Anne Frank

1 - Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt in June 1929. Her father, Otto Frank, was a businessman. Together with his brother Robert, he had fought for Germany as a soldier during the First World War. After the war, he worked at the family bank.

2 - The members of this family, the Franks, including Margot, the older sister, and their mother Edith, were Jewish. The National Socialists came to power in Germany in January 1933, and their leader, Adolf Hitler, became Chancellor. They blamed the Jews for Germany’s misfortunes, including high unemployment and the other problems people were suffering from.

3 - After Hitler came to power, Jews were allowed to work in only a few professions. The Nazis urged people to stop shopping in their stores; Jews were allowed to marry only Jewish partners, and their children had to attend special schools. Later, Jews were arrested and arbitrarily imprisoned in concentration camps. In the end, around 6 million Jews from across Europe were murdered.

4 - The Frank family emigrated in 1934 and settled in Amsterdam. The father founded companies there that traded in a gelling agent for jam and spices for meat and sausages. In 1940, Hitler’s soldiers invaded the Netherlands. The persecution of Jews began there too. From July 1942, the Frank family and several other people hid in a house behind the one on Prinsengracht. Several helpers provided for them.

5 - Anne was 13 by then. She began keeping a diary, writing almost every day about what happened in their hiding place. She and the others lived there for more than two years. They were not allowed to leave and had to avoid making loud noises, for example. But their hiding place was discovered, and in August 1944 they were all arrested. Anne and her sister were first sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, then transferred to Bergen-Belsen camp in Lower Saxony in October 1944. Margot and Anne Frank died there, probably of serious illnesses, in March 1945. Their mother had died at Auschwitz-Birkenau in January. Of all those who had hidden in the Secret Annex, only their father survived.

6 - Anne's diary, which she kept while in hiding, was published by her father after the end of Nazi rule. It has become a worldwide symbol of the persecution of Jews. The house where she and her family hid is now part of a museum.

7 - Visitors can see the hiding place where Anne Frank and her family sought refuge. There is also an exhibition with photographs, documents and personal belongings that illustrates the Frank family’s life in hiding.

You should find out:

Where and when was Anne Frank born?
What jobs did the father do?
Who came to power in Germany in January 1933?
What happened to the Jewish population after this seizure of power?
Where did the Frank family emigrate to? When?
How did it come about that Jews were persecuted in the Netherlands too?
Where did the Frank family and several other Jewish people hide?
When was the hiding place betrayed?
What happened to Anne, her sister and her parents?
How did the fate of the Frank family become known around the world?

The Frank family hid in this house in Amsterdam for years

Image: Hamsterkiste

Memorial stone for Margot and Anne Frank at the site of the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp

Image: Hamsterkiste