Anne Frank Facts About Her Childhood

Do you know who Anne Frank is?

If not, you should definitely read up on her. Anne was a young girl who hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during the Second World War and later died in a concentration camp.

On June 12, 1929, Anne Frank was born in Germany. Anne's family moved to the Netherlands when she was four years old, in order to escape the Holocaust.

Anne and her family hid from the Nazis in a secret annex for over two years. Anne kept a diary during this time, which was published after her death. These are some interesting Anne Frank facts about her childhood!

Place And Date Of Anne Frank's Birth

Anne Frank, full name Annelies Marie Frank, was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and died at the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen near Hannover in February/March 1945. During the German occupation of the Netherlands, a Jewish young girl Anne Frank's diary of her family's two years in secret became a classic of war literature.

Anne was born in Germany amid a period of political turmoil.

Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party won the local council elections in Frankfurt in March 1933. Her parents began to be concerned about their children's safety because of the party's anti-Semitism.

When Hitler became Germany's chancellor, the family fled to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, terrified for their lives. Between 1933 and 1939, they were among 300,000 Jews who escaped Nazi Germany.

Anne was compelled to relocate from a public to a Jewish school after German forces occupied the Netherlands in 1941.

She was given a red-and-white plaid diary for her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942. 'I hope I'll be able to confide all in you since I've never been able to confide in anyone', she wrote in the book that day. 

On September 3, 1944, the Frank family was taken to Westerbork. This was a transit camp in the Netherlands, and then they were taken to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, on the last train to leave Westerbork for Auschwitz.

Anne and her sister Margot Frank were eventually taken from their mother, Edith Frank, and sent on a packed train to some other concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen.

The camp's conditions were deplorable. It was cold and rainy, there was little food, and sickness was widespread. Both Anne and Margot perished at the camp in February 1945, just months before the Second World War ended. They perished due to the effects of an illness known as typhus, according to reports.

Edith Frank, Anne and Margot's mother, died at Auschwitz. The only survivor of the eight persons hiding in the Secret Annex was their father Otto Frank.

Anne Frank's Family

Anne's father, Otto Frank (1889–1980), a German businessman, moved his wife and two girls to Amsterdam early in Adolf Hitler's Nazi government.

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany, during a turbulent time in the country's history, and moved to Amsterdam with her family in the early '30s, following the rise of the Nazis in her homeland.

Otto Frank, a hardworking man, worked tirelessly to improve the family's financial situation.

He got work at the Opekta Works, which sold fruit extract pectin, and eventually started his own company.

At the height of the Second World War, the Germans invaded the Netherlands, and Jews in Amsterdam were no longer secure.

The Frank family was compelled to go into hiding as the persecution of the Jewish population grew worse.

Anne, a young adolescent who aspired to be a writer as she grew older, faithfully recorded her daily life in her diary.

The Frank family went into hiding in the backdoor office and warehouse of Otto Frank's firm of food products on July 6, 1942, when Anne's sister, Margot Frank, was facing deportation (allegedly to a forced-labor camp).

With the help of a few non-Jewish acquaintances, including Miep Gies, who carried in food and other supplies, the Frank family and four more Jews, Hermann and Auguste van Pels including their son, Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer, were kept in a secret annex.

Anne kept a diary throughout this time, detailing her day-to-day life in hiding, from minor irritations to the fear of being found.

She discussed both typical adolescent problems and her future goals, which also included her becoming a journalist or writer.

Anne wrote her final journal entry on August 1, 1944. The secret annex was discovered three days later by the Gestapo, who were acting on a tip from Dutch informers.

The Franks had to be cautious about being discovered by the Germans.

They draped thick curtains across all of the windows. They had to be particularly quiet during the day.

They spoke in hushed tones and walked barefoot to avoid stumbling. When the workers at the business downstairs went home at night, they could rest a little, but they still had to be cautious.

More individuals began to live with the Franks. They, too, required a safe haven.

A week later, the Van Pels family arrived. Peter, a 15-year-old boy, was one of their children. There were now three additional persons in that claustrophobic environment.

Mr. Pfeffer then moved in. Margot moved into her parents' room after he roomed with Anne.

For nearly two years, Anne and her family had been in hiding. They'd heard the war was almost to a close. The Germans appeared to be on the verge of losing. They were beginning to believe that they might be let free shortly.

The Germans, on the other hand, raided Frank's refuge on August 4, 1944. They kidnapped everyone and deported them to extermination camps.

