{"id":396124423,"image":null,"url":"https://research.annefrank.org/en/onderwerpen/3684c3f2-ba86-43cb-a9ed-73e6ec6c6189/","published":true,"uuid":"3684c3f2-ba86-43cb-a9ed-73e6ec6c6189","name":"Auschwitz-Birkenau: the women in the Durchgangslager","name_nl":"Auschwitz-Birkenau: de vrouwen in het Durchgangslager","name_en":"Auschwitz-Birkenau: the women in the Durchgangslager","description":"
Little is known about the time in Auschwitz of the women from the Secret Annex. The camp records are almost entirely lost. What we do know comes from various witnesses who stayed with Anne, Margot, Edith Frank and Auguste van Pels in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
\r\n\r\nBloeme Emden and Lenie de Jong-van Naarden formed a close-knit group in Auschwitz-Birkenau along with a dozen other Dutch women. They also had contact there with Anne, Margot and Edith. According to Bloeme, Anne, Margot and Edith formed an 'inseparable trinity'.[1] In hut 29, Anne, Margot and Edith were said to have shared a bed together.[2] Auguste van Pels also stayed in hut 29, but little is known about her stay there.
\r\n\r\nHow long the women were in the quarantine hut, we do not know. Indeed, according to witnesses, Anne and Margot ended up in the Krätzeblock: the hut for scabies sufferers and other sick people. Lenie de Jong-van Naarden remembered that it was actually Margot who had to be admitted, but that Anne wanted to stay with her sister and therefore went with her.[3] Conditions in the scabies hut were appalling and many sick people were abandoned to their fate there. To help her daughters in the Krätzeblock, Edith Frank, together with Rebbeca Brommet-Ritmeester (the mother of Frieda Brommet, who was also in the scabies hut) and Lenie de Jong-van Naarden, dug a hole somewhere along the side of the hut to give food to the children.[4]
\r\n\r\nIn addition, Rebbeca Brommet-Ritmeester and Edith Frank were said to have hidden in order to avoid being taken on a transport and thus continue to care for their children. Frieda Brommet recalled:
\r\n\r\n'They dug a hole together. (...) and one day my mother came and she could also speak through that hole, and she said, she would shout, 'Frieda! Frieda!' [...] And said: 'Mrs Frank and I are the only ones here in the camp now. We have been hiding because the group has gone on transport. But we hid because we wanted to stay with you. And we stole some bread and I am giving it to you now through the hole and you have to share it between the four of you.' And that four was with Margot and Anne.'[5]\r\n\r\n
When Anne and Margot were discharged from the scabies hut is unclear. What we do know is that Anne, Margot and Auguste were selected for work in Bergen-Belsen on the evening of 30 October 1944.
\r\n\r\nRosa de Winter-Levy was also in hut 29 with the Frank women. She wrote about her friendship with Edith Frank and her daughters in her book Escaped the Gas Chamber! in August 1945. She later recounted the selection of Anne and Margot in an interview with Ernst Schnabel:
\r\n\r\n'Again Blocksperre, but this time we had to wait naked on the roll call court, and it took a very long time (...) And then it was the two girls' turn: Anne and Margot. And Anne stood with her face even still under the spotlight and nudged Margot. And Margot stood upright in the light and there they stood for a moment. Naked and bare. And Anne looked at us with her bright face as she stood upright, and then they went. What happened behind the spotlight could no longer be seen. And Mrs Frank screamed, "The children! Oh God..."'[6]\r\n\r\n
The more than a thousand selected women were locked in a hut until the transport left on 1 November 1944. The women who had not been selected, such as Rosa de Winter-Levy and Edith Frank, were locked in a hut in the B-Lager and transferred two days later to the A-Lager - the part where the infirmary huts were located - obviously to be murdered soon. Several selections for transport followed, which Edith and Rosa did not pass, but with the help of the Blockälteste they managed to escape gassing.[7]
\r\n\r\nHowever, it was not long until Edith Frank was so ill that she was admitted to the infirmary hut. Some time later, Rosa also became so ill that she was put in the Durchfallblock (for diarhoea sufferers). One day there, she saw Edith Frank being brought into her hut. 'One morning new patients came in. Suddenly I recognise Edith, she comes from another ward. She is just a ghost. A few days later she dies, totally exhausted.'[8]
\r\n\r\nOver het verblijf van de vrouwelijke onderduikers in Auschwitz is weinig bekend. De kampadministratie is bijna geheel verloren gegaan. Wat we wel weten is afkomstig van verschillende getuigen die samen met Anne, Margot, Edith Frank en Auguste van Pels in Auschwitz-Birkenau verbleven.
