Anne was four years old when the Franks decided to emigrate to Holland (Otto had worked in Amsterdam before and knew the language). In September, 1933, Otto went first and opened a pectin and spice business in the city called Opekta. A few months later Edith and Margot came. Anne lived with her aunt for a few more months in Germany before joining her family. Finally the family was reunited.
They lived in Merwedeplein, a new subdivision in the river district of Amsterdam. During this time Anne had her freedom again. She learned how to speak, read and write in Dutch. She went to school with other Dutch students and made friends. She was aloud to go to the movies and restaurants.
At her Montessori school they each had a small notebook in which they wrote each other notes in, complementing each other and sending best wishes. Anne wrote her notes in verse. In one of her friend's books, she pinned a small picture of herself on a page and on the next wrote:
Who knows what future might be divining.
Remember each cloud has a silver lining.
Anne was always lively and popular amongst her many friends. In the future her teacher's would describe her as outspoken, and intelligent.
For Anne and her family a safe haven had been found. They worked hard to grow the company, but often treated themselves to days out ice skating and ski trips to the Swiss Alps.
The Netherlands proclaimed its neutrality at the beginning of the Second World War in 1939. And the people of Holland believed they were safe. But Adolf Hitler ordered his contingents to invade it anyway. When Anne was eleven years old, Holland was defeated. And the limitations and discrimination had followed the Franks home. Their safe haven had been placed under german occupation. Amsterdam was no longer safe for the Franks.
Otto's cousin in England offered to take care of Margot and Anne until the war as over, but Otto refused. He did not want to separate the family yet again. There was always the speculation of moving to another neighbouring country not under german occupation, but the family felt it was hard to leave their new found home. Otto's love for the Netherlands was too strong. They would just have to face the limitations and rules and learn to live with them. And this they did. In one of Anne's diary entries, she talks about playing ping pong with friends for the Jewish Lyceum she was forced to go to instead of her Montessori school, then going out and going to Oasis, an ice cream parlour, because it was one of the only one's that allow Jews.
They were able to live with boycotts and restrictions until a government letter arrived at their home... Margot was called to labor camp for Jews!
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Anne Frank: The Life of Girl With A Million Thoughts
Non-FictionAnne Frank was a Jewish teenage girl during the Second World War who defended her thoughts through her writing. Wherever she went she kept with her a small autograph book she used as a diary. After the war, her diary entries were published. Her wr...
