History of Sorts

On 5 July 1942, Margot Frank received a summons to report for forced labor in Germany. She was among the first Jews in the Netherlands to be called up. Her parents, Otto and Edith, did not want her to go—but refusal often led to arrest.

Anticipating such an event, the Franks had already prepared a hiding place in the annex of Otto’s business premises. Their original plan had been to go into hiding on 16 July, but Margot’s call-up forced them to act sooner. The family left their home the very next morning, July 6, telling their subtenant they were fleeing to Switzerland.

Just a few days later, Anne began documenting their life in hiding in her diary:

“Of course we are not allowed to look out of the window at all or go outside. Also we have to do everything softly in case they hear us below.”

The Frank family was aided by six of Otto’s trusted employees and friends. Those working in the warehouse on the ground floor were unaware of the hidden annex—except for the father of Bep Voskuijl, one of the helpers. As warehouse manager, he was in a good position to keep watch and protect the secret.

The Secret Annex

Behind a bookshelf, life held its breath,
eight souls hushed in the shadow of death.
The world above spun loud and blind,
but silence ruled the rooms behind.

Daylight meant whispers, shoes off the floor,
no laughter, no sobbing, no creak of the door.
Night was a mercy, darkness a shield,
hope written down, hearts unsealed.

Anne dreamed aloud on paper wings,
of sunlight, trees, and future things.
A diary lit her private skies—
truth etched in ink that never lies.

Otto kept calm, a pillar, a map,
holding the edges from folding or snap.
Edith stood quiet, worn but still,
strength in the silence, soft as will.

Margot, so gentle, learning and kind,
a shadow beside Anne’s restless mind.
The Van Pels prayed for bread and air,
suffocating in the tight-knit care.

Fritz the dentist, lost in thought,
counting the days the world forgot.
Each voice a thread in a fragile weave,
stitched with courage none could leave.

They waited through bombs, boots, and fear,
for war to end, or God to hear.
But betrayal knocked before the dawn—
and in its grip, the light was gone.

Still, Anne’s words outlived the fall.
They speak for millions, one and all.
Not just a girl with ink-stained hands—
a voice that still, defiant, stands.

sources

https://www.annefrank.org/en/

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/anne-frank-biography

https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/secret-annex/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank

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