Return Otto Frank: Roermond and Arnhem
On 27 May 1945, Otto travelled by train and car from Marseille to the Netherlands, stopping there in Roermond and Arnhem. He arrived back in Amsterdam on 3 June 1945.
After arriving in Marseille on 27 May 1945, Otto Frank travelled back to the Netherlands by train. Passing Lyon, Dijon, Reims and Liège, Maastricht and dozens of villages Otto noted in his notebook, he arrived 31 May in Vlodrop, Limburg, where he temporarily lodged in the Kolleg St. Ludwig monastery. There, on 31 May, he said goodbye to Rosa de Winter, among others, who had found her daughter Judik at the monastery.[1]
In the afternoon, Otto was taken by car to Roermond. There, too, he continued to search for his daughters and inspected lists in vain. On 2 June, Otto continued by car towards Amsterdam, via Venlo, Nijmegen and Arnhem. As in Roermond, war damage here was extensive and Otto noted: "everything destroyed".[2] He then noted that he had to get out at Musis Sacrum, Arnhem's concert hall, and waited there all day in the sun for cars. Finally, he spent that night at the Talmaschool in Arnhem.[2]
On 3 June 1945 , Otto Frank was taken from Arnhem by car via Utrecht and Rotterdam to Amsterdam.[3]
Footnotes
- ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief (OFA), reg. code OFA_040: Notitieboekje 1945, 31 mei; Rosa de Winter-Levy, Aan de gaskamer ontsnapt! Het satanswerk van de S.S.: relaas van het lijden in de bevrijding uit het concentratiekamp "Birkenau" bij Auschwitz, Doetinchem: Misset, 1945, p.44.
- a, b AFS, AFC, reg. code OFA_002: Agenda Otto Frank 1945, 2 juni.
- ^ AFS, AFC, reg. code OFA_002: Agenda Otto Frank 1945, 3 juni.