Anne Frank: biography, museum and diary

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Annelies Marie Frank, known as Anne Frank, was a German girl of Jewish origin, author of the book "The Anne Frank Diary".

The book tells the drama of the daily family life of eight people who had to hide from the German political police – Gestapo – because they were Jews.

Biography

Anne Frank at school in 1940

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929. Her parents were Germans of Jewish origin who lived in Frankfurt. The marriage already had another daughter, Margot.

Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, was an economist and worked as a commercial agent. He is described by his own daughter as a wealthy man who served in World War I as an officer in the German Army. The marriage to Edith Frank was arranged between the two families as was customary at the time.

Fleeing the anti-Semitic laws that came into force in Germany in 1933, the family went to the Netherlands to escape persecution.

Otto Frank gets a job as a sales representative for a jam factory and later becomes the company's director.

However, the situation worsened when Germany invaded Poland and England declared war on it.

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The Netherlands resisted, but was invaded by the Nazis who also introduced anti-Semitic laws in the occupied countries.

In this way, the father is removed from management because of the prohibition on Jews from being directors or presidents of a company.

In 1942, fearing Nazi repression, the family decided to move into a hideout that would be shared with four others.

Two years later, the Nazis discover the place and take them to different concentration camps. Her mother would starve, while Anne and her sister would die of typhus. Only her father, Otto Frank, survived.

Anne Frank House

Aspect of the entrance to the hiding place where Anne Frank lived

It was an annex in the office building where Otto Frank worked, the entrance to which was hidden by a bookcase.

There were rooms there, two bathrooms, and a very small attic. Everyone was supposed to be completely silent during the day, in order not to arouse suspicion among the company's employees.

On the weekend, the four people who knew of the existence of this secret, went to the hideout to bring them food and everyday objects.

In an excerpt from the book, she describes her daily life as follows:

Margot and Mom are nervous. ‘Shh... dad. Be quiet, Otto. Psst... Pim (*)! It's half past eight. You cannot continue with the tap running. Walk quietly. This is a sample of what Dad gets told in the bathroom.” When it's eight-thirty, he needs to be in the living room. No running water, no flushing the bathroom, no walking, no noise. While the office staff does not arrive, sounds travel more easily to the warehouse. (Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, August 23, 1943) *Pim = Anne Frank's father

Anne Frank's diary

Plot

Anne Frank describes the routine of family and companions in a very simple and moving way. The French lessons, the readings, the disagreements with her mother and sister. She remembers her life before the persecution and how she missed the lives they led before.

Likewise, he reflects on his transformations as a teenager and narrates the discovery of love, through Peter, one of the occupants of the house.

She is aware of the danger that surrounds her and knows what could happen to those who protected them. Therefore, it is a first-hand testimony by those who actually lived through the Nazi persecution in Holland.

She registers a moment of tension when they were almost surprised:

Steps in the house, in the private office, in the kitchen, and then... on ladder. All breathing sounds stopped, eight hearts beat. Footsteps on the stairs and then a noise on the bookshelf. This moment was indescribable. "Now we're lost," I said and had visions of us all being dragged that very night by the Gestapo. (Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, April 11, 1944)

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Characters

Otto Frank: married to Edith, father of Margot and Anne. survive the Holocaust and decides to publish the younger daughter's diaries. He died in 1980.
EdithFrank: wife of Otto Frank and mother of Margot and Anne. Dies in Auschwitz.
Margot Betti Frank: Sister of Anne. She also wrote a diary that was never found. She was separated from her mother when she was transferred along with Anne to the Bergen-Belsen camp. There she would die of typhus.
Hermann van Pels: Friend and partner of Otto Frank's company. Dies in Auschwitz.
Auguste van Pels-Rottgen: Herman's wife and Peter's mother. She dies in April or May 1945.
Peter van Pels: Son of Hermann and Auguste. Anne and Peter developed a great affection for each other. Peter died in the concentration camp at Mauthausen.
Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl: are Otto's co-workers. Both hid the two families and helped them with food. Miep Gies was responsible for finding Anne Frank's diaries and after the war she is dedicated to participating in the diary's dissemination. He died in 2010 and Bep in 1983.
Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman: helped to take care of hidden people. They died in 1981 and 1959, respectively.

Journal Publication

Copy of Anne Frank's Diary

When Otto Frank was able to return to Holland, Miep Gies gave him a series of writings, albums, photographs that belonged to his family. Among these objects was Anne's diary.

Despite hesitating whether or not to publish it, Otto Frank does so in 1947, in the Netherlands. The book would be successfully translated into several languages and was successful in Japan, where 100,000 copies of the first edition were sold.

It would later be adapted for theatre, film and television.

House-Museum

Thanks to Otto Frank's efforts, the family hideout became a museum. The building was almost demolished, but thanks to an association it opened as a museum in 1960.

It currently receives around one million visitors a year, making it the third most visited museum in the Netherlands.