Anne Frank 1929-1945

Anne was the teenage author of a diary she wrote when hiding from the Nazis in a prepared secret annexe behind an Amsterdam warehouse. She was born in Frankfurt but her parents fled from Germany to Amsterdam in 1933. She received her entire education in Holland. In the summer of 1941, all public schools were closed to Jews under the German occupation and Anne was forced to attend the Jewish High School. The following year Jewish deportations from Holland began, under the guise of forced labour in the East, Anne's family decided to go into hiding in the "annexe" rooms at the back of the offices of Mr Frank's business premises on Prinsengracht Street. The Frank family remained in their hiding place from 9 July 1942 to 4 August 1944, together with four other Jews, kept alive with the help of their non-Jewish Dutch office workers. They were eventually betrayed and the Gestapo and Dutch police learned of their presence. The family was deported to Westerbork camp and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau. In November 1944 Anne arrived with her sister Margot in Bergen-Belsen, where she fell ill and died of typhus in March 1945.

Anne had hoped to become an author and in her hiding place had written several short stories as well as her diary. Immediately following the arrest of Anne's family, Miep, one of the Dutch office workers, found Anne's diary, which she kept, hoping to return it to Anne after the war. Anne's father Otto Frank survived the Holocaust and after he received confirmation that both Margot and Anne were dead, Miep handed him Anne's diary realising this was Anne's lasting legacy. Having read its pages, Otto Frank agonised over whether he should publish her private thoughts. He knew Anne had always wanted to be a writer and he consulted various people about his dilemma. He finally decided to find a publisher for the diary.

Anne Frank has become a famous name because of her poignant diary, which has been translated into many languages.

Anne Frank's diary describes the frightening period experienced by Anne, her family and friends in the annexe. It also expresses her hopes and aspirations for the future, which were never to be realised.

Text by Robert Wistrich in "Lessons of the Holocaust", produced by London Jewish Cultural Centreand HET, Second Edition 2000. The text is copyrighted to Robert S. Wistrich (1997). Thanks to the Anne Frank Trust.