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The arrest of Otto Frank

On 4 August 1944, Otto Frank and the other people in hiding were arrested in a raid by the SD on the Secret Annex. Helpers Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler were also arrested.

Event

Aug. 4, 1944

52.349589 N 4.874142 E

Adama van Scheltemaplein 1

Amsterdam

Nederland

On 4 August 1944, an arrest team of Sicherheitspolizei und Sicherheitsdienst, (Sipo-SD) raided Prinsengracht 263 and the Secret Annex. The team was led by SS-Hauptscharführer Karl Silberbauer and included the detectives Willem Grootendorst and Gezinus Gringhuis. All eight people in hiding and two helpers, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler, were arrested and taken to the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung building at Adama van Scheltemaplein 1 in Amsterdam. It has never been fully clarified how the SD tracked down the people in hiding.[1]

Otto Frank later recalled being in the upper part of the Secret Annex at the time of the arrest, helping Peter with his schoolwork in his room and at that moment pointing out an error in his dictation when he suddenly heard someone running up the stairs: "Suddenly someone came running up the stairs and then the door opened and a man was standing right in front of us with a gun in his hand. Downstairs they were all gathered."[2]

In 1963, he added:

"He made us raise our hands and then searched us for weapons. (...) Then he ordered us to go downstairs. He came after us with a gun drawn. We first entered the room of the Pels family, where I saw Mr and Mrs Pels, as well as Mr Pfeffer [also] standing with their hands raised. Here too stood a man dressed in civilian clothes, unknown to me, who had also drawn his pistol. Then we all had to go down another floor, where I lived with my family. There I saw my wife and both daughters standing, also with their hands raised. (...) I also saw a man in a green uniform, unknown to me, who had already drawn his pistol. I found out afterwards that this man was called Silberbauer."[3]

Silberbauer also asked the detainees about jewellery and money. He emptied the briefcase in which Anne kept her diary entries and put money and jewellery in it. The detainees were given five minutes to get ready for departure.[2]

"While waiting for all this, Silberbauer walked through our room and he saw a chest next to my wife's bed. It was a grey chest with iron fittings, on which was written my name and my rank in the German army. I then told him that I had been a reserve lieutenant in the German army in the First World War. At once Silberbauer's tone and attitude changed. (...) Thereupon he said to me, why didn't I report back then, I would have been sent to the 'Theresienstadt' labour camp back then."[2]

Silberbauer allowed the arrestees to take a few minutes to pack their belongings and then the eight hiders and the helpers Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler were taken to the SD building on Adama van Scheltemaplein 1.Otto Frank himself repeatedly stated that after his arrest they were taken by the SD to the Aussenstelle - the regional office - of the Sicherheitsdienst on Euterpestraat. [4]

In the SD building, they were locked together in a large room, to be interrogated later one by one. Otto Frank was interrogated once, briefly, here by Silberbauer. The interrogation proceeded calmly. Silberbauer used no violence and only asked a few questions. After being convinced that Otto knew nothing about other cases of people in hiding, he left him alone.[3]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Zie: David Barnouw en Gerrold van der Stroom, Wie verraadde Anne Frank?, Amsterdam: Boom, 2003; Gertjan Broek, Onderzoeksverslag inzake verraad en arrestatie van de onderduikers in het Achterhuis, Amsterdam: Anne Frank Stichting, 2016.
  2. a, b, c Ernst Schnabel, Anne Frank, Spur eines Kindes. Ein Bericht, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Bücherei, 1958, p. 107.
  3. a, b National Archief (NL-HaNA), Den Haag, Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging (CABR), inv. nr. 23892 (dossier van Maaren): procesverbaal, 3 november 1964: verklaring Otto Frank, 2-3 december 1963. 
  4. ^ De Zentralstelle fur jüdische Auswanderung, de dienst die zich bezighield met de opsporing en het verhoor van ondergedoken Joden, bevond zich echter aan het Adama van Scheltemaplein 1, tegenover de Aussenstelle van de Sicherheitsdienst aan de Euterpestraat in Amsterdam. Silberbauer, die het arrestatieteam leidde, verklaarde echter dat hij de onderduikers mee had genomen naar zijn bureau aan het Adama van Scheltemaplein. NL-HaNA, 2.09.09 CABR, inv.nr. 23892, dossier W.G. van Maaren, proces-verbaal, 3 november 1964: verhoor Otto Frank, 2-3 december 1963, 3. Met betrekking tot het transport heeft Otto Frank het over een gesloten vrachtauto. Jan Gies noemt een donkerkleurige bestelauto, waarschijnlijk arrestantenauto van de Amsterdamse politie. Silberbauer heeft het over een Duitse politieauto. NL-HaNA, CABR, inv. nr. 23892, dossier van Maaren, procesverbaal, 3 november 1964: verhoren Otto Frank (2-3 december 1963), Jan Gies (23 december 1963) en Karl Silberbauer (3 januari 1964). In het CABR dossier van Janssen noemt Otto Frank één beambte van de Grüne Polizei en vier Hollandsche politie-ambtenaren: NL-HaNA, CABR, inv. nr. 23834, onderzoek contra Josephus Marinus Jansen, procesverbaal, verhoor Otto Frank, 20 november 1946.