- Introduction
- About this Site
- Germany's History
- Hitler Comes to Power
- The Holocaust
- Nazi Death Camps
- Anne Frank
- Anne's Diary
- Hiroshima
- Sadako's 1000 Cranes
- Sadako Lives On!
- Singapore
- Lim Bo Seng
- Mrs Kathigasu
- Comfort Women
- Comfort Women: 01
- Comfort Women: 02
- Aftermath
- Epilogue
- Sign Guestbook
- View Guestbook
Anne Frank
The Diary is Left Behind
It was a beautiful, hot summer's day, a day like any other. As usual, Otto Frank went to Peter's room in the morning to give him an English lesson. Otto looked at his watch: almost half past ten, time to start teaching.
At that moment Peter raised his hand. He looked frightened. From downstairs they heard noises, strange men's voices, shouting, threatening voices...
A few minutes earlier, five men had suddenly entered the office building. One of them was wearing the uniform of the German police. The others were in civilian clothes, and were probably Dutch Nazis. Miep, Bep, Johannes Kleiman, and Victor Kugler were in the office.
The five men knew everthing. Victor Kugler had to take them upstairs. When they got to the bookcase, the men drew their revolvers. They opened the secret door and ent inside.
A minute later one of the Dutch Nazis went into Peter's room, pointing his revolver at him. Otto and Peter went downstairs. There they saw all the others with their hands raised, including Anne and Mragot. Karl Silberbauer, the officer, barked out an abrut demand for money and jewelry. He grabbed a briefcase and emptied out its contents; the papers from Anne's diaries fell to the floor. He put the money and jewelry into the briefcase. Karl Silberbauer did not believe that they had all been hiding in the Secret Annex for more than two years. Then Otto Frank showed him the marks on the wall, where Anne's and Margot's heights had been measured.
The eight prisoners were allowed to pack a few clothes. Then they were taken in a truck to a German police station. Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman were also arrested and taken with them. (Later they were interned in a cam. Both survived.)
Now it was quiet on the Prinsengracht. Miep and Bep had not been taken away, though they feared that the men would come back to arrest them at any moment. At the end of the afternoon, the two went upstairs together ith Jan Gies and Van Maaren, the warewhouse-man, and entered the Secret Annex. It was in chaos. The pages of Anne's diary lay scattered on the floor and were gathered up along with other papers and books and taken downstairs. The Frank famil's photo albums were also retrieved. Miep put the pages of the diary in her desk drawer and locked it. About a week later the whole Annex was emptied on German orders.
Who betrayed the hiding place to the Germans remains a mystery to this day.