The Secret Annex

By ashj2021

  • Otto

    When Holand was invaded by Germany, Jews were no longer allowed to own businesses. Frank was forced to appoint his Dutch colleagues as the official owners of his companies and couldn't continue to own his own business. Otto and his family then went into hiding in a secret annex right above his office.

  • Camps

    The first Jews were being moved to extermination camps in Poland. The Nazis’ purpose in building these camps was to carry out the systematic murder of European Jewry as part of the Final Solution. Permanent gas chambers were constructed in these camps. No selections were performed in these camps.

  • Anne's Birthday

    For her 13th birthday, Anne received a red checked diary. It wasn't really a surprise because she had picked it out the day before in a bookshop. She began her diary with her life story. A few weeks after her thirteenth birthday, on July 6, 1942, Anne went into hiding in the secret annex. Her diary was the first thing she packed. It became her best friend and would remain so for over two years.

  • Being Caught

    The people in the secret annex were found and arrested. They were then transported to the Auschwitz concentration camps in Poland in September. Anne and her sister, Margot, were transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany a month later.

  • Margot and Anne's Deaths

    Margot and Anne were transferred to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on October 30, where both contracted typhus in the winter of 1944. Margot Frank died sometime in February 1945 at the age of 19 due to typhus. A few days later, Anne died due to the same illness.

  • Edith's Death

    Edith Frank falls severely ill, developed a high fever, and ended up in the sick barracks. After a while, Edith was only a shadow. She later died, completely exhausted. She died three weeks before the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

  • Hermann's Death

    Hermann Van Pels became incapable of doing hard work and he gets gassed. These evacuations are called "death marches" because so many prisoners die from exhaustion or are shot by the guards. Hermann arrived at Mauthausen concentration camp on January 25, 1945 and died there on May 10, 1945.

  • Peter's Death

    Peter felt that he had a good chance of surviving the death march because he was reasonably fit. After a difficult journey, Peter and other prisoners arrived at the Mauthausen concentration camp. Peter fell ill and ended up in the sick barracks. He died a little later.

  • Finding Anne's Diary

    Otto Frank receives a letter informing him that his daughters died at Bergen-Belsen. Miep gives Anne's diary to Otto. She found and hid the diary after the Franks' arrest and had been hoping to return it to Anne.

  • Otto's Death

    Otto survived and later remarried. They moved to Switzerland to live out the rest of their years. Otto later died in Basel, Switzerland of lung cancer.