One of the most famous diaries in the world is the diary of Anne Frank. In this diary she describes her life during the years she was in hiding in Amsterdam. You can see the diary and the hiding place in the Anne Frank House.
Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in the German city of Frankfurt am Main. In 1933 she moved to Amsterdam with her parents Otto and Edith and her sister Margot. Here her father starts a company that trades in pectin.
On May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany invades the Netherlands. The Germans are introducing more and more rules that make the lives of Jews more difficult. In the summer of 1942, Otto Frank decides to go into hiding with his family in a specially equipped hiding place in the back of his business premises on Prinsengracht, now known as the Anne Frank House. Later they are joined by the Pels family and Fritz Pfeffe, a friend of the family.
In August 1944, the Nazis discover the hideout and arrest everyone. Anne and her family are deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Anne, Margot and their mother go to the women's labor camp, father Otto goes to a men's camp. In November Anne and Margot are put back on the train and deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Conditions in the camp are terribly bad. There is almost no food, it is cold and wet and there are all kinds of diseases. Anne and Margot died shortly after each other in February 1945 of typhus.
Just before Anne Frank and her family go into hiding, Anne receives a diary for her birthday. In this diary she describes life in their hiding place. After the arrest of the people in hiding, the diary is taken and secured by the family's helpers. When Otto Frank returns to Amsterdam as the only survivor of the family, he is given the diary to read. He is deeply impressed and decides to publish the diary. On June 25, 1947, the first edition of Het Achterhuis is published.
The secret annex where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding is now a museum: the Anne Frank House. The history of the Second World War is presented in an interactive way in the museum. You can visit the work rooms of Otto Frank and his colleagues, where personal belongings and documents are on display. You enter the Achterhuis through the secret passage behind a bookcase. In this part of the Anne Frank House, everything is still as it was when Anne was in hiding. Her posters are even still hanging on the walls.
Would you like to visit the Anne Frank House and learn more about the occupation and the persecution of the Jews in Amsterdam? Then book a local private guide from Aroundfriends.