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Fritz Pfeffer in hiding in the Secret Annex

In November 1942, Fritz Pfeffer went into hiding in the Secret Annex on Prinsengracht. During the period in hiding, he shared a room with Anne Frank.

Event

Nov. 16, 1942 - Aug. 4, 1944

52.37521 N 4.884335 E

Prinsengracht 263

Amsterdam

Nederland

Fritz Pfeffer's Amsterdam circle of acquaintances were unaware that - due to the Nuremberg laws - he was not officially married to Charlotte Kaletta. As a result, his status was not that of a mixed married person, but of an unmarried Volljude.He was therefore also forced to go into hiding. Before doing so, he wrote a farewell letter to Charlotte Kaletta on 15 November 1942, explaining to her in covert language that he had decided to go into hiding[1]

On 16 November 1942, Fritz Pfeffer went into hiding in the annex at Prinsengracht 263. There he remained until the raid of 4 August 1944.[2] He slept in the narrow room, which he shared with Anne Frank, in the back right-hand corner of the second floor of the Secret Annex.[3] 

Pfeffer's possible arrival at the Secret Annex was first mentioned in Anne Frank's diary on 21 September 1942.[4] That is about two months before he actually arrived. The A-version does not give an exact date of Pfeffer's arrival. According to this version, Johannes Kleiman met Pfeffer at the Main Post Office and they walked to Prinsengracht.[5] In the B version, Anne writes about the arrival of Pfeffer on 17 November 1942. Kleiman would have gone by tram: "Kleiman took a streetcar back to the office while Pf. walked on foot".[6]

On 30 November 1942, his landlord Felix Mittwoch reported that Pfeffer had told him that he might have to undergo an operation in an unspecified hospital because of kidney disease. After Mittwoch heard nothing more from his tenant for several days, he notified the police's Immigration Department that he had moved out.[7]

In the Secret Annex

Fritz Pfeffer was a doctor and dentist. He performed dentistry in the Secret Annex.[8] Anne describes how he examined her when she was ill.[9] He moved into the small room where Anne and Margot had slept until then, and thereafter shared it with Anne. Margot moved into her parents' bedroom. At first, Anne writes that the atmosphere in the house was good. Later, there were more reports of conflicts between the people in hiding, and between her and Pfeffer.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Anne Frank Stichting, Anne Frank Collectie, reg. code A_Pfeffer_I_013: Brief van Fritz Pfeffer aan Charlotte Kaletta, 15 november 1942.
  2. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version B, 12 November 1942, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  3. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Versions A and B, 10 November 1942, in: The Collected Works.
  4. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 21 September 1942, in: The Collected Works. This qualifies the story that Pfeffer had to come to the Secret Annex at a moment's notice somewhat.
  5. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 13 November 1942, in: The Collected Works.
  6. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version B, 17 November 1942, in: The Collected Works.
  7. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Gemeentepolitie Amsterdam, inv. nr. 4046: Felilx Mittwoch aan Vreemdelingendienst, 30 november 1942.
  8. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version B, 10 December 1942, in: The Collected Works; Tales and events from the Secret Annex, "The Dentist", 8 December 1942, in: The Collected Works.
  9. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version B, 22 December 1943, in: The Collected Works.