Anne Frank

Anne Frank's biography

Anne Frank was born in 1929 in Annelies to Edith and Otto Frank. Both of Frank's parents were 'liberal Jews', meaning that while they practised the Jewish faith, they did not observe all of Judaism's customs. Frank lived in Frankfurt up until 1933, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party won Germany's election. That year, Frank moved with her family to Amsterdam, where her father began working at Opekta Works.

In 1939, Frank's grandmother left Germany and moved to Amsterdam to live with Anne Frank and her family. In 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, extending their persecution of Jewish people to Amsterdam, where the Franks lived. Anne Frank's father, Otto, applied for a visa to allow the family to emigrate to the United States. However, the application was never processed.

When the Franks first moved to Amsterdam, Anne Frank attended the 6th Montessori School; however, in September 1941, she began attending the Jewish Lyceum. Frank did not move to this school by choice, she was forced to as the Nazi regime instated laws that segregated Jewish people from the rest of the Netherlands' population.

On June 12th 1942, on her thirteenth birthday, Frank received an autograph book which she decided to use as a diary. It was in this diary that Frank began to record her experience of the Holocaust and life in Amsterdam under Nazi occupation.

In July 1942, Frank and her family went into hiding as the Nazi regime began systematically deporting Jewish people from the Netherlands, sending them to work camps. Anne Frank hid above the Opekta offices near the Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam. she named her hiding place the 'Achterhuis' (Secret Annex).

The Frank family were joined by the Van Pels in their 'hidden Annex' on July 13th 1942, seven days after they arrived. The family were later joined by Fritz Pfeffer in November of that year.

On August 4th, 1944, the Franks, Van Pels, and Pfeffer were discovered by the German Police and taken to the Reich Security Main Office headquarters. After being held and interrogated overnight, they were transferred to a prison before being taken to the Westerbork transit camp.

On September 4th, 1944, the Frank family was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they arrived three days later. Once the Franks arrived at the camp, Otto Frank, was split up from Anne, her sister, and her mother. Anne Frank and her family were all deemed 'fit for labour' and were sent to work. However, 549 of those who arrived at Auschwitz with the Franks were immediately killed in gas chambers.

Frank became infected with scabies shortly after her arrival. Due to this, she was prohibited from joining a transport to the Liebau labour camp in October 1944. Frank's mother and sister chose to stay with her at Auschwitz. Later that month, Anne and her sister Margot were relocated to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Frank's mother was not selected to join them and died at Auschwitz.

Anne Frank's death

In 1945, 17,000 prisoners died at Bergen-Belsen following a typhus epidemic. It is likely that this is what caused Frank's death. Both Anne Frank and her sister Margot died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The exact date of Frank's death is unknown. It is commonly stated that Frank died a few weeks before the camp was liberated by British soldiers on April 15th 1945. However, recent research suggests that she could have died in February of that year. This research argues an earlier date of death based on witness accounts of Frank displaying typhus symptoms in early February and reports from the Dutch health authorities stating that the majority of typhus victims die within 12 days of symptoms if left untreated.¹

Anne Frank: diary

In 1947, Anne Frank's father published a copy of her diary, now known as The Diary of Anne Frank (1947). Let's take a look into the story behind the publication of Anne Frank's diary.

Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, survived his internment at Auschwitz. He learned of his wife's death soon after the camp was liberated. However, Otto Frank continued to search for evidence of Margot and Anne's survival for several weeks.

After the deaths of Anne and Margot Frank were confirmed by Janny and Lien Brilleslijper, who knew the sisters in Bergen-Belsen, Miep Gies gave Otto Frank Anne's diary. In his own memoir, Otto Frank commented on his experience of reading Anne's diary, writing;

Although Anne Frank's diary was initially intended to be private, she later recorded her wishes of wanting to publish her work after World War Two ended. From March 1944, Anne began to edit her diary as well as write in it. Frank removed and rewrote various sections of her diary based on the end goal of publication.

