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 Frequently Asked Questions |
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1. How unique was the hiding place or the Secret Annex? The Franks were most unusual both in finding a place to hide together and in having so many people who were willing to help them. It is very important to put Anne Frank's story in context to the stories of what happened to most Dutch Jews. Three out of four were killed and a very small minority found places to hide, mostly with farmers. 2. Who were the Helpers in the Secret Annex? Bep Elli Voskuijl, Miep Santrouschitz Gies, Victor Kugler, and Johannes Kleiman. Remember all the silent helpers too, the butcher, the vegetable grocer, Miep's husband, Jan. All of these people were helpers of the Frank family. 3. Why is Anne Frank so well known? A young Dutch victim of the Holocaust and the author of a famous diary Anne Frank has become a symbol of 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. For many people Anne Frank became a symbol of the six million Jewish men, women, and especially the children who were murdered by the Nazis in the WWII. It is almost impossible to comprehend this number, but the story of Anne Frank makes it possible to understand what the war meant for one of these victims. 4. What language did Anne use to write her diary? Anne wrote her diary in Dutch. 5. Why is the diary so widely read? The diary was first printed in Dutch in 1947, then French and German. By 1951 an English edition was published. The diary became world famous, and today it is printed in approximately 67 different languages and has sold more than 25 million copies. 6. Who were the Nazis? National Socialist German Workers' Party, founded on January 5, 1919. commonly known as the Nazi Party. Their structure was based on the Fuehrerprinzip, or leadership principle. At the heart of the party stood extreme anti-Semitism and racist ideology. Hitler was the Fuehrer, the ultimate, authoritarian party leader. The party was managed by 18 high ranking officials, and 32 territorial party leaders; sub-organizations associated with the party included the Storm Troopers (SA), the SS, the Hitlerjugend youth movement, and worker and teacher unions. The Nazi Party multiplied exponentially during its years of existence, growing from 6,000 members in 1922 to 8.5 million in 1945. 7. Are there Nazis today? Yes. The term Neo-Nazism is the post-World War II brand of Nazism embraced by various anti-Semitic and racist groups the world over. Neo-Nazis use Nazi symbols such as the Swastika and glorify Hitler and the horrific crimes carried out by the Nazi regime. 8. What does the term "Aryan" mean? The Nazi term for what they considered the German race. It is not a racial term and has no biological validity. Aryan was made up by the Nazis to refer to a racial ideal that they claimed was "superior" that is, the "master race." Aryan was originally the name of a family of languages of the people of Europe and India. 9. What does the symbol of the Swastika mean? The swastika was an ancient religious symbol dating back to the ruins in Egypt, Troy, China, and India. The name swastika comes from the Sanskrit language of India, where the symbol was used as a sign of fertility. The swastika was even used as a decoration in the synagogues of ancient Israel. The swastika was the symbol of peace and goodwill to Alexandra, the wife of Czar Nicholas of Russia. The swastika, or hooked cross became the official Symbol of the Nazi party and was specifically chosen by Hitler. 10. How can discrimination lead to genocide? Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion which can lead to detriment or injury caused to a person by the preconceived and unfavorable conviction of another or others can lead to genocide. Genocide is the systematic, planned annihilation of a racial, political, or cultural group. 11. Why did the Nazis target the Jews? The Treaty of Versailles ended WW I. For Germany, it meant the loss of territory, payment of reparations, and the end of the German Empire. The Weimar government which followed was a multi-party system composed of political parties. They battled each other and struggled with political, economic, and social unrest in the face of world-wide depression, unemployment, inflation, and outrage at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The Nationalist Social German Workers' Party - the NSDAP Party - was founded in 1920 as a small radical party which promised to restore honor and greatness to Germany and, although anti-Semitism had existed in Europe for centuries, the NSDAP, or the Nazi Party, made anti-Semitism central to their platform as early as 1921. The Nazi Party co-opted a popular myth that Germany had not been defeated on the battlefield, but stabbed in the back by enemies within. They targeted the Jewish people as scapegoats, the enemies within the state, responsible for all of Germany's problems. " . . . No Jew therefore may be a member of the nation." (The Weimar Republic Source; ed. Kaes, Jay, and Dimendberg; UCA Press, 1994) 12. Who beside the Jews were target of Nazi destruction? The Nazis targeted Gypsies (Roma and Sinti), Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, institutionalized persons, and physically disabled and mentally handicapped persons. 