Frank family in hiding
On 6 July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in the secret annex of the Opekta company building.
On 6 July 1942, the whole family went into hiding in the Secret Annex.[1] The original plan to go into hiding on 16 July 1942 was brought forward ten days by the call-up Margot received to go and work in Germany.[2] Preparations for hiding began much earlier.[3] Otto Frank says: "As a result of the increasingly stringent provisions against Jews, it became necessary for me and my family to go into hiding."[4]
On the day they went into hiding, Otto, Edith and Anne walked from Merwedeplein to Prinsengracht.[5] Margot had already gone on her bicycle earlier that morning.
The raid and arrest on 4 August 1944 put an end to the period of hiding.[6] The period in hiding is also recorded with these start and end dates on Otto's aliens card in the police archives.[7].
A note left behind in the house at Merwedeplein, with an address in Maastricht, was intended to give the impression that the family had left the country. Van Pels told Werner Goldschmidt, the Frank family's subtenant, that an officer - a childhood friend of Otto Frank - was helping him.[8] Unfortunately, it is unclear which address this relates to.
Otto sent a birthday card to Leni (Lunni) in Basel on 5 July 1942, from which it can be deduced that he and his family were about to go into hiding. This is because Leni's birthday is not until September 8. He wrote: "Wir sind gesund u. zusammen, das ist die Hauptsache." [9] He returned to this card in a letter to his family in Basel dated 8 June 1945: "Das ich etwas vorbereitet hattet, konntet Ihr aus meinen letzten Zeilen wohl entnehmen." [10] The letter was apparently returned on 3 July; postal traffic with Switzerland was difficult. This preparation also emerges from the diary: "Papa and Mama had long since got a lot of things out of our house (...)".[1]
Prior to going into hiding, Otto Frank said he had earned enough to support his family. [11]
Footnotes
- a, b Anne Frank,Diary Version A, 8 July 1942, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
- ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version B. 9 July 1942, in: The Collected Works. According to Victor Kugler, Otto Frank planned to go into hiding when the yellow star was introduced. If it turned out that the outcome of the measure (in view of outrage and opposition) was not as expected, he would have postponed his decision. Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), reg. code AFS A_Kugler_I_48 (47?): Victor Kugler, I hid Anne Frank (typescript). There is no support for Kugler's view in other sources.
- ^ In late 1941 to early 1942 according to Johannes Kleiman in the transcript of Ernst Schnabel: Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach, Ernst Schnabel Archive, transcript, p. 39-40..
- ^ Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging, inv. nr. 23892 (dossier van Maaren): Rijksrecherche procesverbaal 86/1963 v.H., getuigenverhoor Otto Frank door Arend Jacobus van Helden, 2-3 december 1963.
- ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 8 July 1942, in: The Collected Works. In the A version, the note is limited to "We had to walk to the office." The pouring rain and pitying looks are from the B version written almost two years later.
- ^ Harry Paape, 'De arrestatie', in: Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie (red), De dagboeken van Anne Frank, Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2001, p. 25-28.
- ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Gemeentepolitie, toegang 5225, inv. nr. 3929: Vreemdelingenkaart Otto H. Frank.
- ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version B, 14 August 1942, in: The Collected Works.
- ^ Familiearchief Anne Frank-Fonds Family (AFF), Basel, Leni Frank, AFF_ LeF_corr_05_0004: Otto Frank aan Leni Frank, 5 juli 1942.
- ^ AFF, Alice Frank, AFF_AlF_corr_10_24: Otto Frank aan familie, 8 juni 1942.
- ^ AFS, AFC, Otto Frank Archief, reg. code OFA_071: Otto Frank aan Milly Stanfield, 18 maart 1945.