Anne Frank Essay, Research Paper

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929. She was the second daughter of Otto and Edith Frank. Both of Anne?s parents were from respected German-Jewish families. Anne and her older sister Margot were raised in Germany in an atmosphere of tolerance. The Franks had friends of many faiths and nationalities. Otto Frank served honorably as an officer in the German army during World War I. However, the circumstances of the early 1930s dramatically altered the situation of the Frank family. In the summer of 1930, Otto Frank left Frankfurt for Amsterdam to set up a branch of his brother?s company. Less then a year later, Edith, Margot, and four-year-old Anne joined Otto in Amsterdam. By the mid 1930?s the Franks were settling into a normal routine in their apartment at 37 Merwedeplein. In 1938 Otto expanded his business, he went into partnership with a merchant. His name was Hermann van Pels, he was also a Jewish refuge from Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, the Frank?s belief that Amsterdam was a safe haven from Nazism was shattered. In May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands and the Franks were once again forced to live under Nazi rule. Anne?s father had not been idle in this time, and he converted a section of his business premises into a secret hideaway for the family. In the first few years of the occupation, Anne and Margot continued to socialize with their friends and attend school. Because of Anne?s talents for writing at school, ahe was given a diary for her thirteenth birthday, in 1942. Then the Nazi administration, in conjunction with the Dutch Nazi Party andcivil service began issueing anti-Jewish decrees. All Jews had to register their business and then later, surrender it to non-Jews. Soon afterwards, Anne?s older sister Margot, was instructed to attend a labor camp. Even though the hiding place was not yet ready, the Frank family realized they had to move right away. The packed their belongings quickly and left notes implying that they had moved out of the country, On July 6, the Frank family moved into the secret hiding place. The were joined with four other Jewish exiles. A week later, on July 13, the van Pels family joined the Franks. On November 16, 1942, the seven residents of the secret annex were joined by its eighth and final resident, Fritz Pfeffer. For two years Anne was part of an extended family in the Annex. She shared a confined space and lived under constant dread of detection and arrest by the Nazi?s. At approximately 10 am, August 4, 1944, Anne?s greatest fear came true. A Nazi policeman and several Dutch collaborators appeared at 263 Prinsengracht, having received an anonymous phone call about Jews hiding there. They charged straight for the bookcase leading to the Secret Annex. Anne was taken from the house with the rest of her family and was forced into a covered truck. She was taken to the Central Office for Emigration, and then to Weteringschans Prison. On August 8, 1944, after a brief stay in Weteringschans Prison , Anne was moved to Westerbork transit camp. She remained there with her family for nearly a month. Then on September 3, she was transported to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. This was the Auschwitz bound transport ever to leave Westerbork.