13. What does the term Holocaust mean and how many people were killed? The term Holocaust means 'total burnt offering.' Six million Jews, 1.5 million Jewish children including Anne Frank, were exterminated in the Nazis war against the Jews. Five million civilians including Polish intellectuals, Russian civilians, Gypsies, homosexuals and others were targeted. 14. What happened after World War II to the survivors? There were displaced persons camps all over Europe. Some people returned to their own communities. Only one out of three Jews living in Europe in 1939 survived the Nazi genocide. The majority immigrated to Palestine, or the United States and a small number returned to what was left of their prewar communities. 15. What is the difference between a concentration camp and a work camp? Concentration camps were camps where the Nazis imprisoned their opponents without trials. Although the term 'concentration camp' is often used as a term for all Nazi camps, there were in fact several types of camps in the Nazi system. There were labor and hard labor camps, extermination camps, transit camps, and prisoner of war camps. 16. What kind of camp was Anne Frank and her family sent to first? At first Anne and the others were all sent to a transit camp called Westerbork. 17. When was Anne Frank and the others transported from Westerbork? September 3, 1944: The eight prisoners were transported in a sealed cattle car to Auschwitz, on the last transport ever to leave Westerbork. 18. Where was Auschwitz? Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp located in Oswiecim, Poland, just 37 miles from Cracow. One-sixth of all Jews murdered by the Nazis were gassed in Auschwitz. By January 1945, Soviet troops were advancing towards Auschwitz. The Nazis, desperate to withdraw, sent most of the 58,000 remaining prisoners on death marches. Most of these prisoners were killed en route to Germany. The Soviet army liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945 and found 7,650 barely living throughout the entire camp complex. Over one million Jews had been murdered in Auschwitz. 19. Where was Bergen-Belsen? Bergen-Belsen was a concentration camp located in northern Germany. Bergen-Belsen was established in April 1943 as a detention camp for prisoners who were to be exchanged with German imprisoned in Allied countries. Bergen-Belsen was a camp with five sub-camps: 1. The Prisoner Camp; 2. The Special Camp for Jews with special documents; 3. The Neutral Camp for 350 Jews from neutral countries; 4. The Star Camp for Jewish prisoners, wearing Star of David patches, to be traded as political prisoners, most of these prisoners were from the Netherlands; 5. The Hungarian Camp for 1,648 Hungarian Jews who were allowed to leave Hungary and who eventually reach safety in Switzerland. In August of 1944, a women's camp was added. Anne and Margot Frank were put in the 'star' sub-camp with almost no living facilities. They both died of typhus and starvation during February-March 1945. 20. When was Bergen-Belsen liberated? Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British Army on April 15, 1945. 22. What happened to the prisoners' possessions when they were sent to the concentration camp? Clothing, shoes, hairbrushes, valuables, suitcases, all household possessions were confiscated. Some things were sold to German consumers or distributed to soldiers at the front or in hospitals. 23. When the Nazis found Anne and her family were they sent directly to a "Death Camp." No, the Family spent 4 days locked in a holding cell in Amsterdam, and on August 8, 1944 they were transported to the Westerbork Camp. They stayed there for the whole month of August in the "punishable barracks." They were considered "punishable prisoners" since they had not given themselves up when the call-up notices were sent, but had been captured in hiding. On September 3, 1944, the eight prisoners joined 1000 others on the last train bound for the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. 24. Did any of the helpers get arrested? Yes, Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman were also arrested and taken to the holding cell with the family. Later they were interned in a camp. Both men survived the war. 25. Was Anne's diary the only diary ever found from the Holocaust? No, there are many diaries and testimonies from the Holocaust. Students may want to read more, such as We are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust, Jacob Boas (Scholastic, 1995); also, Witnesses to War, Eight True-Life stories of Nazi persecution, Michael Leapman (Viking 1998); Edith's Story, Edith Velmans, (Bantam) 2000; and Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust, Alexandra Zapruder (Yale University Press) 2002. 26. What were the dimensions of the Secret Annex? Anne Frank and Fritz Pfeffer's Room 16' 8" long x 6' 9" wide Otto, Edith and Margot Frank's Room 16' 8" long x 10' 4" wide Peter van Pels' Room 7' long x 13' 6" wide Hermann and Auguste van Pels' Room 17' long x 18' 9" wide |
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