Anne Frank Hides: Secret Annexe Diary Begins
The Frank family had been planning their disappearance for months. On July 6, 1942, when sixteen-year-old Margot received a call-up notice for a German labor camp, Otto Frank moved the schedule forward. The family slipped through Amsterdam's streets in the rain, wearing layers of clothing because carrying suitcases would attract suspicion, and entered the hidden annex above Otto's Opekta spice company offices. A bookcase concealed the entrance. For the next 25 months, eight people lived in roughly 450 square feet, relying on a handful of Dutch employees for food and news. Anne Frank's diary, written during this confinement, would become the most widely read personal account of the Holocaust.
July 6, 1942
84 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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