Anne Frank in the World Exhibition
DIARY EXTRACTS
Life in Amsterdam after the Nazi Invasion
Anne writes on June 20th, 1942:
“After May 1940 good times rapidly fled; first the war, then the
capitulation, followed by the arrival of the Germans, which is when the
suffering of us Jews really began. Anti-Jewish decrees followed each
other in quick succession.
Jews must wear a Jewish star, Jews must hand in their bicycles, and
Jews are banned from trains and forbidden to drive. Jews are only
allowed to do their shopping between 3 and 5 o’clock and then only in
shops which bear the placard ‘Jewish shop.’ Jews must be indoors by
8 o’clock and cannot even sit in the gardens after that hour. Jews are
forbidden to visit theatres, cinemas and other places of entertainment.
Jews may not take part in public sports. Swimming baths, tennis
courts, hockey fields and other sports grounds are all prohibited to
them.
Jews may not visit Christians. Jews must go to Jewish schools, and
many more restrictions of a similar kind. So we could not do this and
were forbidden to do that. But life went on in spite of it all. Jopie said
to me, ‘I’m scared to do anything, because it may be forbidden.’ Our
freedom is strictly limited. Yet things were still bearable.”
Going into Hiding
Anne writes on July 8th 1942:
“Margot is sixteen; would they really take
girls of that age away alone? But thank
goodness she won’t go, Mummy said so
herself; that must be what Daddy meant
when he talked about us going into
hiding.”
That same night the Frank family decides to go into hiding. As much
as possible is quickly brought to the place of hiding on the
Prinsengracht.
“We put on heaps of clothes as if we were going to the North Pole, the
sole reason being to take clothes with us. No Jew in our situation
would have dreamed of going out with a suitcase full of clothing. I
had on two vests, 3 pairs of pants, a dress, on top of that a skirt,
jacket, summer coat, two pairs of stockings, lace up shoes, wool cap,
and scarf and still more; I was nearly stifled before we started, but no
one inquired.”
Anne writes on July 8 1942:
“To go into hiding was dangerous. Jews in hiding who were found out
or betrayed were sent to a concentration camp immediately, and the
penalty for helping people was death.”
Anne’s father has informed some of his staff about his plans to go into
hiding and Miep and Elli offer to help him.
Arriving at the Secret Annexe
On arrival at the Annexe everything that has been brought
there over the previous months has to be unpacked and put
away. Anne finds this somewhat strange at first.
She writes on July 11 1942:
“I don’t think I shall ever really feel at home in this house, but that
does not mean that I loathe it here, it is more like being on vacation in
a very peculiar boarding house… The Secret Annexe is an ideal hiding
place. Although it leans to one side and is damp, you’d never find
such a comfortable hiding place anywhere in Amsterdam, not even in
the whole of Holland. Our little room perhaps looked very bare at first
with nothing on the walls: but thanks to Daddy who had brought my
film star collection and postcards beforehand and with aid of paste,
pot and brush, I have transformed the walls into one gigantic picture.”
Young and hopeful as she is, Anne nevertheless understands the
desperate situation her family is in. On July 11, 1942, she concludes
her diary entry with these words:
“I can’t tell you how oppressive it is never to be able to go out doors, I
am afraid we shall be discovered and be shot. That is not exactly a
pleasant prospect.”
A few days later Mr and Mrs Van Daan who, along with heir fourteen
year old son Peter, are also fleeing the Nazis and join the Franks in
hiding.
Collection of
postcards
News from Outside
Naturally the family has had little contact with the outside world and
are eager for news. On October 9, 1942, Anne writes in her diary:
“I’ve only dismal and depressive news for you today. Our many Jewish
friends are being taken away by the dozen. Theses people are treated
by the Gestapo without a shred of decency, being loaded into cattle
and trucks and sent to Westerbork, the big Jewish camp in Drenthe.
Westerbork sounds terrible: only one washing cubicle for a hundred
people and not nearly enough lavatories. If it is as bad as this in
Holland whatever will it be like in the distant and barbarous regions
they are sent to?
We assume that most of them are murdered. The English radio speaks
of their being gassed. Perhaps it is the quickest way to die. I feel
terribly upset. Miep told these dreadful stories and she herself was
equally wound up in the matter. Just recently for instance a poor old
crippled Jewess was sitting on her doorstep; she had been told to wait
there by the Gestapo, who had gone to fetch a car to take her away…
this however is not the end of the bad news. Have you ever heard of
hostages? That’s the latest thing in penalties for sabotage. Can you
imagine anything so dreadful?
