The Diary of Anne Frank: Amsterdam and the Secret Annex

The Franks lived on the Merwedeplein in the Rivierenbuurt, a neighbourhood where many Jewish-German refugees settled. Anne grew up here from 1933 until the family went into hiding. For her thirteenth birthday, on 12 June 1942, she received an autograph book, decided to use it as a diary and named it "Kitty". The building was restored to its 1930s appearance and opened in 2005.

場所の精度: The pin marks the Merwedeplein area; the exact flat is a private residence.

Otto Frank moved the Opekta and Pectacon offices to Prinsengracht 263 on 1 December 1940. On the morning of 6 July 1942 the Frank family moved into the hiding place entered from a landing above the offices; the Van Pels family joined on 13 July 1942. Only Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl knew they were there. The inhabited rooms measured only about 450 square feet. Since 1960 the building has been a museum.

訪問のヒント: The Anne Frank House museum; check the museum's own site for tickets before you go.

Close to the Annex stands the Westerkerk. Its tower is mentioned often in the diary: the clock face could be seen from the attic of the Achterhuis, and Anne described the chiming of the carillon as a source of comfort. For two years it was one of the few things the people in hiding could see of the outside city. Today a memorial statue of Anne Frank stands outside the church at Westermarkt.

訪問のヒント: The statue of Anne Frank is outside the church, a short walk from the Anne Frank House.

On the morning of 4 August 1944 the Secret Annex was stormed by German uniformed police led by SS-Oberscharführer Karl Silberbauer. Afterwards Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl returned to the Annex and found Anne's papers strewn on the floor. They gathered them up. Otto Frank was given the diaries in June 1945 and published them in Dutch in 1947 as Het Achterhuis.

訪問のヒント: Visit through the Anne Frank House museum.

Two days after the transfer to the Weteringschans prison, the group was sent to Westerbork. More than 100,000 Jews, mostly Dutch and German, passed through this transit camp. Having been arrested in hiding, the Franks were treated as criminals and put to hard labour in the Punishment Barracks. The camp was largely taken down in the 1960s; of the original buildings only the former camp commander's house was preserved.

場所の精度: The pin marks the former camp area near the memorial; the original barracks no longer stand.

訪問のヒント: The Westerbork memorial site covers part of the former camp; check opening times before you go.

On 3 September 1944 the Secret Annex group left on the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz. Of the 1,019 passengers, 549, including all children younger than 15, were sent directly to the gas chambers. Anne, who had turned 15 three months earlier, was one of the youngest spared. Otto Frank was separated from his family on arrival.

訪問のヒント: Auschwitz-Birkenau is a memorial and museum; visit with the official guides and dress respectfully.

On 28 October 1944 more than 8,000 women, including Anne, Margot and Auguste van Pels, were transported to Bergen-Belsen. Here Anne was briefly reunited with two friends, Hanneli Goslar and Nanette Blitz. Anne and Margot died here, probably of typhus, in early 1945; Dutch authorities set 31 March as the official date. Few traces of the camp remain, but a memorial stands on the site, and visitors have come to the place where Anne Frank died since 1957.

場所の精度: The exact barracks where Anne died is not known; the pin marks the memorial site.

訪問のヒント: The Bergen-Belsen memorial and documentation centre lies on the former camp heath; check opening times before you go.