OTTO and Edith Frank and their daughters, Margot and Anne, fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in the Netherlands. But by mid-1942 life for Dutch Jews was increasingly harsh. They were forced to wear yellow stars and forbidden to run a business, travel on trams, sit on a park bench or even ride a bicycle.
So that July, after 16-year-old Margot received a call-up to work in a German labour camp, the family went into hiding in the upper storeys of Otto Frank’s former business premises in Amsterdam.
They were joined by another family, Auguste and Hermann van Pels with their son, Peter, and a dentist named Fritz Pfeffer. By August 1944, having spent more than two years in hiding, they were daring to hope that the city would soon be liberated.
“I have the feeling that friends are approaching,” Anne wrote in her diary.
But the families were far from safe.
FRIDAY, 4 AUGUST 1944 6.45AM
It’s a misty morning in Amsterdam. On the second floor of the secret annexe at 263 Prinsengracht, 15-year-old Anne is asleep in a bed so small there are chairs at the end to make it longer for her. It’s her 761st day in hiding.
On the walls of the bedroom are pictures she’s cut out from magazines of the British princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and film stars Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers. Anne shares the room with 55-year-old Fritz Pfeffer, who’s also fast asleep.
In the room above them, Auguste van Pels’ loud alarm clock goes off and Anne waits for the creak of a floorboard as Auguste’s husband, Hermann, makes his way downstairs to the bathroom. There’s a strict daily timetable for washing and dressing.
Next door to Anne in a briefcase in her parents’ bedroom is her most precious possession – her diary, which she started just a few weeks before they went into hiding.
Esta historia es de la edición 3 October 2019 de YOU South Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición 3 October 2019 de YOU South Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William