Anne Frank
It was July 6, 1942. The Frank family snuck out of their house in Holland. They were going to hide in an old building that Otto Frank had once worked in. This was because of what had happened just a few days ago. The Frank's oldest daughter Margot was wanted by the Germans to work in a factory. A letter had been sent saying this. Many people in Germany were getting letters that said this. The letter was known as the "call up", and the "call up" was not good news.
BIRTH:
Anne Frank was born in Germany, in 1929. She was raised in a town called Frankfurt. Her parents were Otto and Edith Frank. On June 12, 1929, Anne was born. Anne was the second child in the Frank family. Her older sister was named Margot. Anne was born in a time period when many people in Germany hated Jews. Anne and her family were German and Jewish. 30,000 out of 540,000 people in Frankfurt were Jews. Many times when things went wrong in Germany, the Jews would be blamed, even though they were most of the time innocent.
When Anne was only 4 years old, her father decided Germany was not safe. The Nazis were a strong group of people who hated all Jews, no matter who they were. This awful racism was spreading. More and more people were against Jews. In the year of 1933, the Frank family moved to Holland. Holland was considered to be a safe place. Many Jewish families were moving there.
Moving to Holland
Anne was young, so it was easy for her to adjust to a new country and learn a new language. Margot was three years older than Anne. It was also pretty easy for her to switch homes. Both of the girls started school in Holland. Anne was a good student. She was smart and liked her teacher. Her only problem in school was that she had a habit of talking to her friends during class. The teacher did not like Anne's talking habits. Anne's teacher assigned her several reports about how she shouldn't talk and how she should be quiet when other people were talking. But although Anne did all the reports, she didn't learn a thing. She still talked in class. Her teacher finally realized that no report that was assigned could stop Anne from opening her mouth in class.
Sneaking out
So now, on this day in July, 1942, the Frank family snuck out of their house and hurried off to their new home where they would be hiding from the Jews. Once the Franks had received the "call up", they realized that no good could become of it. The Germans were in control of the country now. They were determined that the Jews were no good and had to be gotten rid of. So they snuck off very early that morning to their new life in hiding.
Hiding from the Germans.
Anne and her family lived with another family called the Van Daans. There was Mrs. Van Daan and Mr. Van Daan. They also had a son named Peter. The Franks and the Van Daans had to live together for a long time. They had to be extremely quiet. Later on they let one more person live with them. His name was Albert Dussel, and he was a dentist that both of the families knew. They had enough food and room, so they knew they should help another Jew. Everything was going fine.
Anne's diary
Anne had a diary that she wrote in every day. She had received the diary for her thirteenth birthday. She named it Kitty. Whenever she had free time she would write in her diary. And that was a lot, because Anne had lots of free time. She shared her bedroom with Albert, and whenever he wasn't in the room she would go into her room and write. But other times she went other places in the house.
A close call
The two families and Albert Dussel ate lots of dried beans and the same food everyday. Anne often complained about the diet of the same thing day after day. One day, when Peter Van Daan was carrying a bag of dried beans up to the attic, something happened. The bag of beans spilled and everything fell out. It mad a huge bang as it scattered to the floor. Luckily, no one was downstairs in the old building, except for the people that were helping to hide the two families and Albert Dussel. That was a close call.
Discovered
The Franks, The Van Daans and Albert had been hiding for two years. It was August 4, 1944. The day was Friday, and it was morning. One of the worst possible things happened that day. The hiders were discovered! They weren't quite sure how it happened, but it was guessed that someone who had been helping them had spilled their secret and told the police. But no matter how it happened, it did happen. They were under arrest. The Franks, the Van Daans and Albert all became prisoners. They were taken away. No one knew what would happen next.
The concentration camp
Anne and her family were taken to a concentration camp. While they were there, Anne saw Lies, one of her friends from school at the camp they were taken to. Lies family was caught trying to escape out of the country. The Franks had thought about doing the same thing before they left for hiding, but they had decided it was too risky. Anne and Lies saw each other in the camp. They were able to talk for a few minuets, but no longer.
The death of Anne Frank
Anne's sister, Margot got sick with typhus. The Frank family was worried. She was very ill. Not longer afterwards, Margot died. Anne later became sick with typhus also. Prisoners in the camp were not allowed to have medicine. Anne soon also died. She died less than two months after the war ended. If she had only lived a bit longer, then she would be free. But even though Anne did not live, her diary did. Her diary was published all over the world in 30 different languages. Her name is known all over the world, and if you haven't heard of Anne Frank before this, then now you have.