Anne Frank – Historical People

Famous for writing a diary about her holocaust experience
Born – 12th June 1929
Parents – Edith and Otto Frank
Siblings – Margo
Married – No
Children – No
Died – March 1945 in Bergen-Belsen from Typhus

Annelies Marie Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany in June 1929. Her parents, Otto and Edith Frank were Jewish.

When Hitler came to power in 1933 and began persecuting Jewish people, Otto decided to move his family to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

When the Nazis invaded and occupied the Netherlands in May 1940 the Franks became subject to anti-Jewish laws and persecution. The family were forced to wear yellow star armband, were forbidden from using public transport and going to the cinema and the girls had to leave their school and attend a Jewish school.

In 1942 Anne was given an autograph book with a red-check cover for her birthday. She decided to use the book as a diary and addressed the diary as ‘dear Kitty’.

Shortly afterwards Anne’s elder sister Margot received papers ordering her to report for relocation to a labour camp. Otto wasted no time and moved the family to a ‘secret annexe’ at the back of one of his business properties. He put word about that the family were going away for a while. They were joined in the annexe by the van Pels family and a dentist Fritz Pfeffer.

Life in the annexe was tough, they had to remain virtually silent during the day, not even able to flush the toilet for fear of being discovered. They also were reliant on friends to bring them supplies. Anne recorded details of their lives of secrecy in her diary and in doing so decided that she would like to be a writer. Sometimes in the evenings they were able to go down to the factory and listen to the radio.

In 1944 the annexe was raided by the Nazis. It is believed that an informer told the Germans that the families were hiding there. They were all sent to concentration camps. Edith Frank was sent to Auschwitz and died of starvation. Anne and Margot were sent to Bergen Belsen where they both died of typhus. Otto Frank survived and on his return to Amsterdam was given Anne’s diary.

He had the diary published in 1947. The book remains a bestseller to this day.