Anne Frank
Anne Frank is the most famous person that hid during the Holocaust. She was born in Frankfurt. While hiding with her family and four friends during the occupation of the Netherlands, she wrote a journal. They hid in hidden rooms in her father's office building. After two years in hiding, they were betrayed and sent to concentration camps. Then seven months later, she died from Typhus in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Her father was the only one in the group that survived, and when he returned to Amsterdam, he found her diary and helped publish it in 1947. She had been given the diary on her 13th birthday, and she wrote in it from June 12th, 1942 until August 1st, 1944. Anne Frank is one of the most famous and most discussed Holocaust victims.
"Anne Frank"
Born June 12th 1929, Anne Frank was the daughter of Otto Heinrich Frank and Edith Hollander. The Franks were Reform Jews and lived in an assimilated community of Jewish and non-Jewish people. The children grew up with Jewish and non-Jewish friends, like Protestant and Catholic. Both of Anne’s parents, highly encouraged her and her siblings to read. Hilter’s Nazi Party won the elections for the municipal councial on March 13, 1933. Anti-Semitism acts occurred immediatley, and the Franks feared what might happen iftheywere to stay in Germany.Later that year, Edith and the children went to Aachen, where they stayed with Edith's mother, Rosa Holländer. Otto stayed in Frankfurt, but then received an offer to create a company in Amsterdam, so he then moved there to start the business. The Franks were part of the 300,000 Jews that fled from Germany between 1933 and 1939.
"Otto Heinrich Frank"
Otto began working at the Opekta Works, a company that sold the fruit extract pectin. He lived in an apartment on the Merwede Square in Amsterdam. By February 1934, Edith and the children had arrived in Amsterdam and the girls were sent to school. Margot went to a public school, and Anne went to a Montessori school.Margot was good and arithmetic, and Anne was more of a reader and writer. Margot and Anne had very different personalities. Margot was calm, well mannered, and studiois. Anne was wild, outspoken, and energetic.
In 1938, Otto began another company with Hermann van Pels, a Jewish butcher who also fled Germany, along with his family. In 1939, Edith's mother came to live with the Franks and stayed with them until she died in January 1942. In May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands and the government began to persecute Jews and created restricitve and discrimitive laws. Margot and Anne were both doing great at their schools, both in actual school work and they had many friend. But they had to leave their schools, because one of the new laws required that Jewish children attend Jewish only school, so they were enrolled at the Jewish Lyceum. Lyceum is another name for a school or Public Hall.
Monday, July 6, 1942, Anne and her family moved into hiding. They left their apartment in a mess to create the impression that they left suddenly. Otto left a note hinting they were leaving for Switzerland. Anne had to leave behind her can, Moortje. They had to walk several kilometers from their home, because Jews were not allowed to use the public transportation. They also had to wear several layers of clothing, because they didn’t want to be seen carrying luggage. The Secret Annexe, which is what is was called in Anne’s diary, was a three-story place which entered from above the Opekta Offices. A ladder from a small room led up to the attic, and behind a bookcase was the door to the hidden spot. Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, Miep Gies, and Bep Voskuijl were some of the employees at the Opekta Offices, and they were the only ones who knew of the Franks in hiding. Miep Gies' husband Jan Gies and Bep Voskuijl's father Johannes Hendrik Voskuijl, helped them for the duration of their confinement. They told them about the outside world; news, the war, hitler, and other events. They did whatever they need and brought them food and water, which became even harder the longer they were there. Anne wrote about their dedicate to protecting them and keeping them hidden, even though that if they were caught, they would face the death penalty for hiding Jews.
On August 4, 1944, the secret Annexe was invaded by German Security Police. Someone had told them that there were Jews hiding. They were taken to the Gestapo headquarters where they were interrogated and held overnight. Then on August 5, they were sent to the House of Detention, which was an overcrowded prison. Two days later they were transported to Westerbork. About 100,000 Jews had been through this camp by then. Because they were caught in hiding, they were considered criminals and were sent to Punishment Barracks for extreme labor. Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman were considered enemies and were arrested and jailed at the penal camp at Amersfoort. After seven weeks, Kleiman was released and Kugler stayed and was in different work camps until the war ended. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl were questioned by the Police, but were not arrested. They went back to the Secret Annexe the next day and found Anne’s papers on the ground. They gathered them and other family photographs and were going to return them to Anne at the end of the war.
September 3, the group was sent to Auschwitz. The men were seperated from the women, and the all the kids under 15 were sent straight to the gas chambers. Luckily, Anne had just recently turned 15. She was stripped naked, her head was shaved, and she got a tattoo of her indentity number on her arm. She was forced to do hard labor, like hauling rocks. Her skin became badly infected by scabies, which is an intense itching infection. Anne’s mom stopped eating, so she could give her food to Anne and Margot.
Then on October 28, Anne and Margot were sent to Bergen-Belsen. Edith Frank stayed back, and died later from starvation. Margot became severly ill, and people say she was weak and fell from her bunk, and died from the shock. A few days later, Anne died too. This happened just a few weeks before the camp was liberated by British troops. Anne and Margot were buring in a mass grave, and the whereabouts are unknown. Otto Frank survived at Auschwitz, and after the war he returned to Amsterdam. Miep Gies gave Otto Anne’s journal and other notes and papers she had kept. The diary was first published in Germany and France in 1950. Her life and diary has inspired many, many people.
Sources On Anne Frank:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Anne_Frank.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyceum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Heinrich_Frank
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bf/Otto_frank.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Anne-frank-grab.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scabies
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