\r\n\r\nBloeme Emden en Lenie de Jong-van Naarden vormden samen met een tiental andere Nederlandse vrouwen een hecht groepje in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ook hadden ze daar contact met Anne, Margot en Edith. Volgens Bloeme vormden Anne, Margot en Edith een ‘onafscheidelijke drie-eenheid’.[1] In barak 29 zouden Anne, Margot en Edith samen een bed hebben gedeeld.[2] Ook Auguste van Pels verbleef in barak 29, maar over haar verblijf daar is weinig bekend.
\r\n\r\nHoe lang de vrouwen in de quarantainebarak zaten, weten we niet. Volgens getuigenissen kwamen Anne en Margot namelijk in het Krätzeblock terecht: de barak voor schurftlijders en andere zieken. Lenie de Jong-van Naarden herinnerde zich dat het eigenlijk Margot was die moest worden opgenomen, maar dat Anne bij haar zus wilde blijven en daarom met haar meeging.[3] De omstandigheden in de schurftbarak waren erbarmelijk en veel zieken werden aan hun lot overgelaten. Om haar dochters in het Krätzeblock te helpen groef Edith Frank samen met Rebbeca Brommet-Ritmeester (de moeder van Frieda Brommet, die ook in de schurftbarak lag) en Lenie de Jong-van Naarden, ergens aan de zijkant van de barak een gat om eten aan de kinderen te geven.[4]
\r\n\r\nBovendien zouden Rebbeca Brommet-Ritmeester en Edith Frank zich hebben verstopt om niet mee te hoeven op transport en zo voor hun kinderen te kunnen blijven zorgen. Frieda Brommet herinnerde zich:
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n'Ze hebben samen een gat gegraven. (…) en op een dag kwam mijn moeder en die kon ook spreken door dat gat, en die zei, die riep dan: ‘Frieda! Frieda!’ […] En zei: ‘Mevrouw Frank en ik zijn de enigen die nu hier in het kamp zijn. We hebben ons verstopt want de groep is op transport gegaan. Maar wij hebben ons verstopt, want we wilden bij jullie blijven. En we hebben wat brood gestolen en dat geef ik nu aan door het gat en dat moeten jullie maar met z’n vieren delen.’ En met z’n vieren was met Margot en Anne.'[5]
\r\n
Wanneer Anne en Margot weer uit de schurftbarak kwamen is onduidelijk. Wat we wel weten is dat Anne, Margot en Auguste op de avond van 30 oktober 1944 geselecteerd werden voor tewerkstelling in Bergen-Belsen.
\r\n\r\nOok Rosa de Winter-Levy zat met de vrouwen Frank in barak 29. Ze schreef in augustus 1945 in haar boek Aan de gaskamer ontsnapt! over haar vriendschap met Edith Frank en haar dochters. Later vertelde ze in een interview met Ernst Schnabel over de selectie van Anne en Margot:
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n'Opnieuw Blocksperre, maar ditmaal moesten we naakt op de appelplaats wachten, en het duurde heel lang. (…) En toen kwamen de beide meisjes aan de beurt: Anne en Margot. En Anne stond met haar gezicht zelfs nog onder de schijnwerper en stootte Margot aan. En Margot ging rechtop in het licht staan en daar stonden ze een ogenblik. Naakt en kaal. En Anne keek naar ons met haar heldere gezicht, terwijl ze rechtop stond, en toen gingen ze. Wat achter de schijnwerper gebeurde was niet meer te zien. En mevrouw Frank schreeuwde: "De kinderen! O God..."’[6]
\r\n
De meer dan duizend geselecteerde vrouwen werden in een barak opgesloten totdat het transport op 1 november 1944 vertrok. De niet-geselecteerde vrouwen, zoals Rosa de Winter-Levy en Edith Frank, werden opgesloten in een barak in het B-Lager en twee dagen later overgebracht naar het A-Lager – het deel waar de ziekenbarakken stonden – duidelijk om binnenkort te worden vermoord. Er volgenden verschillende selecties voor transport, waar Edith en Rosa niet doorheen kwamen, maar met behulp van de Blockälteste wisten ze aan vergassing te ontkomen.[7]
\r\n\r\nHet duurde echter niet lang tot Edith Frank zo ziek was dat ze in de ziekenbarak werd opgenomen. Enige tijd later werd ook Rosa zo ziek dat ze in het Durchfallblock (voor diareepatienten) terecht kwam. Op een dag zag zij daar hoe Edith Frank haar barak werd binnengebracht. ‘Op een morgen komen nieuwe patiënten binnen. Ineens herken ik Edith, zij komt uit een andere ziekenafdeling. Zij is nog maar een schim. Enkele dagen nadien sterft zij, totaal uitgeput.’[8]
\r\n\r\nLittle is known about the time in Auschwitz of the women from the Secret Annex. The camp records are almost entirely lost. What we do know comes from various witnesses who stayed with Anne, Margot, Edith Frank and Auguste van Pels in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
\r\n\r\nBloeme Emden and Lenie de Jong-van Naarden formed a close-knit group in Auschwitz-Birkenau along with a dozen other Dutch women. They also had contact there with Anne, Margot and Edith. According to Bloeme, Anne, Margot and Edith formed an 'inseparable trinity'.[1] In hut 29, Anne, Margot and Edith were said to have shared a bed together.[2] Auguste van Pels also stayed in hut 29, but little is known about her stay there.
