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On a cool,
snowy day in February 1926 Otto and Edith Frank had their first daughter,
Margot. Around three years later on a
stifling hot day in June 1929 they had Anne their second on last daughter. The Franks lived a pretty good life up
until 1933. |
Margot
and Anne when
they were little. |
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In 1933 the
anti-Jewish National Socialist Party led by Hitler comes to power. Margot, Anne, Edith, and Otto go to the
Netherlands to escape Hitler in 1933.
Otto feels safe enough to start a business in Amsterdam. He called it Duteh Opekta Company. Anne and her family later join him. Anne
soon forgets all about Germany because she is having a very good time and has
a lot of friends. Hitler invades the Netherlands and all Jews have a curfew
and different rules. They have to
wear a star if they are six or older that separates them from other
people. They are treated like dogs. |
Edith Frank (Anne and Margot’s mother)
Otto Frank (Anne and Margot’s father) |
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To escape
Hitler again Margot and Edith move to Holland on December 5, 1933. In
February 1934 Anne joins them. On Anne’s thirteenth birthday in Holland she
receives a diary and for the next two years keeps track of her life in it. |
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On July 15,
1942 Margot receives a call-up notice to go work at so called “work
companies” the Franks decide it is time to make arrangements to go into
hiding. They ask a friend of theirs,
Miep Gies, if she will help them and Otto’s co-partner to hide. She replies with a yes. |
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Anne and her
family go into hiding on July 6, 1942.
They call it the secret annex.
It’s a room right above Otto’s office. The Franks’ are also joined by the van Daan family about a week
later. The spent 25 months in
hiding. |
Anne Frank |
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There is
nothing else to do so Anne writes in her diary. Miep Gies saved Anne’s diary after she was found and it’s now
published in 60 different languages.
Here are some entries from it: |
Anne’s diary |
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February 3, 1944 “ I’ve reached the point
where I don’t care whether I live or die.” |
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April 5, 1944 “ When I write I can
shake off all my cares.” |
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April 11, 1944 “ … The time will
come when we’ll be people again and not just Jews!” |
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About three
weeks before she was discovered she wrote: |
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July 15, 1944 “It is utterly impossible
for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering, and death. I see the world being slowly transformed
into a wilderness. I hear the
approaching thunder that one day will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of
millions. And somehow feel that
everything will change for the better, that peace and tranquility will return
once more. |
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She tried to
be positive as much as possible but it sometimes didn’t work. Anne’s last entry was on August 1,
1944. On August 4, 1944 the Frank’s,
Otto’s co-partner, and the van Daan’s were betrayed by someone on the street. |
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Anne Frank |
They were all
taken to Auschwitz. The adults stayed
there and Anne and Margot were taken to Bergen-Belsen. Edith died at Auschwitz in January 1945. on January 27, 1945 Auschwitz was
liberated. Otto is freed and goes to
see if his daughters are still alive.
By the time he arrives there Anne and Margot had died. They both died within hours of each
other. |
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Ashley
Ingwerson 7th
Social Studies Rossville Jr.
High Holocaust
Project Spring 2003 |