Anne Frank Remembered Enrichment and Notes

For hundreds of years Christian Europe had regarded the Jews as the Christ -killers. At one time or another Jews had been driven out of almost every European country. The way they were treated in England in the thirteenth century is a typical example. In 1275 they were made to wear a yellow badge. o o

In Jews were hanged in the Tower of London. This deep prejudice against Jews was still strong in the twentieth century, especially in Germany, Poland, and Eastern Europe, where the Jewish population was very large. After the First World War, hundreds of Jews were blamed for the defeat in the War. Prejudice against the Jews grew during the economic depression which followed. Many Germans were poor and unemployed and wanted someone to blame. They turned on the Jews, many of whom were rich and successful in business. Jews were a SCAPEGOAT

Anti -Semitism This is the term given to political, social and economic agitation against Jews. In simple terms it means ‘Hatred of Jews.’ Aryan Race This was the name of what Hitler believed was the perfect race. These were people with full German blood, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Holocaust [hol-uh-kawst] –noun 1. a great or complete devastation or destruction, esp. by fire. 2. a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering. 3. (with the initial capital letter ) the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews and others they considered “inferior” in Nazi concentration camps during World War II (usually preceded by the). 4. any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

Between 1939 and 1945 six million Jews were murdered, along with hundreds of thousands of others, such as Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, homosexuals, and the mentally ill.

16 of the 44 children taken from a French orphanage. They were sent to a concentration camp and later to Auschwitz. ONLY 1 SURVIVED A group of children at a concentration camp in Poland.

After liberation, an Allied soldier displays a stash of gold wedding rings taken from victims at Buchenwald. Bales of hair shaven from women at Auschwitz, used to make felt-yarn.

“Until September 14, 1939, my life was typical of a young Jewish boy in that part of the world in that period of time. I lived in a Jewish community surrounded by gentiles. Aside from my immediate family, I had many relatives and knew all the town people, both Jews and gentiles. Almost two weeks after the outbreak of the war and shortly after my Bar Mitzvah, my world exploded. In the course of the next five and a half years, I lost my entire family and almost everyone I ever knew. Death, violence, and brutality became a daily occurrence in my life while I was still a young teenager.” Leonard Lerer, 1991 WHY?

The Diary of Anne Frank The infant Anne with her mother Edith

Margot and Anne

The People Anne, Mrs. Frank, and Margot

Anne Frank Anne Frank Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp in Germany within days of her sister, Margot, in February or March June 12, 1929—March 1945

Excerpt from Anne Frank's diary, October 10, 1942: "This is a photograph of me as I wish I looked all the time. Then I might still have a chance of getting to Hollywood. But now I am afraid I usually look quite different." Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Edith Frank January 16, 1900—January 6, 1945 She was left behind in Auschwitz when her daughters and Auguste van Pels were transferred to Bergen Belsen, as her health had started to deteriorate. Witnesses reported that her despair at being separated from her family led to an emotional breakdown. They described her searching for her daughters endlessly and said that she seemed to not understand that they had gone, although she had seen them board the train that took them out of the camp. They also said that she began to hoard what little food she could obtain, hiding it under her bunk to give to Anne and Margot when she saw them. They said that Edith Frank told them Anne and Margot needed the food more than she did, and therefore she refused to eat it. She died January 6, 1945, from starvation.

Margot Frank February 16, 1926—March 1945 Margot and Anne were transferred to Bergen-Belsen on October 30, where Margot contracted typhus and died at either the end of February or the beginning of March 1945 at the age of 19.

Anne Frank at age 11, two years before she will go into hiding.

The Frank House Where the Frank family lived before going into hiding.

The Opekta factory This is the front view of the factory Otto Frank owned. The secret annex was in the rear part of the building.

The bookcase

Inside the Annex

Layout of the Secret Annex

Another View of the layout

Anne’s Decorations

August van Pels (Mrs. Van Daan) Sept. 29, 1900—May 8, 1945 Both her date and place of death are unknown, but witnesses testified that she was with the Anne and Margot Frank during part of their time in Bergen-Belsen, but that she was not present when they died. She was probably transferred around March 1945, to Buchenwald, then to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she is believed to have died.

Hermann Van Pels (Mr. Van Daan ) March 31, 1898—Sept Mr. Van Daan died September 6, 1944, in Auschwitz. He was the only member of the group to be gassed. This occurred about three weeks after his arrival at Auschwitz, and his selection was witnessed by his son Peter and by Otto Frank.

Peter Van Pels (Peter van Daan) Nov. 8, 1926—May 5, 1945 Peter died in Mauthausen during a death march. Otto Frank had protected him during their period of imprisonment together, as they had been assigned to the same work group. Frank later said that he had urged Peter to hide in Auschwitz and remain behind with him, rather than set out on the march. Peter decided that he would have a better chance of survival if he joined the march. He survived the march, but died soon after, in the camp. His death at the age of eighteen occurred three days before the liberation of Mauthausen.

Fritz Pfeffer (Albert Dussel) April 30, 1889—Dec. 20, 1944 Mr. Dussel died December 20, 1944, in Neuengamme concentration camp. His wife was terribly upset with his portrayal in the diary as well as the movie, as was Miep, who described him as very kind.

Anne’s point of view Dr. Dussel’s wife was very upset at the unkind way Anne portrayed him. Anne and the others were in a high pressure situation, and Miep didn’t live there. Under intense emotional pressure, perhaps none of them were at their best.

Otto Frank May 12, 1889—August 19, 1980 He remained in Auschwitz with other sick prisoners and survived.

Miep Gies Feb. 15, present Miep Gies, white-haired, gentle and courageous, is now 100 years old and an inspiring evidence of human nobility.

Anne's Diary

“I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

“…it’s not easy being the badly brought-up center of attention of a family of nitpickers.” “…sometime I’ll treat others with the same contempt as they treated me…sounds childish, but wait till it happens to you!” Anne and Margot Frank in 1932

“I…feel like a songbird whose wings have been ripped off and who keeps hurling itself against the bars of its dark cage.” “I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young, and know that I’m free.”

“It’s twice as hard for us young people to hold on to our opinions at a time when ideals are being shattered and destroyed, when the worst side of human nature predominates, when everyone has come to doubt truth, justice, and God.”

“Leave me alone, let me have at least one night when I don’t cry myself to sleep with my eyes burning…all day long I hear nothing but what an exasperating child I am.”

“…many are waiting for death.”

“Oh, it’s hard to be strong and brave in every way.” The helpers, from left to right: Mr. Kleiman, Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, and Mr. Kugler.

“Enough for today… Yours, Anne M. Frank” August 4, 1944, between 10:00 and 10:30, they arrested the 8 people hiding in the Annex. Margo and Anne Frank were transported from Auschwitz at the end of October and brought to Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp near Hanover. The Typhus epidemic that broke out in the concentration camp in the winter of killed Margo and then a few days later, Anne. Her approximate date of death is between late February and early March. The bodies of both girls were probably dumped in the Bergen-Belsen’s mass graves. The camp was liberated by British troops on April 12, 1945.