\r\n\r\nHow long the women were in the quarantine hut, we do not know. Indeed, according to witnesses, Anne and Margot ended up in the Krätzeblock: the hut for scabies sufferers and other sick people. Lenie de Jong-van Naarden remembered that it was actually Margot who had to be admitted, but that Anne wanted to stay with her sister and therefore went with her.[3] Conditions in the scabies hut were appalling and many sick people were abandoned to their fate there. To help her daughters in the Krätzeblock, Edith Frank, together with Rebbeca Brommet-Ritmeester (the mother of Frieda Brommet, who was also in the scabies hut) and Lenie de Jong-van Naarden, dug a hole somewhere along the side of the hut to give food to the children.[4]
\r\n\r\nIn addition, Rebbeca Brommet-Ritmeester and Edith Frank were said to have hidden in order to avoid being taken on a transport and thus continue to care for their children. Frieda Brommet recalled:
\r\n\r\n'They dug a hole together. (...) and one day my mother came and she could also speak through that hole, and she said, she would shout, 'Frieda! Frieda!' [...] And said: 'Mrs Frank and I are the only ones here in the camp now. We have been hiding because the group has gone on transport. But we hid because we wanted to stay with you. And we stole some bread and I am giving it to you now through the hole and you have to share it between the four of you.' And that four was with Margot and Anne.'[5]\r\n\r\n
When Anne and Margot were discharged from the scabies hut is unclear. What we do know is that Anne, Margot and Auguste were selected for work in Bergen-Belsen on the evening of 30 October 1944.
\r\n\r\nRosa de Winter-Levy was also in hut 29 with the Frank women. She wrote about her friendship with Edith Frank and her daughters in her book Escaped the Gas Chamber! in August 1945. She later recounted the selection of Anne and Margot in an interview with Ernst Schnabel:
\r\n\r\n'Again Blocksperre, but this time we had to wait naked on the roll call court, and it took a very long time (...) And then it was the two girls' turn: Anne and Margot. And Anne stood with her face even still under the spotlight and nudged Margot. And Margot stood upright in the light and there they stood for a moment. Naked and bare. And Anne looked at us with her bright face as she stood upright, and then they went. What happened behind the spotlight could no longer be seen. And Mrs Frank screamed, "The children! Oh God..."'[6]\r\n\r\n
The more than a thousand selected women were locked in a hut until the transport left on 1 November 1944. The women who had not been selected, such as Rosa de Winter-Levy and Edith Frank, were locked in a hut in the B-Lager and transferred two days later to the A-Lager - the part where the infirmary huts were located - obviously to be murdered soon. Several selections for transport followed, which Edith and Rosa did not pass, but with the help of the Blockälteste they managed to escape gassing.[7]
\r\n\r\nHowever, it was not long until Edith Frank was so ill that she was admitted to the infirmary hut. Some time later, Rosa also became so ill that she was put in the Durchfallblock (for diarhoea sufferers). One day there, she saw Edith Frank being brought into her hut. 'One morning new patients came in. Suddenly I recognise Edith, she comes from another ward. She is just a ghost. A few days later she dies, totally exhausted.'[8]
\r\n\r\n