Victor Kugler was told he must escort them to the Secret Annex. The people in hiding had been betrayed…

This is the bookcase that hid the entrance to the Secret Annex

Up to the families’ rooms

Nobody knows who told the Germans they were there, but it could have been someone from the factory.

Otto Frank:

“It was around ten-thirty. I was upstairs with the Van Pelses in Peter’s room and I was helping him with his schoolwork. I was showing him the mistake in the dictation when suddenly someone came running up the stairs. The stairs were squeaking, I stood up, because it was still early in the morning and everyone was supposed to be quiet - then the door opened and a man was standing right in front of us with a gun in his hand and it was pointed at us.”

The Franks arrested

The people in hiding and the two male helpers were arrested and taken for interrogation to a jail run by the Germans.

The two helpers were later transferred to a the city prison. The two female helpers were left behind. They rescued Anne Frank's diary papers.

On August 8, 1944, the eight people in hiding were taken to Westerbork camp by passenger train. Because they did not report voluntarily, but had been arrested instead, they are assigned to barracks in the punishment block. They had to work all day breaking up old batteries. Even though it was grimy and unhealthy work, the prisoners can still talk to each other.

Deportations Freight trains filled with prisoners leave regularly for unspecified

destinations in the East. A long list of prisoners names was read aloud on September 2, 1944. These people must depart the next day. The names of the eight people in hiding were also on this list.

Auschwitz

On the morning of September 3, 1944, a very long train comprised of freight cars left Westerbork. Among the 1019 Jewish prisoners were also the eight people from the Secret Annex. After a dreadful train trip, lasting three days, they arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

Two Groups On the platform at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the men and women were

separated. Nazi doctors divided the prisoners into two groups: prisoners who they consider fit enough to work and prisoners who will be killed immediately.

The eight people in hiding were spared. They were expected to perform heavy labour. Hermann van Pels was older and weaker than the others, after a short while he could no longer do this kind of work. Otto and Peter watched him go past with other men in a group. A few hours later a truck came back with his clothes on it.

Hermann van Pels

Auguste and Edith die

Their mother remained behind in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Edith fell ill and died of exhaustion in January 1945.

Auguste van Pels arrived at Bergen-Belsen in November 1944. There she met Anne and Margot again but died while being transported to another camp.

The camp at Bergen-Belsen was cold and dirty.

At the end of October 1944, Anne and Margot were transported from Auschwitz Birkenau to Bergen-Belsen.

Bergen-Belsen.

Otto alone survives

Anne and Margot were killed by a disease called typhus in March 1945, a few weeks before the camp was freed by the British Army. Anne was just 15 years old.

Otto Frank was released from Auschwitz on January 27, 1945. Shortly before his release, the Nazis evacuated the camp.

Prisoners, who could still walk, must go with them. Peter van Pels was among these prisoners. He arrived at a concentration camp in Austria at the end of Janaury. The prisoners had to perform heavy labour. Peter van Pels died of exhaustion on May 5, 1945.

Anne’s Diary

When Miep Gies heard the sad news, that Anne had died, she gave Otto the diaries, notebooks, and loose sheets of paper containing Anne's notes.

Otto began reading Anne's diary. He was very surprised because he realised how little he knew about his daughter. In her diary, Otto read about the plan Anne had to publish a book after the war about the time she spent in the Secret Annex. She had even edited and rewritten a large portion of her original diary.

Otto Frank felt uncertain about the idea but he finally decided to fulfil his daughter's wish. It has since been published in 67 languages and has been made into a play and a film.

Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam

However, the building was in danger of collapsing. A group of concerned Amsterdam citizens came together to found the Anne Frank House.

The most important objective of the organisation was to preserve the building where the hiding place is located.

On May 3, 1960, the Anne Frank House officially opened. The Secret Annex is now a museum.

More and more people became interested in seeing the hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her diary with their own eyes.

The Museum is still very popular today

Auschwitz

It is estimated that between one and three million people died at Auschwitz, 90% were Jews. Many killed in gas chambers, while others like Peter van Pels died from exhaustion because of the back breaking work that they were made to do.

The poor conditions and near starvation lead to many diseases like Typhus that killed Anne and Margot.

Nazi guards at Auschwitz

The barracks were basically sheds with no insulation from the harsh Polish winter. Inmates slept four to a bunk.

Children at Auschwitz

Auschw

itz toilets

Harsh w

inter and ele

ctric fence