The last birthday I could really celebrate with my family happily was on the 12th of June 1942. I was given a camera. - Hey Moortje, look at the camera.
I wanted it so much. I began recording my life right away. School, my best friends,
Hanneli and Jacqueline… We weren’t free, because there was a war going on.
- Anne put that camera away! The Netherlands was occupied by the German army and those Nazis hated the Jews. We were Jewish.
My father, mother, my sister Margot… One Sunday Margot got a letter. It said she has to register to work in Germany. Just like many other Jews. But mom and dad wouldn’t allow it. So we went into hiding. - Anne, come!
In a place my parents had prepared. Unfortunately Moortje couldn’t come with us. The hiding place was in my father’s office, in an annex. We hid there along with four other Jews. Dad’s colleague Hermann van Pels and his wife Auguste and son Peter. As well as an acquaintance, Fritz Pfeffer. I shared my room with him. The secret entrance to the hiding place was behind a bookcase. Every day we were afraid … …afraid that we would be discovered.
We were terrified about what would happen then. - And that we’d be killed by some poisonous gas. We depend completely on our
helpers who worked in the company. They provided everything we needed. I was the youngest of us in hiding. That was difficult. Everyone wanted to help out with my upbringing. - Are you looking for attention again, Anne?
- Anne! - Anne, just eat up your vegetables.
- I’ve told you I don’t want them, didn’t I? Luckily I had my camera and I could
record everything and describe how I felt. I’m suffocating! Days, weeks, months passed. Sometimes the tension in the Annex felt
like it was about to explode. - We’re not going to go on and on about
the war again!
- We’re being shot down one by one. - We’re trying to relax for a minute here! I often fought with mom... And with Mrs van Pels...
And Pfeffer. I even fought with dad.
- And I won’t have it! Cut the attitude! Peter was a ray of light. At first I thought he was silly. But later on we fell in love with each other. On the 6th of June 1944 there was some good news at last. The Allied forces had landed in France
to defeat the Nazis. We had hope again! The invasion has really begun. On the radio we heard that they started it, the allies finally had landed in Normandy, France. “This is D-Day!” Er… I’ll let you know
when I know more. And then.. …that terrible day. The Gestapo are here! You, and you - Can you do something? Can you tell them something? - Yes, yes how can I help you? How many Jews are there here? Alright, take them all! Come with us! AFTER THE ARREST I’m Anne. I died in the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp in 1945. A lot happened after they arrested us and made us leave the Annex. I didn't make videos of it all, because I had abandon my camera. But it’s important that I
finish my story. So you can take a look inside
my head for a little bit. To see how it came to an end. It’s a terrible story. I’m telling you that now. - Anne OK. This is how it begins. One day... Just imagine... A politician… Has an idea... That some people are inferior to others. And don’t belong in his country. He tells everyone this Other people believe it too He gets into power And then piece by piece
they come up with a machine... Which uses up all those people…
whose lives are worthless, according to that politician
and his followers, until they’re dead. And if they can’t be used at all… they’re murdered immediately. One Friday in August… All of us and two of our helpers were arrested. We went outside for the first time
in two years. The light was so bright, that at
first I couldn’t see anything. We never found out how they discovered us. Was it a coincidence? Did someone betray us? We were taken to a police station
in Amsterdam South. And we were locked up, all together in one big room... Dad was interrogated by the German officers. They asked him if he knew any other
addresses where Jews were hiding. Of course, he didn’t. And even if he had known,
he wouldn’t have ever told those creeps. Kugler and Kleiman
were taken away. We didn’t know where. A different prison? Or worse? And the eight of us were taken to a prison
on the Weteringschans. There were many other Jews
who’d been arrested. The men and the women were separated. Can you imagine that? Getting separated, in prison
with no idea what will happen to you. Four days later on the 8th of August,
we saw each other again. Hey, how are you doing? Are you ok? I was so happy
we were together again. But that feeling didn’t last long. That's because we started a journey, without knowing where we were going. First by tram. And then by train. The journey to the Westerbork transit camp took five hours. And then we arrived. They took all our luggage away. And we were given a camp pass. And a card with a number on it
to get food. Our pass showed a red H. Which stood for 'Häftling', Or 'inmate.'
We were being punished… because we’d been in hiding and had been caught. So they placed us in a part of the camp that was isolated. It was fenced off. Completely. Then there was a health inspection. They made us all undress. And er… We… We were examined for headlice. And for any diseases. My clothes were taken away. And put in a burlap bag with my name on it. We were all given the same overalls Each with a yellow Star of David patch. And a white badge
with the letter S. This stood for “punishment case”. And we were given clogs. Luckily all eight of us were then
taken... By some of the guards, to our barracks. One part was for the women. And the other part was for the men. There were fleas everywhere. Anne, you sleep here. Margot, you go there. We had to work so hard. First from 7 a.m. to noon. And then after a break, from 2 to 7. Taking apart battery after battery after battery, so they could be recycled. I missed home. I missed Moortje, Miep and Bep. I even missed that nasty cabbage we ate back in the annex. Our skin got blacker and blacker. We were coughing our lungs up. Our fingers hurt. But we just kept going. Because if we didn't stay busy... We got in trouble. If you had to go to the bathroom… You were surrounded by other people. It was awful. So you'd sit there... with your arm against the barrier. using the toilet. After work, we tried to wash up a little. But you could never get every bit of soot off you. No matter how hard you scrubbed. Luckily we still had the evenings together. Then I could see dad again. Hermann too. Fritz. And Peter. Until 10 p.m. Then they had to go back to
their own area. We did have some good times in
the Westerbork camp. Because we were together. Together, as a family And I could talk to other people
again at last. Who had new stories that I hadn't heard a thousand times. And we could go outside again. I could see green grass and... Bushes, trees. And sometimes even some of the cows … through the fences. JEWISH SONGS What was going to happen to us? Were we staying here? If so, for how long? Or would we be transported... to a work camp in Eastern Europe? We’d heard that meant death. Since we’d arrived in Westerbork transit camp... there had been no transports. But the idea
that it could happen… that you might be one
of the ones that were taken… Was terrifying. JEWISH SONGS And then. Engers, Leonard. Yes. Franco, Manfred. Frank, Arthur. In the night of the 2nd to the 3rd of September. Frank, Margot. Yes. Frank, Otto. Yes. Frank-Holländer, Edith. Yes. Frank, Annelies. We were on the list. We had to go to the east. We, the Van Pels family and Pfeffer. Dad was the only one who managed
to keep his spirits up. He just kept repeating… that if we lost each other… we… Would meet at Grandma Frank's in Switzerland. And that the Red Army was already in Poland. I hoped for this so much. I hoped for it so very, very much. With all my heart.
