August 1, 1944
- Aug 1, 2023
- 2 min read
On this day in history in 1944 Anne Frank wrote her last diary entry.
Hidden Away
Anne Frank and her family, consisting of her parents and sister, went into hiding on the morning of July 6, 1942. They lived in a what Anne referred to as the Achterhuis, or "Secret Annex" in English. It was a three-story space above an office building where some of Anne's father's most trusted employees helped conceal them. A week after entering the annex the Frank's were joined by another family, a wife, husband, and their son. In November yet another person joined them.
From early on Anne Frank wrote in her diary about the comings and goings within the Secret Annex. She often discussed her relationships with others, focusing on her frustrations with some of the other occupants, as well as her infatuation with 16-year-old Peter van Pel. She hoped to become a journalist one day, which likely spurred her daily writings. She wrote for over two years until her last entry on August 1, 1944.
Found Out
Three days after her final entry the Secret Annex was stormed by a group of German police, led by the SS. The occupants were taken to the Reich's headquarters and interrogated. They were then deported to Auschwitz in September. It's still not fully known how the Frank's were found out. Some sources suggest someone who knew of their hiding turned them in, while newer research suggests the police came to the building for another reason and then discovered them on their own.
Anne Frank died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in early 1945. Though the exact cause is unknown most speculate it was a result of the typhus epidemic that hit the camp. She died one day after her sister, Margot, died. Anne's father, Otto, was the only one of the family to survive internment. After the war he returned to Amsterdam where he learned of the death of his family. He then worked to get Anne's diary published. It was first published in July 1947 as "The Diary of a Young Girl."
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