Frank and Van Pelsen Families' Place of Hiding

Category: Genocide

The Holocaust is a term used to describe the systematic and deliberate extermination of nearly 6.5 million European Jews during World War II (1939-1945). After the Nazi party came to power under Adolph Hitler on January 30, 1933, the persecution of the Jews began almost immediately. Throughout the 1930s, the legal, economic, and social rights of Jews in Germany were increasingly restricted. In 1935, Hitler introduced the Nuremburg Laws, which denied the Jews German citizenship and stripped them of all civil liberties and rights. As a result of the Nuremburg Laws, the Gestapo began issuing letters of deportation to Jews across Germany. One of these deportation notices was delivered to Margot Frank, sister of Anne Frank. When the family received word of the notice, they made the decision to go into hiding. After leaving their homes, the Frank and Van Pelsen families went into hiding in a secret annex above the Opetka Offices in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Frank family--Anne, 13; her sister Margot, 16; her father Otto, 53; and her mother, 42-- arrived at the offices on November 6, 1942, and the Van Pels family joined them on November 13, 1942. During the duration of their stay in the annex, they were assisted by Miep and Jan Gies--employees at the offices. It was here that Anne wrote about her relationships the others in hiding in her diary, which was later published. Despite the confinement of the annex, Anne remained optimistic and hopeful--qualities which have made her an "inspiration" to readers of her diary. She wrote in her diary regularly until her final entry on August 1, 1944. After two years spent in hiding, the location of the annex was disclosed to German police by an unknown informant. On August 4, 1944, the annex was stormed by members of the German Security Police, and all members of the Van Pels and Frank families were arrested. The police, led by Schutzstaffel Oberscharführer Karl Silberbauer, then took the families to the Gestapo headquarters where they were detained and questioned. On August 6, the families were transported to Westerbork--a detainment camp. Although Miep and Jan Gies were detained and threatened for their assistance in hiding the families, they were ultimately released.