Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in the city of Frankfurt, Germany. Twelve days later, little baby Anne and her mother, Edith, came home from the hospital.
The Franks were like many other families of the time. Anne’s father, Otto, was a businessman. Her mother stayed at home caring for Anne and Anne’s older sister, Margot.
The Franks led a comfortable life. There was a nanny to help Mrs. Frank. The family had nice clothes and good food. Anne had her own little sandbox to play in. Their apartment in Frankfurt was full of books.
Otto Frank was many years older than his wife. In many ways they were opposites. Otto was tall and thin; Edith was plump. Otto loved being around people. He was high-spirited and outgoing. Edith was shy and quiet.
Otto loved to read to his daughters. He also made up wonderful stories at bedtime. Some were about two sisters named Paula. One of the Paulas was very well behaved and polite, like Margot. The other Paula was always getting into lots of trouble. That Paula was more like Anne, who was full of mischief.
Both girls adored their father. Their nickname for him was Pim. Besides telling stories, Pim loved to play games. He was also a very good photographer. He took many pictures of his girls and kept a photo album for Anne.
Anne was also very close to her grandmother, who was called Oma. Oma loved spoiling Anne. Once, when Anne was on a bus with Oma, Anne looked around and said, “Won’t someone offer a seat to this old lady?” Anne was only four and a half at the time! But that was Anne. She was always outspoken.
Her father understood her. He and Anne were very much alike. Anne did not get along nearly as well with her mother. They often had fights. Anne was jealous because she felt that her sister was her mother’s pet. While Margot was serious and mild-mannered, Anne was moody and had a temper. But she was also lively and full of fun. Both sisters had dark shining hair, large eyes, and lovely smiles.
The Frank family was Jewish. They followed certain customs and went to pray at their synagogue on important days. They celebrated some Jewish holidays but not all of them. There were Jewish practices that they chose not to follow.
Many of Anne and Margot’s friends in the neighborhood were not Jewish. They sometimes came to the Franks’ house to celebrate Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah.
Hanukkah Menorah
Like all small children, Anne was not really aware of the bigger world around her. She knew her home, her family, her friends. That was her world. She did not know that Germany was going through many changes—many frightening changes.
World War I had ended in 1918 with Germany’s defeat. Unlike Otto Frank, many Germans were out of work after the war’s end. And prices for everything—even milk and bread—were sky high.
A new leader came to power in 1933: Adolf Hitler. He was head of the National Socialist, or Nazi, party. Hitler made the Germans feel better about themselves. He said German people were smarter and better than any other people on earth. “Pure” Germans, that is. Not Jews. In loud speeches before huge crowds, Hitler blamed Jewish people for all of Germany’s problems.
Anti-Semitism is a word that means “hatred of Jews.” There was anti-Semitism long before Adolf Hitler in many places besides Germany. Throughout the world, at different times in history, Jewish people had to live in special neighborhoods. They couldn’t go to schools with Christians or hold certain kinds of jobs.
But Adolf Hitler went much further.
His plan was to get rid of all Jews. Of course, he did not say that out loud. Not at first. But as soon as he came to power he started making life harder for German Jews like the Franks.
Hitler was dangerous. Otto Frank saw that. He decided that his family would be safer if they left Germany. It must have been a hard decision for Anne’s father to leave home. He loved his country. He had fought for Germany in World War I. In 1933, there were more than five hundred thousand German Jews. In the next six years, more than half of them fled the country.
For a short time, the family lived with one of Anne’s grandmothers in Switzerland. Then, in the fall of 1933, Otto Frank moved to Amsterdam. By January 1934, the rest of the family had moved there, too.
Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands, a small country to the west of Germany. Why did the Franks pick this country? It was close by, for one thing. And Otto already knew how to speak Dutch, the language of the Netherlands. But even more important, the people were known for getting along with everyone—including Jews.
In Amsterdam, Otto started a new company. It made pectin. Pectin is a powder used to make jam. The Franks moved into an apartment in a block of new houses. The girls started school. They made new friends. They learned to speak Dutch right away. Only Edith Frank had trouble with the new language. She stuck to German, which made her feel out of place in the Netherlands. Still, Otto thought that his family was now safe from Hitler. But he was wrong.
WORLD WAR I
WORLD WAR I, A TERRIBLE WAR THAT LASTED FROM 1914 TO 1918, WAS ALSO CALLED THE “GREAT WAR.” THE CENTRAL POWERS (AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, GERMANY, AND TURKEY) FOUGHT AGAINST THE ALLIES (RUSSIA, BRITAIN, BELGIUM, ITALY, FRANCE, AND, LATER On, THE UNITED STATES).
EVENTUALLY, THE ALLIES WON. GERMANY WAS FORCED TO PAY A LOT OF MONEY AS PUNISHMENT FOR ITS ROLE In THE WAR. THIS LEFT THE COUNTRY VERY POOR AND MANY OF ITS PEOPLE VERY RESENTFUL. A NEW GOVERNMENT WAS SET UP——A DEMOCRACY. BUT IT WASN’T VERY STRONG. In 1933, THE GERMANS LOOKED TO A DANGEROUS LEADER, ADOLF HITLER, TO MAKE THEIR COUNTRY GREAT AGAIN.
WORLD WAR I WAS ALSO CALLED THE WAR TO END ALL WARS. BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, IT DIDN’T. WORLD WAR II BEGAN BARELY TWENTY YEARS LATER.
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