Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Life in the Annex
By day, it's enforced silence, so no one can hear them in the
offices. They whisper, tiptoe, and step around squeaky places
in the floor. The windows are blacked out, so they can't even
look outside. They read or study, and Anne writes in her
diary.
At night and on weekends,
when the offices close, one or two
might sneak downstairs to listen to
Winston Churchill's BBC broadcasts
on the office radio. Everyone's spir-
its rise and sink with news of Allied
victories and setbacks.
Anne's diaries make clear
the tensions, petty quarrels, and
domestic politics of eight people
living under pressure. Mr. Van Pels
annoys Anne, but he gets along
well with Margot. Anne never gets
used to Mr. Pfeffer, who is literally
invading her space. And, most of all, pubescent Anne is often
striking sparks with her German mom. (Anne's angriest com-
ments about her mom were deleted from early editions of the
published diary.)
Despite their hardships, the group feels guilty—they have
shelter, while so many other Jews are rounded up and sent
off.
As the war progresses, they endure long nights when the
house shakes from Allied air raids, and Anne cuddles up in her
dad's bed.
Boredom tinged with fear—existentialist hell.
Photos
of
The People in Hiding
put faces on the eight people—
all Jewish—who eventually inhabited the Secret Annex. First was
the Frank family—Otto and Edith and their daughters, 13-year-
old Anne and 16-year-old Margot. A week later, they were joined
by the Van Pels (called the “Van Daans” in the
Diary
), with their
teenage son, Peter. A few months later, Fritz Pfeffer (called “Mr.
Dussel” in the
Diary
) was invited in.
• At the back of the third floor warehouse is...
The Bookcase Entrance
On a rainy Monday morning, July 6, 1942, the Frank family—wear-
ing extra clothes to avoid carrying suspicious suitcases—breathed
their last fresh air, took a long look at the Prinsengracht canal, and
disappeared into the back part of the building, where they spent
the next two years. Victor Kugler concealed the entrance to the
