The Franks were German Jews and were settled in Germany but in 1933 when Hitler came into power in Germany. The Franks moved out of the country and moved to Amsterdam where they believed they would be safe. But later on they received a call-up notice from the Nazis for Anne's sister Margot. In the notice letter it told the Franks that Margot should report to them ready to be sent to a work camp somewhere in Germany. But Anne's dad, Otto, decided to not send Margot but going into hiding. Anne and her family hid in her fathers business building in the center of Amsterdam. Otto had been secretly furnishing the warehouse creating a small annex flat.
But after 2 years of hiding the annex was discovered by the Nazis. The officers arrested everyone inside and they were taken away and made to leave behind their belongings. They were imprisoned in the Netherlands but after a few weeks the Franks were bundled into a windowless compartment of a train headed to Poland. Because the Franks had been hiding for such a long time were in decent health so all 4 were admitted to work in the camp. Otto was separated from his wife and the girls, he was sent to a different part of the camp and that would be the last time he would ever see them.
Anne and Margot were later on forced to leave their mother and were sent on a train to Bergen Belsen concentration camp. Anne and her sister after days in the concentration camp died. Only Otto, Anne's dad, survived the concentration camps.
This is very interesting because I don't remember learning about her. It is very scary to think about the fact that teens couldn't really live their life normally like we are now. Just thinking about the fact that this isn't happening to us now which is a relief because if I were to be hiding it would be something very uncomfortable for me. Even though the family moved they ended up getting arrested so basically no matter how much they would hide and move at the end they were still caught which is kind of sad be cause of all the hard work they were doing to try and keep save.
ReplyDeleteI think Anne Frank provides an interesting perspective on the Holocaust, and what it was like to be a Jewish person living in Europe during World War II. I feel like there aren't many records of young peoples experiences in concentration camps or in hiding during the war. I think it is interesting that only her father survived, and I wonder if he helped found his daughter's writing or promoted his family's story once he was out of the concentration camp.
ReplyDeleteI remember learning about this freshman year and it was shocking to me because they had to hide their family up in the attic for like 2 years and had to have other people hiding too because of the nazi's. They were living in fear and people should never live like that
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting because for most people, they did not have time to "plan" a hiding spot. When Nazi's rushed into Germany lots of Jews were unaware of the circumstances they would be put in, so they just followed with orders. However, Otto was smart and knew that conditions in a work camp would be hard and vicious. Planning a hiding spot and being successful for 2 years is very impressive, whereas most people in concentration camps wouldn't be able to pull that off.
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