Anne Frank is the best known symbol for the murdered Jews of WWII.
Her diary, which was composed between June 12, 1942 and August 1, 1944, was written while hiding in the “Annex. ” It has been published in more than fifty countries. She was thirteen when she started and fifteen when she wrote her last. On Tuesday August 1, 1944, Anne write her last entry to her diary.
On August 4, the German Security Service raided the Annex at No. 263 Prisengracht. She died of disease, starvation, and exhaustion in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945. This book is the unwritten last seven months of Annes life. The six women that were interviewed told us the unwritten pieces from personal experiences.
This book told what happened after her last entry. These women shared experiences with Anne. Some even went to school with her. In July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding. Her diary describes her experiences with great detail. After her last entry, the Franks were arrested and sent to the Huis van Bewaring, a prison on Weteringschans.
Then to Westbrook detention camp. September 3, 1944, the Franks were transported again, this time to Auschwitz. After Anne and her sister were shipped to Bergen-Belsen, their mother died on January 6, 1945 from grief and exhaustion. Hannah Pick-Goslar and her younger sister survived Bergen-Belsen with the help of Annes father Otto. Hannah and Anne were very close friends.
There was a section in Annes diary called “Lies Goosens”, in which Hannah is mentioned. Hannah and Anne went from kindergarten to high school together. They met through each others maids. In camp Alballalger (Bergen-Belsen) she met up with Anne again after being separated for awhile. They cried and talked with each other through a barbed wire fence.
Anne thought her family was dead, but they werent. Hannah said that if Anne knew her father was still alive, she would have had more strength to go on. After awhile Anne was moved to a different section of camp. Hannah never saw nor heard from Anne again. Janny Brandes began her friendship with Anne on August 8, 1944. They met at Central Station, the starting point of deportations to Westbrook camp.
At camp, Janny talked with Anne and her family while they had to spilt batteries. It was a hard job, but you could talk one another while working. Then they were transported to Auschwitz after some time at Westbrook. The train ride there, Janny was once again with the Franks. The Franks only saw Janny briefly in Auschwitz.
Janny and her sister were transported yet again, this time to Bergen-Belsen. Here they met up with Anne and her sister again. They stayed together as much as they could. Also with another set of sisters they met in Westbrook. They didnt get to spend a bunch of time together. They cried together and talked about everything.
Then one day when Janny went to see Anne and her sister, they were both dead. Later after it was all over with, Janny wrote to Otto Frank telling him of his daughters deaths. Rachel van Amerongen had also met Anne and her father in a camp. They met at Westbrook. Rachel was in the same barracks as Anne and her sister.
Anne had asked to help Rachel one day and thats how they began talking. Rachel and Anne were very fond of each other and so was Otto, Annes father. But Rachel didnt see the Franks again in Westbrook. Until Bergen-Belsen where Rachel saw Anne and her sister in the barracks. She says they were almost unrecognizable.
They were very sick with typhus. One day she never saw them again. She assumed the Frank girls were dead. And she was right.
Bloeme Evers knew Anne from the Jewish Lyceum. In 1941, this preparatory school was designed for Jewish kids. Bloeme, Anne, and six other women had a very special relationship for nine months in the camps. They shared all their sorrows and love. Much wasnt really said about her relationship with the Franks.
But we do know that they were close.Lenie de Jong-van was one of the women who had a very special friendship in the .