After discovering her diary, Otto decided to publish it himself. The published version of Anne Frank's diary was made up of her original diary and her edited version. At first, Otto worked with historian Annie Romein-Verschoor to have the diary published; however, they were unsuccessful. Annie later gave the diary to her husband, Jan Romein. Romein wrote an article on the diary called 'Kinderstem' ('A Child's Voice'), which was published on April 3rd 1946. This article gained attention from publishers, leading to Anne Frank's diary being published in 1947 under the name Het Achterhuis (The Annex).

In 1952, Frank's diary was published in America for the first time, now under the name: Anne Frank: The Dairy of a Young Girl.

Anne Frank facts

Now that we've learned about Anne Frank's life, death, and work, let's take a look at some additional interesting facts about her:

1. Anne Frank named her diary 'Kitty'

Frank's naming of her diary was inspired by a character from the Joop ter Heul novels (1918-1925) by Cissy van Marxveldt.

2. Frank gave the people in her diary pseudonyms

After Frank decided she wanted to publish her diary, she gave the people discussed in her writing pseudonyms. For instance, the Van Pels family were named the Van Danns.

3. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the introduction to Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (1952)

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, wrote the introduction to the 1952 American first edition of Anne Frank's diary. Roosevelt stated that the diary was 'one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings' that she had ever read.

4. Anne Frank's diary inspired later plays and films

In 1955 a play based on Frank's diary, written by American dramatists Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, premiered in New York. This play won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Later, Frank's diary took the form of a film titled The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).

5. President John F. Kennedy is one of the many figures to have paid respect to Anne Frank

President John F. Kennedy paid tribute to Anne Frank in September 1962, when American Secretary of Labor, Arthur Goldberg, was sent on behalf of Kennedy to place a wreath at the Frank family's place of hiding. In the speech, Kennedy stated that;

6. Frank was named as one of Time's 'Most Important People of the Century'

In Time magazine's June 1999 edition titled 'Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, ' Frank was listed as one of Time's 'Heroes & Icons'. In his article on Frank, Roger Rosenblatt highlighted her literary ability;

8. Multiple edits were made to Anne Frank's diary

Before Anne Frank's diary was published, it underwent multiple edits. The first set of edits were made by Anne Frank herself. The second set were made by her father after he decided to publish Anne Frank's work.

A 'scientific' edition of Anne Frank's diary entries was published in 1986. This edition showed Anne Frank's original diary, her edited version, and her father's version on the same page.

Anne Frank quotes

Let's take a look at some memorable quotes from The Diary of Anne Frank.

The Diary of Anne Frank, 'Saturday, June 20, 1942'

In one of her early diary entries, Frank commented on the experience of recording her thoughts and everyday life in her diary, stating that no one would be interested in her musings. Looking at this quote with foresight, there is a sense of irony, as Frank's 'musings' have become known across the world. Many people today are interested in her work, with it being featured on multiple school syllabuses as a key text in Holocaust education.

The Diary of Anne Frank, 'Saturday, June 20, 1942'

In the same entry as the above quote, Frank discussed how her life had changed following the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, the beginning of World War Two, and the eventual Nazi occupation of The Netherlands. Frank highlighted the many laws instated by the Nazi regime which limited the freedom and rights of Jewish people.

The Diary of Anne Frank, 'Tuesday, June 13, 1944'

As Frank matured, her writing began to consider important social, political, and philosophical issues. In the quote below, at age fifteen, Frank considers the issue of women's rights and the need for equality between the genders, writing;

In this section of her writing, Frank considers the causes of inequality, of 'why women have been, and still are, thought to be so inferior'. One such cause Frank suggests is men dominating 'women from the very beginning because of their greater physical strength', and women going 'along with this until recently'.

The Diary of Anne Frank, 'Saturday, July 15, 1944'

In one of her last diary entries before her capture on August 4th 1944, Frank wrote;

Despite spending over two years in hiding and living during a World War and the Holocaust, Anne Frank tried to hold on to faith in people and their goodness.