Separation of males and women was made. The girls were eventually separated and transferred to a camp. In March 1945, Anne and her sister died of the sickness Typhus, just a month before Allied troops arrived at the camp.

Anne Frank died at the young age of 16.

Anne Frank's Education

Anne enrolled in a Montessori school. She was an outgoing, sociable extrovert. She had always enjoyed reading, and she had now begun to write too. But she kept her writings to herself and never shared them with anyone, even her friends.

However, just as the Frank family had settled into a comfortable routine, Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, putting an end to the Jews' quiet life.

With the enactment of restrictive and discriminating regulations, the persecution of Jews resumed, and Otto Frank once again feared for his wife and daughters.

The Frank sisters were compelled to leave their separate schools due to the restrictive legislation and were forced to enroll at the Jewish Lyceum. Meanwhile, their father struggled to support the family financially because, as a Jew, he was unable to continue operating his business.

Anne Frank was known at school for being the goofy girl who enjoyed being the focus of attention.

Mr. Keesing, her math teacher, was frequently irritated by her talking in class and referred to her as 'Mistress Chatter back.'

Anne Frank had a cat named Moortje before she went into hiding.

Anne Frank had a marble collection, which she entrusted to her next-door neighbor Toosje Kupers for safety.

Anne used photos of movie stars, dancers, royalty, and pieces of art to decorate her bedroom walls in the secret annex.

Anne Frank aspired to be an actress when she grew up because she adored Hollywood.

Anne Frank liked the Royal Family of the Netherlands and enjoyed investigating their ancestors.

Anne Frank wore and adored the burgundy suede heels Miep had given her while she was hiding.

Anne Frank affectionately referred to her father as 'Pim'.

Anne Frank adored the outdoors. She used to go to the uncovered attic window to look out at the enormous chestnut tree in the adjoining garden when she was hiding.

Facts About Anne Frank's Childhood

Anne Frank was one of the tens of thousands of Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust. After her diary, 'The Diary of a Young Girl', was published by her father a few years after her death, she became a well-known name and one of the most talked-about Holocaust victims.

On September 1, 1939, when Anne was merely 10 years old, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, thus starting the Second World War.

Margot, Anne's older sister, was summoned to a Nazi labor camp in Germany in July 1942. Otto moved the family into hiding in temporary quarters at the back of his company building when he realized they were in danger.

Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Victor Kugler, and Johannes Kleiman, Otto's employees, assisted the family during this difficult period. Soon after, the Franks were joined in hiding by another family, the Van Pels, and Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist.

Initially, Anne Frank found living in concealment to be an exciting adventure, which she enthusiastically documented in her diary. During this time, she also formed a romantic relationship with Peter van Pels, which she described in her journal.

She did not want her diary read as she had no real friends and she thought that no one would have any interest in the thoughts of a 13-year-old schoolgirl.

Anne Frank spent most of her time reading and writing because the family was not allowed to go outside. Her notebook became her closest confidante, and she detailed her connections with each person in her family.

Anne's youthful optimism faded as time passed, and she grew tired of her imprisonment. She did not give up hope, however, that life would return to normal and she would be able to return to school. In her diary, she stated that she aspired to be a writer one day.

In 1944, an informer deceived the Jewish family. The Franks, Van Pelses, and Pfeffer were detained and interrogated after their hiding spot was located in August. They were labeled criminals after being apprehended while hiding.

The party was transferred to Auschwitz, a concentration camp where the males were separated from the ladies forcibly. Anne, her sister, and their mother were separated from their father and sent to a women's camp, where they were forced to work in the fields.

After some time, Anne and Margot were separated from their mother, who later died, and the girls were transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Northern Germany, where conditions were significantly worse due to a lack of food and hygiene.

One of the assistants, Miep, was able to save Anne's diary. When Anne's father Otto, the family's sole survivor, returned to Amsterdam after the war, he received his daughter's diary from Miep on the same day he learned of Anne and Margot's deaths in Bergen-Belsen.

He began reading Anne's diary and eventually published it, realizing Anne's dream of becoming a writer. 'The Secret Annex' was the title of the diary, which was published in 1947.

Anne Frank's diary has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 70 languages since its release.

It is still an essential account of Jewish people's treatment by the Nazis.

Otto believed that his daughter's diary would educate readers about the perils of prejudice, injustice, and intolerance against others.

With Otto's support, the former hiding spot became a museum in 1960, known as the Anne Frank House.

More than 1.2 million people from all around the world visit each year to learn more about Anne Frank's life story.