Prominent citizens – innocent people – are thrown into prison to await
their fate. If the saboteur can’t be traced, the Gestapo simply puts
about five hostages against the wall. Announcements of the deaths
appear in the papers frequently.
More News
In November 1942 the Frank and Van Daan families hide another
person: Mr Dussel, a dentist, arrives, bringing with him more tragic
news:
“Dussel has told a lot about the outside world, which we have missed
for so long now. He had very sad news.
Countless friends and acquaintances have gone to a terrible fate.
Evening after evening the green and grey army trucks trundle past.
The Germans ring at every front door to inquire if any Jews live in the
house. If there are, the whole family has to go at once: if they don’t
find any, they go on to the next house. No one has a chance of
evading them unless one goes into hiding. Often they go around with
lists and only ring when they know they can get a haul. Sometimes
they let them off for cash, so much per head. It seems like the slave
hunts of old times.
But it is certainly no joke; it’s much too tragic for that. In the evenings
when it is dark, I often see rows of good, innocent people
accompanied by crying children walking on and on, in charge of a
couple of these chaps, bullied and knocked about until they almost
drop. No one is spared old people, babies, expectant mothers, the
sick, each and all join in the march of death.”
Life in Hiding
The families struggle to carry on as usual. For Anne, Margot and Peter
that means studying and doing homework. Miep and Elli, from the office
downstairs, borrow books from the library for them. The children read
French, history, biology and algebra, a subject which Anne dislikes. Studying
keeps them busy. It is imperative that no noise is made during business
hours when people are working in the offices downstairs. At night they can
move around more freely but there is still the constant fear of discovery.
The essentials of life are always a problem. All kinds of things such as food
and clothing are rationed. That meant in addition to money, special
coupons, called stamps, are required to make almost any purchase.
Everyone I entitled to a specific number of ration stamps, everyone, of
course, but those hiding from the Nazis. It is possible to buy food illegally
on the black market, but it is expensive and extremely dangerous.
One way to survive is to use stolen ration stamps. This requires friends in
the resistance to steal ration stamps buy the food and then smuggle it to
people in hiding. It is enormously risky and involves the possible discovery
and exposure of the resistance network. Still, it is necessary to maintain the
lives of everyone in hiding.
On March 14, 1944, Anne writes in her diary:
“The people from whom we obtained food coupons have been caught,
so we just have our five ration cards and no extra coupons, and no
fats. As both Miep and Koophius are ill, Elli hasn’t time to do any
shopping, so the atmosphere is dreary and dejected, and so is the
food. From tomorrow we shall not have a scrap of fat, butter or
margarine left. We can’t have fried potatoes (to save bread) for
breakfast any longer, so we have porridge instead, as Mrs Van Daan
thinks were starving, we have bought some full-cream milk
‘under the counter.‘ Our supper today consists of hash
made from kale which has been preserved in a barrel.
Hence the precautionary measure with the handkerchief.
It’s incredible how kale can stink when it’s a year old.
The smell in the room is a mixture of bad plums, strong
preservatives and rotten eggs.”
Anne Frank in the World Exhibition
Packing a Bag
Imagine that you had to hide out for a long time like the Franks.
Draw a plan of your own bedroom
Put in all the things you would need and want in the room to keep you
going for nearly two years.
Clothes
Necessities for health
Things to keep you amused
You’re most valued possessions
Relationships and Family Strength
Anne shared the secret Annexe with seven other people. Living so
closely with others day in and out and never being able to leave the
Annexe naturally led to tensions.
“Believe me, if you have been shut up for a year and a half it can get
too much for you some days. In spite of all justice and thankfulness
you can’t crush your feelings. Cycling, dancing, whistling, looking out
into the world, feeling young, to know that I am free – that’s what I
long for; still I mustn’t show it because sometimes I think that if all
eight of us began to pity ourselves, or went around with disconcerted
faces, where would it lead us?”
Anne’s Diary
Saturday 24th December 1943
Imagine being locked up for over a year and a half with either
your family or seven other people. Make a list of all the things
you would miss most.
Do you think that it was a sign of family strength for the Franks
to live under such conditions for a long period of time? What
would you do as soon as you were free?
Apart from your family, which other people would you most like
to be in hiding with?
What sort of problems with family relationships do you think
would be made worse by living so closely together?