Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a Jewish girl from Germany who became famous for maintaining a journal of her experiences during the Holocaust. To evade Nazi persecution, Anne and her family went into hiding for two years. The Diary of a Young Girl, a collection of her writings from the time, is now available.

Early Years of Anne Frank

Annelies Marie Frank was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on June 12, 1929. Otto and Edith Frank were her parents.Anne spent her first five years of life in an apartment on the outskirts of Frankfurt with her parents and older sister, Margot. Otto Frank escaped to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where he had business connections, after the Nazis came to power in 1933. The remainder of the Frank family arrived soon after, with Anne arriving last in February 1934 after residing with her grandparents in Aachen.

Margot and Anne Frank. (Margot and Anne Frank before their family fled to the Netherlands. Bad Aachen, Germany, October 1933.)

What Happened to the Jews in Amsterdam?

With the German conquest of Amsterdam, which began in May 1940, the destiny of the Frank family and other Jews in the city was sealed. The Germans began preparing to transport Jews from the Netherlands to death camps in the east in early 1942. They required that all Dutch Jews be concentrated in Amsterdam at the time.

They also agreed to send all non-Dutch Jews to the Westerbork transit camp for internment. German officials transferred Jews from Westerbork to the Auschwitz-Birkenau and Sobibor concentration camps in German-occupied Poland. On July 15, 1942, the first deportation transport left Westerbork for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many Jews in the Netherlands, notably the Franks, were worried by these deportations and the rising anti-Jewish policies.