This is the book that I bought in the Anne Frank house shop. the book was published in 2004 and the website for the house is http://www.annefrank.nl/.
The family went into hiding on July 5, 1942, the day after Anne's older sister Margot received a notice to report for work in Germany. Otto Frank worked for a company that made products for making jams and jellies. He and his wife had prepared a secret hiding place in the back of the building and on the upper levels of the building where his company was housed. They also planned to hide Hermann and Auguste van Pels and their son Peter. This family was also Jewish, and Hermann was also a director in the company. Miep Gies, who worked in the company, her husband Jan, and Johannes Kleiman, who also worked for the company, were in on the plan for the family to hide.
In the picture, you can tell that there are numbers on the 4 windows of one building. This is the rear of the company building. The window on the lower left was originally the room for Anne and Margot, but later housed Anne and Fritz Pfeffer with Margot moving into her parents' room. The window on the lower right was in Otto and Edith Frank's bedroom. The windows on the top floor were the van Pelses' bedroom windows. All the windows were covered constantly so that no light seeped out and no one could see movement inside.
The warehouse was on the ground floor with the kitchen belonging to the business on the left and Otto Frank's private office on the right. The people in hiding only went there once all the workers had gone home.
The Secret Annexe was completely refurnished for a film a few years ago, and these photos were of the rooms as set for that occasion. When Sandi and I saw them, they were empty except for photos, video clips, and so forth. I had not remembered from reading the diary years ago that there were several rooms involved, and that this entire level of rooms had been hidden behind a big bookcase.
This room was Otto and Edith Frank's room. Once Fritz Pfeffer (a family friend) moved in in November, Margo also slept here.
Anne's room, first shared with Margot and later with Fritz. She decorated with cutouts of movie stars from magazines.
The washroom. The people in hiding talked in whispers, tried not to use the toilet or run water when there were workers in the company below, and basically were "like mice".
The communal living and dining room
Peter's room---the only person with a room of his own. I don't quite understand why Peter and Fritz didn't share a room rather than having Anne share with Fritz....
The attic, mainly used for storing food such as beans and potatos
Otto Frank showing the Auschwitz tattoo on his arm
Otto Frank with the helpers in one of the offices right after the war. Left to right: Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Otto Frank, Victor Kugler and Bep Voskuijl
The hiding group was safe until August 4, 1944, when police raided based on a phone call to the German police that there were Jews hiding in the building. Whoever betrayed the group was never found out. On August 8, these 8 Jews were taken to Westerbork, a transit camp for Jews. On September 2, 1944, the 8 were in a group of 1,000 people who left by train, very overcrowded, to Auschwitz. Hermann van Pels bruised his thumb one day, couldn't work, and was killed in a gas chamber as a result. Fritz Pfeffer died in December in another camp. Anne and Margot were taken to Bergen-Belsen because they were deemed as fit enough to work. Edith Frank died of exhaustion in Auschwitz in January, 1945. Peter died in Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria in May of 1945. Margot and Anne both got typhus, spread by lice. They were lying right next to the door with an icy wind blowing over them They both died in March of 1945, with Anne dying 1 day after Margot. Bergen-Belsen was liberated on April 15, 1945.
Otto Frank, the only one of the 8 to survive, spent 4 months traveling from Auschwitz to Amsterdam because he had to detour around fighting. On June 3, 1945, he finally arrived in Amsterdam, hoping and expecting to find his daughters there. He found out from 2 sisters who knew the Frank sisters and who had been in Bergen-Belsen with them, that both Frank girls had died. It took him 3 days to gather the strength to tell the rest of his family. Miep Gies had found and kept Anne's diary and gave it to him. His friends convinced him that he should publish Anne's diary, partially because she had written "You've known for a long time that my greatest wish is to be a journalist, and later on, a famous writer....In any case, after the war, I'd like to publish a book called The Secret Annexe." Initially he could not find a publisher. However, Jan Romein, a well-known historian, read the diary and wrote an article about it in a Dutch Newspaper. Several publishers then approached Otto Frank and the book was published two years later.
Otto Frank in the attic of Anne Frank House, a few hours before it was officially opened in 1960.
Actually going through these rooms was very sobering. To think of 8 people living inside, unable to breathe fresh air or to see outside, being as quiet as possible during the long days, makes me wonder how they kept their sanity. After all of this, to end up being betrayed and all but one losing their lives entirely, is so sad. I admire their ingenuity, the loyalty of the company people who helped them with food and clothing, and their perseverance. I particularly cannot imagine being Otto Frank, knowing he was the only one to survive, dealing with such horrible personal loss, and then trying to determine what to do with his daughter's words left behind.
Not to detract from the story, but the odd twist to this whole tour was that Brandi visited the house inside her travel kennel, never said a word, and is probably the only dog to have ever toured the Secret Annexe. I truly believe that no one knew she was in the bag I was carrying.
0 comments:
Post a Comment