Return Otto Frank: Katowice
After recovering in an infirmary, Otto Frank stayed in Katowice from 5 March to 1 April. There he learned that his wife Edith had died in Auschwitz.
On 5 March 1945, Otto Frank travelled from Auschwitz to Katowice.[1] There, on 22 March, he heard from Rosa de Winter-Levy that his wife Edith had died.[2] It was a message that, Otto wrote in a letter to his mother on 28 March, had hit him "so hard", "that I am not quite the same".[3] His only hope now was that his daughters were still alive. In his notebook, Otto noted that he had heard from Rosa de Winter-Levy that his daughters had left Auschwitz in October.[4]
In late March 1945, the Dutch staying in Katowice were summoned to Chernivtsi, where they arrived after six days of train travel.[5]
Footnotes
- ^ Zie: NOS 1944-1945 - Het Bevrijdingsjaar: 'Nog eenmaal een blik op het zo gehate en nu verlaten Birkenau'.
- ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief (OFA)OFA, reg. code OFA_040: Notitieboekje 1945, 22 maart.
- ^ Origineel citaat: ‘Viel kann ich nicht schreiben, denn die Nachricht von Edith’s Tod am 6. I. 45, die ich jetzt erhielt, hat mich doch so getroffen, dass ich nicht ganz der Alte bin.’ AFS, AFC, reg. code OFA_017: Otto Frank aan Alice Frank-Stern, 23 februari 1945.
- ^ Bas von Benda-Beckmann, Na het Achterhuis. Anne Frank en de andere onderduikers in de kampen, Amsterdam: Querido, 2020, p. 304-305; AFS, AFC, reg. code OFA_040: Notitieboekje 1945.
- ^ Von Benda-Beckmann, Na het Achterhuis, p. 305. 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. 38-39.
Digital files (1)
Tasje dat Otto Frank gebruikte in Auschwitz
Copyright: Publiek domein
Photographer: Kan worden ingezet voor medewerkers AFS